As much as “locals” of the area hate the term, it is the best descriptor of where I’m “from”. I was born in Washington, DC, spent a few years in Maryland, before ultimately crash landing in Virginia after my parents divorced. Summers and weekends were spent with my father in Clinton, Md, where I was lucky enough to grow up in the same house that we still live in to this day. My mother moved around significantly more. Through the course of my elementary education I attended 4 different schools… roughly a new school every year until we finally settled in a small town called Herndon. I feel as though all of the moves that I experienced early in life had some kind of effect on my ability to develop “long-term” relationships, but that’s another story for another time.
The area itself, although representative of three separate entities (D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia), is ridiculously small and would surely require less than six degrees of separation to tie everyone in the area to one another. This is becoming more and more apparent as the days go on. Don’t get me wrong, I love where I’m from. The area is chock full of beautiful scenery that can only be found in the DMV, it is adorned with museums, monuments, eateries, shopping… it is a wonderful place to grow up and I couldn’t ask for a better place to have “raised me.” However, like any young twenty-something that grows weary of hometown life, I am ready to move on and discover uncharted territories… a change of scenery, if you will.
Lately, I’ve been tossing back and forth the concept of completely dropping everything and starting over; a new location, faces, and memories to be made. My logic is that there is no better time than now. At this point in my life I am single, free of any real responsibilities (ie. Children, career, etc.) or anchors holding me down to this area.
