WEEK 2 IN PORTLAND
Russia was awesome. But I had a quick week in Portland before moving on to the next phase of my CAReer Program. Unfortunately there was a very big emphasis on the quick part.
When I landed, and apparently the couple of days leading up to when I got back, it was icy and cold as all get-out. For me that wasn't a problem, I'd just gotten back from Russia. But for the area that was a little different. My mom said a ton of places were closing, the roads were a headache, and true to PNW fashion, nobody knew what to do. Just look at Marvin all covered in snow and ice...
Unpacking - My Method
My mom made fun of me for this when I came back from Japan, but I've developed a very unique form of unpacking. Whenever I get home, I completely empty my bags on my bed, then put everything back from there. It looks a little chaotic, but it gets things done. And since I put them all on my bed, that means I have to clear everything out before I can sleep. This didn't work when I came back from Japan, but every other time it's worked out great!
Packing - My Life
It seems like packing, along with moving (they kinda go hand-in-hand) has become the staple of my life lately. That's pretty much what I did for the majority of my week in Portland. I slowly got all the stuff out that I'd need for my six month trip to Germany. It took a little while with a lot of procrastination, but I eventually got it all done. Here are the results.
I've realized that I like to be a prepared person. The downside of this is that it usually means I've got a lot of shit to carry with me. As you can see, this was no exception. Although it means a good bit of extra weight, when the time comes for a certain adventure or need, I should be prepared to tackle it. Boom.
Inspiration to Travel
While in Portland for the week, I was over at a friend's house and saw an awesome map she had on her wall. From the looks of it (and confirmed by Zack) it's a pre-WWI look at Europe, and it tied in somewhat nicely to the trip I'd just returned from. Pretty damn cool!
Well, I asked her why she had that, and her answer was motivated by a desire to travel and see the world. She's already done a good bit herself, but as with any travel-hungry individual, there's always a hunger for more. At some point she had me go through all of where I'd been in Europe and highlight any suggestions for her eventual Euro-trip.
It's really cool to use my experiences and the places I've been lucky enough to see and visit as inspiration and motivation for someone else's future travels. Obviously me getting a good experience out of what I do is one thing, but it's cool to see my experiences go on and benefit someone else with their life adventure too!
My Life in Boxes
This little multi-leg phase of my development program is the last phase of travel and moving, at least until I decide to pick up and move on to the next big adventure. As was started before I moved to California, all of my stuff has been packed away and put in a storage unit. After some shuffling around and adding some stuff in preparation for my departure to Germany, I packed that thing to the brim.
Of course I am absolutely stoked for all that's going to happen in the next six months in Germany and elsewhere. I've got a great opportunity to go back to the country that really helped shape my life to what it is today and I look forward to all that I'll get to see and do.
On the flip side though, I'm also looking forward to getting back to Portland and being able to unpack my life, and maybe live in a place for more than a couple months at a time. Obviously I've had my own place to live in Mountain View, Tokyo, and now in Kandel/Karlsruhe, but I think being able to furnish a place by myself, put up my own decorations, have my stuff in the kitchen, drink from all of my beer glasses, all that jazz, I think it'll really add that extra little something to establish my 'home'. I'm looking forward to that.
1990 Reppin'
One of the days I was back the weather turned super nice. So to enjoy it, I got some stuff done, then treated myself to a Jamba Juice and went out to enjoy the day. I decided on the national cemetery near the house because it's got a pretty good view of downtown. All in all, it was a great day for a stroll.
Well at one point, I saw a nice little bit of 1990 showing face. I was born in 1990. From the cemetery, one can get a pretty good glimpse of Mt. St. Helens, which blew up in 1980 (close, so I'll count it). Then, enjoying my delicious smoothie, I saw Jamba Juice was founded in 1990. What a coincidence! So I tried to capture it in a picture.
Insomniac
My body was absolutely pissed at me and still not cooperating after the trip. I hadn't been able to sleep more than 3 hours per night since I got back, down from the 5 hours per night in Russia. Every time I'd go to bed I couldn't for the life of me sleep past 3 am. It was killing me. And to top it off, I was so beat and tired during the day, that my 20 minute power nap turned into a 5 hour burner, so then I'm even more fucked at night.
Not only is it fucking with my body, my mom got peeved at me for sleeping through her day off. Nothing to make you feel shitty like not physically being able to stay awake during one of the few times you can hang out with someone. Godammnit...
Validation
It's really nice feeling the admiration of someone. Had a nice experience of that during the week and it's very refreshing. Honestly, I hadn't felt something like that in quite a while. I've worked on improving myself a lot over these past few months and years. But finally seeing someone see the value in that and who I've become is pretty awesome. Here's to continual self-improvement and quality people!!!
I Wish I could do something...
My mom is in a great position in life. New job, learning a lot, is stable, all that good stuff. The only downside is she doesn't have her own dwelling. Granted, the situation she's got is awesome and people have been unbelievably helpful and generous, but it sucks to hear her talk about how bad she want's her own place. And it only makes it worse knowing I don't have anything in my power I can do to help her with that.
If I could, I'd buy her someplace to call her own. If only that powerball went my way. She always tells us to worry about ourselves and do what we need to do with our lives, but I just wish I could give back and help her out with this at some point.
On to the Next One...
As I said, this week in Portland went by EXTREMELY fast. Before I knew it, I had my bags all packed and was headed off to Germany by way of Charlotte, N.C. and Washington, D.C. It was great to be home, as it always is. The next time I get back to Portland, I'll (hopefully) be moving into a place of my own. Kinda weird to think about.
A Red-eye out on a Saturday night, and that was that.
Original Publish Date: January 27th, 2016