Sayonara San Diego.

I'm in mourning right now.

It may be true, I am one for the dramatics (at least internally), but the recent change of my regional travel has finally hit me.

For those of you who don't know, I spend a good amount of my life on the road (cue the oddities of the road I wrote about in my last post). For the past few years, I've been earning frequent flier miles all over California, Washington, Colorado and Alaska. I love the West Coast. I grew up here. My family lives here. There's a reason I moved back to this side of the country. I live for the water, the mountains, the beaches, the sun, the traffic.

And now, due to recent a recent regional rep-mageddon, I'll be focusing my travel talents on the South. No, not Southern California. The real South. The South the Media seems to warn us Northerners all about. I will admit, the few trips I took down South last semester were really fun, sociological experiences that were fantastic Grad School assignment material. I wrote an entire paper on race based on my trip to Mississippi.

So, first, let me explain. I always try to be positive, to see that damn silver lining, to enjoy what life throws at me because essentially I'm a pretty lucky kid.

With that, I've realized a few things:

1. I am looking forward to seeing new places. I've never been to Oklahoma or Arkansas. After people give me funny stares, they always back peddle with saying good things about them. I really enjoy musicals, so I'm counting down the days till I can sing the theme from Oklahoma...(Ok!)

2. I am looking forward to making new connections and getting to know new universities. Everyone I've met so far has been incredibly nice and welcoming. There's something to that whole Southern Hospitality thing.

3. I am looking forward to adding to my growing list of tales from the road. I've already got one or two from Texas. Things really are bigger there.

4.I am looking forward to finally figuring out how to order a meal at a Sonic. (It's way more confusing then you'd think).

5. I am looking forward to being able to proudly use the term "y'all" I just really like how easily it rolls off the tongue. I also think it saves a lot of time and breath during any given conversation.

I am.

However, I'm having a little trouble coping. I realized this week that a whole lot more is going to change for me then just the final destination of my airplane .

I'm trading in this:


For This:

I'm trading in this:

For This:


I'm trading these:

For These:

And although I know I can rock the boots, I'll admit, tensions right now are high. I'm losing my friends and the family I've made on the road. I'm losing the comfort of familiarity. I'm still doing the same job, but having to learn it all over again. I know it'll only take a semester to figure it all out, and by the end of May, I'll totally be in my groove...but until then, I'm working through my confidence issues and holding on tight to my newly acquired cowboy hat.

(I don't actually have a cowboy hat. Part of me wishes I did though.)

There is something a little exciting about starting over. And then, in a reality, there is something that really, really sucks about it.

My Kickboxing instructor inspired me to nickname this semester the "Fake it till you Make it 2012 Spring Relay of Southern Fun".

I totally got this one Chuck.