The price millennials Pay for living in a small town.
Probably since I could remember, I wanted to “get away.” Leave this everybody knows your business town and run as far as I could. It’s funny that I am currently sitting in my house writing this, that is located in that “small town.” I never in a million years would have thought I would have moved back here, let alone found a job(s) here.
It’s so easy to criticize a small town. I hear it all the time... “No Jobs, No Restaurants, No Movie Theater, No Bowling Alley(thank heavens we don’t have one of those because they are a little gross if you ask me). But what about what we do have?
Sure, every restaurant might close at 8:00 p.m., but maybe they are just trying to help the obesity epidemic...did you ever think of that? We just have a few retail stores, but thank heavens because I would be more broke than I already am. I am sure these are not the reasons, but it’s a different perspective.
Long story short I moved back here because the love of my life’s family runs a small business which is the momentum and sustainability of any small town. I begged with him every which way to move back to Charlotte with me, be spontaneous and go to Georgia, Florida, and just about anywhere that wasn’t where we grew up. I want to be in an airplane traveling somewhere...every weekend if I could...so we made a deal that we would make our small town “home base” if we could travel every time our finances allowed.
In our 1.5 years of being married, we have been to Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Jamaica, and New York. So he has kept his promise to me, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that I am thankful we made the choice to stay.
The fear that comes with living in a big city, the attitudes, and business of life in large towns, you almost miss the point of living. Sure I pay the price of not having everything right at my finger tips and I have to travel 45 minutes to an hour to shop, but it helps to block out the unnecessaries. With technology today and the majority of my job being online, I am thankful I don’t have all these other distractors in life... I am thankful that not having a whole lot to do teaches me how to make things to do...it allows me to reach inside to my inner child and get out and explore... to visit the local waterfalls, the Appalachian Trail, and other outdoor recreation that we take for granted!
I might have lost a lot of things coming back, but the quality of life I gained and the relationships I have made add up quickly and make the loss worth loosing because I wouldn’t trade this small town life for the city.