Wanderlust

Anyone who knows me knows that I have an insatiable desire to travel. I want to see everything with my own eyes and really experience how big the world is. Lately, my desire has gotten almost uncontrollable and if I wasn't already committed to one more year at Ball State, I would probably pack up and leave in a heartbeat. No offense to any of my friends, obviously, but Muncie just isn't that much fun and I feel like there is so much more out there for me to see and do and I'm tired of waiting.

I had a few days off this week while working up here in Hammond and so I decided to go and visit my friend, Evan, who is living in Chicago this summer to do a dance intensive with Hubbard Street. The drive to Chicago was shorter and since I had to be back only three days later, I decided it would be more worthwhile to go visit my friend.

I'd been getting up for work at 4:30am every day for three days prior to my visit and so on the first night I was there, we just ended up going to bed really early, I slept in really late the next day and then when Evan was done with class we wandered over to the lake with a little bit of rum in our cokes cups. We met up with our friend Ashley at a bar a little bit later and had a few beers before calling it a night.

As I went to bed that night, though I knew that I wanted to make the most of my time here in Chicago, so I decided to actually go out and explore a bit the next day, and that's exactly what I did. I started walking with no particular destination in mind besides the studio where Evan takes class at the end of the day and found myself walking all over northern Chicago. I sat in a tiny park for a little while and listened to music and eventually made my way to the shopping district where I spent more money than I probably should have, but I don't regret it.

After some shopping I made my way to Hubbard Street to meet up with Evan and we went back to his apartment. We found this nice little bar around the corner and ate some wings and had a few (and then a few more) beers before retiring back to his apartment for the night.

Overall, Wednesday was amazing. I feel like I really was able to enjoy just wandering around a new place and it definitely made my wanderlust a bit more manageable. Chicago is such a beautiful city, and I can't wait to go back, but I have to say, I think I've determined that city life just isn't really for me. It can be so stressful and I just don't know if I could handle it for too long before it would overwhelm me. Maybe that's just how I feel right now, but who knows, really? I still think the place for me is going to be somewhere in Europe. I just need a little bit more of a suburban feel than Chicago offers.

I guess what I want you to take from this entry today is that you really do only get one chance to live, so do what makes you happy and do it often. My feet hurt and so does my wallet, but I enjoyed myself more than I have in a long time. I was able to just walk around and listen to music all day and watch people. It was a really eye-opening experience for me in many ways that I didn't expect and I am pleased to see that.

So challenge yourself to do something you've been wanting to do. Do something to make you happy or something you've been thinking about doing for a long time. Spend time with yourself and be selfish. put yourself first. Just do it. 

You won't regret it.

Until next time,
Aaron