People in the Places

One of the questions I get asked most often is, "What is your favorite place you've been?" Well I'm going to fess up that there have been a lot of places that I've been that initially repelled me. I still went there, but my first impression was that I couldn't imagine ever living there.

Here are some of my initial reactions to places I've been.

1) Cincinnati Ohio - I went to the boathouse on the Flushing River and it was SO steep and long to get to the water, there was no running water at the boathouse (one port-a-potty) and it was just plain HOT.

2) Lincoln/Omaha Nebraska, Oklahoma City (or most any midwest location) - WIND. I don't know how to describe this to you. I felt like I was actually sailing with my boat catching the wind and throwing me all over the place while driving. Let alone try rowing if you're lucky enough to find a body of water. Most of the bodies of water are quite pond-like. Small, muddy, wet entries, maybe some lily-pads to get through.

2) San Francisco California - Microclimates! What are these? If I drive 10 miles the temperature changes possibly 20 degrees? How can you live with that? How do you dress? This is confusing. Let alone the real estate market. $3300/mth for a single efficiency in town - are you kidding me?!

3) Santa Barbara California - A place in serious drought. Do not use water if you go to California. As a matter of fact, plan to bring your own. Lake Cachuma nearby is at 20% and I can't imagine the college team even rowing on it. Lake Casitas isn't much better. It was at 50% when I was there forcing us to carry boats across what used to be the Olympic course that is now dry land. It's so dry in fact that the old town that flooded is almost visible again. The road leading to it is now walk-able. Gorgeous town, but not really a place for rowers.

4) Phoenix Arizona - There is literally no grass. NO GRASS! Bundle was perplexed at the very least. She would look at me and very clearly communicate, "Where the hell am I supposed to go to the bathroom mom?!?" It's also incredibly hot.

5) Houston Texas & Atlanta Georgia - These cities are HUGE. Not compact huge, but spraul huge. They go on forever. From one side to the other could take almost two hours. How is that a city? These cities are larger than some states.

6) New Orleans Louisiana - I have been here a bunch of times, but never in the thick of summer. I say thick quite literally. This place is a marsh. Yes, that should be obvious, but it's really not until you go in August/ September. The marshy wetness soaks you in every possible way. It just sits on you.

7) New England/Northeast anywhere - The cities are daunting. The driving is insane. The logistics to do anything seem never-ending. Days are shortened because of so much travel time. And the states are confusing. When I drive for five hours and pass through five metropolitans I call those cities. Here they are called states. Basically each state is a city (or maybe two).

8) New York City - So overwhelming. It goes on forever. So many unknowns of how to handle things.

These were my first impressions. After thinking these things, I really was wondering what I would find when I met people, and was curious to find out why they lived here. What I found is that there are some pretty amazing people in these places. As soon as I went rowing with a sculler or group, observed a practice, met up with a coach or some athletes, visited with friend(s) who lived there, and/or talked to some locals, I found that it really wasn't so bad after all - maybe even became kind of awesome.

The place grew on me because the people acted as the best spin marketing. They turned my impression on its head and many times even got me thinking about living there. "Sure, this could work."

My family has lived in a lot of places: Columbus OH, Pittsburgh PA, Durham NC, Oxford ENG, Seattle WA, Austin TX, Atlanta GA, Baltimore MD, Essex CT, Charleston SC. I have loved a lot of them and disliked some of them. Some I liked and then disliked and others I HATED and then LOVED. All cities have things that are great and things that are imperfect. The city itself really doesn't matter all that much. What does matter are the people. The people are the ones you will interact with. What are they like? What values does that city or does the community have at the core of its culture? These are the things that matter.

Living on a beach somewhere sounds lovely, but I'd sure hate to live there with a bunch of stuck up snobs who only sun bathe. Living with passionate, kind, creative and intelligent people who contribute to their community I could do pretty much anywhere - desert, mountain top, concrete cell...etc. I have learned that I could really live most anywhere at this point. My view of attractive location has become even broader.

I'm interested to see where I will end up after this trip. God only knows at this point, but I know I'll be happy so long as I can be around some of these amazing people I've been visiting.