Always Be My Baby (feat. Climbin' 9 to 5)

After the fastest 4 weeks I have ever experienced (how did we manage to fit 3 climbing trips, a slightly dislocated shoulder, and a wedding (CONGRATULATIONS MORGAN AND PHILIPP) into 26 days?), I am now making my way to the other side of the country to start the Canadian portion of my life (as we all must do at some point). Though the drive from New York thus far has given me approximately 10 hours to listen to early 2000's pop punk and reflect upon my month of #vanlife in the city, I am having a lot of trouble knowing how to organize and convey my thoughts in a way that doesn't sound like that Vitamin C song from high school (spoiler alert: I did not succeed).

When I moved to New York, I never expected to find so many strong, hilarious, caring, and beautiful (seriously, all y'all like J Crew models up in here) folks who, for whatever reason, want to hang out with me. After a rough start, I feel like I've finally found my People and my stride in the city, only to leave it all behind. Of course, I am so excited for Vancouver; but at this moment, I mostly just feel incredible loss (all that My Chemical Romance probably didn't help). I may conceal it pretty well (no I don't), but I don't detach very gracefully (read: there has been a lot of ugly-crying and uncomfortably long hugging and eye contact on my part for which I sincerely apologize).

It's a pipe dream to think that any of my New York squad would move to Vancouver (I would even take Seattle--I'm not picky), but I am hopeful for yearly pilgrimages, monthly video calls, and maybe even the occasional email. I know things will be different--I expect group chats will be made that won't include me anymore (heartbreaking), and the last time I left, y'all started talking about me as if I had died--but you all are my family and it will take more than 3,000 miles, 3 times zones, and a border crossing to keep us apart (wait that kind of does sound like a lot).

In other news, Iiving in a van in the city is not super ideal, in part because it's difficult to feel truly comfortable in a place with so many prying eyes, but perhaps mostly due to the whole not-having-a-bathroom-or-private-shrubbery-available-when-the-need-arises thing. I'm not going to go into the messy details of it all, but suffice it to say that there are, indeed, some messy details.

Bonus Material

Morgan and I are goobers and collaborated to bring you your Summer 2021 anthem. Enjoy.