On Living in Maine

If you had told me two years ago that at 24, I'd be living in Maine, I honestly think I would have cried. I went to school in Boston and wanted nothing more than to be a magazine writer living in the city. After moving back home to Connecticut after college, I suddenly found myself living my "dream" after being offered a job at a publishing firm a few months later and moving back to the Boston area.

If I've learned anything in the two years since graduating college, it's this — plans, or dreams, when realized, usually aren't half as good as we thought they'd be. Case and point: I hated Boston.

I lived in an adorable apartment but in a sketchy city and paid a ridiculous amount for rent. I was never not grateful for the fact I had a job that allowed me to afford this (and, basically, having a publishing job period that wasn't at a dying weekly newspaper), but the daily hustle and bustle, plus the traffic, was really too much for me. I found Boston dirty, rude, and nothing like the city I thought I wanted.

I ended up in Maine mostly by accident. My coworkers and I showed up to our publishing firm in Boston one Monday morning, only to find out that over the weekend, the company had dissolved. I see that now as the universe's way of shuffling me out of that city, and two weeks later, I was offered the only job I had applied for in Maine.

Granted, my now ex lives in Maine, so there was that obvious reason for making the move. But, even though we're broken up, I'll always be thankful that mostly because of him, I found my way to Portland. It's an amazing little city: more cultured than Boston, friendlier, artsier, and, for me personally, more enjoyable. I know many people who scoff at the idea of "Maine" instead of Boston or New York,  but I'm convinced it's because they've never experienced it themselves.

My infatuation with the city aside, I'm also extremely lucky to have a job where I'm progressing (that's another story soon to come) and pays well. Rent is about one third less than Boston, I have a new car, and I live near the beach.

Although after reading this, it's easily to misconstrue my love for Portland as trashing on Boston, which really isn't the case. I've learned that to each their own. But, more importantly, I'm learning as much as we like to think we can map out the future, we can't — it's impossible and not worth our time and worry. As for me, I'm enjoying Portland, and Boston aside, I don't plan on writing off any city until I've lived there.