I’m not a person who accepts change easily. Even when it’s change for the better, it typically must be forced upon me by a series of circumstances out of my control. I can probably count the number of big life changes I’ve willingly made on one hand – most notably deciding to move to New York… and now deciding to leave it!
It’s going to take some time to process how I truly feel about leaving; I’m sure I’ll talk about it more plainly in my eventual memoir.
Goodbye, NYC.
But first, I’ll be making an ill-fated attempt to do, see, and eat all the things I love most before I go. To start, I recently created an itinerary of one of my favorite New York neighborhoods, the Flatiron District. But there’s so much more I have to do. I must have another order of saganaki from Barbonia and another New York slice from Ignazio’s. I must run the Reservoir at least a hundred more times and catch a matinee of Fiddler on the Roof. I must stop and take in the skyline one last time from Brooklyn Bridge Park. Most importantly, I must limit the amount of times my friends find me in a Shake Shack soaking up my tears with an old copy of the New Yorker.
And after I fail to cram five years of New York City living into one month, what’s next?
Bonjour, Paris.
When you decide to give up your job, your apartment, and all your belongings in search of a better, more fulfilling life, let me recommend that you first attempt to mend your fried nerves with a visit to Paris. We’ve planned a week in the City of Light with no formal itinerary. There will be chocolate croissants and tiny espressos. There will be excessive lounging in the Tuileries. There will be sketching and reading and wandering around museums. There will be wine – lots of wine – and rolling ourselves from one fromagerie to the next. Most importantly, there will be A LOT of making out in public, with the handsome, bearded traveler who inspired me to take this journey with him.
I’m excited.
2016, here we come.
M
