On my drive up to the LAX airport today, I counted how many times I have had to do this drive since October 1. At first I said 12, then 18, then 24, then landed on 36! Yes, you read that correctly, THIRTY-SIX!!! I thought I was wrong and over-counting, so I kept starting over and recounting.
But no.
I was right.
Thirty-six freaking times that I’ve driven from LA to San Diego or LA to NorCal. Well, technically 18 times, but then counting the drive back makes it 36. Since October 1st. During 13 weeks. THAT’S INSANE.
I started to think about why I had to drive so many times back-and-forth (mainly because my dad responded to my text about it with “Did you learn anything?”) and realized that yes, I did in fact learn some things.
1) I am tired and exhausted.
2) I no longer want to live out of a suitcase containing the same 8 outfits (I’ve been doing this since June!)
3) I value relationships over work.
This 3rd one is why I chose to write a post about this (that and because I got to my airline gate TWO HOURS early, so naturally I’m bored out of my mind). For as long as I can remember, I have been the one to take the initiative when it comes to my friendships. I’m the one who calls (or texts, or Facebooks, or Skypes, you get the idea). I’m the one who plans trips, lunches, dinners, coffee dates. Annnnnnd I’m the one who makes the drive to ridiculous distances to visit. I’ve been doing it since I had my license, and even before I could drive I convinced my mom to do it for me.
SO, my exhaustion and lack-of-funds has led me to a new and enlightening conclusion. For 2012, I would like others to put that effort into meeting up with me. I’m tired of driving everywhere and putting 80,000 miles on my car, spending thousands on flight tickets, and traveling for hours on end to visit people that I care about. Therefore, this year I’m going to let people come visit me.
The only flipside to this decision is that most people most likely won’t. But maybe if they care enough they will. It’s time to let others travel to ME, for once. (We’ll see how long this lasts!)