I worked for six months then used the money to backpack around Western Europe for three. Best thing I've ever done.

I'm in Columbia, MD

I'm totally in Columbia RIGHT NOW and it's...well..the job here pays the bills so...

How are you liking the area? I kind of forgot you'd moved down here (or possibly up here). We should go to lunch sometime if you wanted.

Yay Nicole!!

Additional supportive stats: number of minutes you did not spend in exhile outside some building or other. The amount of healing your system is doing already. Priceless!

eta: Hey, I went to Loyola in Columbia. Nice place.

Thanks, Bitches! Seriously, the support has been very helpful. You all are the bestest.

btw, is there a point where it gets easier or is it individual for everyone?

Probably different for everyone. For me, it fluctuates from getting easier to getting harder, each day. Which might not make sense to someone that's never picked up the habit but I'm not sure how else to explain it.

Matt said she perked right up when she saw him - so all this last minute travel

Beth, that's great to hear.

I got some more sleep.

This, too.

Trudy, where did you work?

SA, I found it immensely helpful that "somewhere" was a place where I knew people t waves at the LA-istas

It is scary, but it's, IME, a manageable scary, especially if you break it down into bite-sized tasks and decisions.

SA, I bused tables and did deliveries for a pharmacy.

Okay, lisah almost makes it sound attractive.

It is kind of a scary time but also exciting in a way hardly any other time in your life will be probably. You have so much opportunity. I do wish that I had traveled more and taken jobs that were not so safe.

After college, I stayed in Boston and had no money and started working and then had a little money. I don't think I found it all that terrifying, more like, just something that needed doing. It was just the thing I did to pay the bills, and I still had my life with my friends, and figuring out what my life was and where it was going. That took about 10 years, so don't worry if you don't have it figured out all at once.

It's less terrifying if you take it one step at a time. Like,

1. I need a place to live.

Then that leads to:

2. Where do I want to live?

Then that leads to:

3. I need a job close to where I live and that will pay for me to live there.

Those were really the crucial issues, for me. Sometimes the job follows the location, sometimes the location follows the job.

It is scary, but it's, IME, a manageable scary, especially if you break it down into bite-sized tasks and decisions.

I remember talking to you the summer before you went to LA--how did you go about putting stuff together?

You have so much opportunity. I do wish that I had traveled more and taken jobs that were not so safe.

Honestly, having this much opportunity is more than a little overwhelming. But I do know that I want to make money to travel more, and then repeat the cycle over again; there are too many places I want to go.