Introduction: Searching for Something, Unsure of What...or: Why I Came Down from Mountains

Regardless of whether you’re first hearing about my move out of state or just looking for an update, I’m finally at a point where I’m settled enough to take some time and record my adventure so far. Before I get started, though, parts of this are going to be fairly disheartening, but I assure that everything has worked out and settled down at this point, so, don’t worry; we’ll get to that soon enough.  I need to start the story from the beginning, though, and explain the thought process that got me where I am.

In 2012, I made some tentative plans to move to Florida with a friend. She had wanted to make the move for a long time and had finally been able to make some headway on saving a little cash to accomplish her goal. She had asked about my interest in going a couple times in the past, but I was never in a place financially where I could afford it, nor was I in a position to leave whatever job I had at the time. Suffice it to say, I always seemed to have something going on to keep me where I was.

I found myself in a different position this past year. I had left the full time job I had held, my apartment lease was running out, and things had really taken a slow turn in the area of music performance opportunities. I was looking for work, but I was unable to find anything that really interested me beyond having steady income. I have had plenty of jobs that were just a source of income, but I wanted to find a career. I had the chance to play with some great musicians, but I wasn’t finding enough opportunities to play in general, and I wasn’t able to focus on the type of music I really wanted to be performing. More importantly, I definitely wasn’t finding an opportunity to make a career of performing, which is my first, but no my only, choice.

This is one of my last shows "back home" with Dustin Burchett & Southern Ground.
Really, I felt like the text need broken up in places. 

The only other things I was going to be leaving were family and friends. My family jumped on board to support my endeavor just like they always have. My friends who are also a very important part of my life were mostly supportive, too. I can honestly say that beyond the familiarity of home, the people close to me are really the only thing I miss regularly…and the mountains, something I never thought about missing.

While I consider many of my friends to be family, each of them seemed to be taking the next step in their lives (marriage, career, children, etc.), and I was having a lot of trouble finding whatever that next step was supposed to be for myself. I guess you could say that I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, but I wasn’t finding it where I was. I don’t know that things will be any different anywhere else, but I needed to find out if they could be.

I really do miss those mountains. The sky is so much bigger here. 

The final decision really came down to a simple thought: what’s the worst that could happen? I move to Florida, sign a lease for a year (the first of which actually wound up not even being that long), I don’t like it, nothing works out, and I come home. On the other hand, I could find a job I really enjoy, get to meet lots of new people, have new experiences, and, if nothing else, miss out on at least one cold, West Virginia Winter. I can even fly home for a pretty reasonable price when I want to come back to visit. I’m currently trying to work out a trip home for Christmas.

So, instead of signing another year lease in Huntington, WV or the surrounding area, I put most of my belongings in storage, and crashed at my mom’s place for about three months until my friend’s lease ran out. During that time, we both worked to save up as much extra cash as we could. I played gigs, had yard sales, sold some things I’d been hanging onto but didn’t really need (finally coming to terms with this is an entirely different story), and continued working a small part-time job.

This all started really picking up momentum in June 2013 when I was out of my lease. By the beginning of September, we were packed and ready to go. On September 4, we loaded the moving truck, twice, because I got in a hurry the first time, and on September 5, we were on the road to sunny Orlando, FL.

That's a 17' U-Haul packed as tight as we could get it.
There's also stuff in the car and the front seat of the U-Haul.

Without going into too much financial detail, we had both saved enough money to be able to survive for a few months, conservatively, without having any real income. We both had an idea of what we wanted to accomplish, and having the money saved up would allow us to take our time to pursue those interests and not be forced to take the first job that came along. I had already done as much math as I could plan ahead for to figure out what the move itself would cost…gas, truck, motels, deposits, etc. I had everything planned out that I could imagine, but as in many instances, what I didn’t imagine was exactly what happened.

Next: Beautiful Sights and a Beat Up Motel

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I've got a movie blog I update once a week, and a music blog I update once a day.