I once had a friend in Nantucket...

I booked my plane tickets this morning and I'll be off to visit Rachel at the end of April. I'm very excited.

I've been wanting to write for a while about the fact that nearly all of my college friends have fled this city... off to Philadelphia, DC, New York, New England... I think Anish and Nick Snow are my only college friends who've remained in town. Sometimes I wish I could leave too. Not forever, just for a while. I try not to think about it too much. I had the opportunity to move right after college and maybe if the destination had not been Cleveland (or if I'd had a solid job opportunity), I'd have taken it. Dreaming about moving away is one thing, but then the reality of my family's attachment and expectations hit me and I wonder if I could even do it.

At any rate, I'm glad that I can finally take advantage of the fact that I have a friend in another city, especially since she also happens to be one of my very favorite people. I'm also looking forward to traveling alone. It's kind of a challenge to my independence. I've traveled with Steph and with my parents and other friends, and I've flown alone to visit Ryan but I've never taken off like this. I almost lost my nerve and asked Nick to join me, but to be honest, I have no idea when I'll have another chance to travel alone and he and I have many trips together yet to come!

So, Rach is about the coolest and best planner and she sent me a whole trip-tic with recommended sites and restaurants to check out on Nantucket. She'll be working on Friday, while I explore. We're planning to spend some time together in Boston as well. I want to go back and actually ENTER the library, rather than walk by longingly as I did when I went with Steph. Rach said there are some nice museums and of course I intend to do some Geocaching and eat plenty of seafood. I hope the weather is nice, but even it it's not, I intend to have a great time!