I've lived in the suburb all my life. The thought of an actual city fascinated me. You know how different people who live in the city all their lives are. If you have relatives who come to visit from the city, you’d understand, or if you live there yourself. There's always this aura present in such people which I found cute. Their manners, the way they do things, the way they talk, the conversations they have, the views they hold, it’s always not the regular, and I found that interesting. Previously, I felt like I wouldn’t even think twice before picking the city if I ever had to choose, but now, I’m not so sure city life is actually my kind of thing.
A few years back, my sister invited me to come over and stay with her for a while in the city, and I tell you, I didn’t waste a second saying yes. She was kind of surprised at how fast I agreed, but girllllll… I said yes. One thing about me is that I always get excited trying something new if I ever get the opportunity. So at that point, I would say it was my excitement doing the talking. Fast forward to when I went over, reality check set in. I don’t know if that’s actually possible, but time moves 10x faster in the city. I don’t know how to explain it. Everything moves fast, cars, people… name it. It was like a huge shift from my usual routine. It took me a lot of time to adjust; I don’t think I ever fully adjusted all through the one year I stayed with her.
And did I mention people don’t sleep? What’d you mean you’ll go for a function and come back 3 am only to sleep for a few hours and wake up at 6 to leave for work at 7? Nah. That part was the hardest. My sister would always try to drag me out of the house to go somewhere fun, and I’d probably agree once or twice, only to regret it for the next 3–4 weeks. She eventually got tired, though, and just kept going herself.
I remember one time we experienced a blackout for the very first time after several months of staying there. I was outside on the balcony and saw a very beautiful sky, full of pretty stars and a full moon. That was my kind of thing. I had to call my sister to show her, and she said, "I don’t think I have seen the moon in years.” I had to make sure I heard right, and she confirmed it. Part of me believed it, because it was also my first time seeing the night sky since I got there. I can’t blame her though, when there are like a thousand and one bright lights in the streets, you can’t even appreciate what’s up there.
I appreciated a few things, though. Especially how beautiful and fancy places are. Different locations you can go and just get lost in the view, the coordination, and the order, things are different. You don’t get away with anything. You actually feel limitless when you’re in a busy city, with opportunities within reach. As much as I enjoyed a lot of things, I was so eager to go back home to my normal life… because those fast cars and endless traffic weren’t so pleasant.
But even if I could afford to leave there in security and comfort, I find myself leaning more to the suburbs I’m used to. I haven’t actually lived in a rural area, but I know I love my slow mornings and a good quiet night where I can be closer to nature and just enjoy my life. So yeah, I’m going to let people who love the city take my slot. I think it's better I get enough funds to be able to visit whichever city oflf the world I want and just stay there for vacations probably and go back home when I'm done chasing thrills.
