Thank You Seattle!!

As my time out in Seattle comes to an end, I have starting doing some reflecting on this past year not really realizing how much this journey has affected me.

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I knew from early on that I had this desire to move to a new place of the country once I graduated from college. Chicago will always be my first love, and I knew I could always end up back there, but I wanted the chance to check out somewhere new. Plus what better time to do something like that then when I’m in my young 20’s and don’t really have anything tying me down to a certain place. No husband or kids of my own yet to look after. Pretty much just needed to look after me. When a job opportunity arised out in Seattle, I knew this is what I needed. No, not even needed but what I had to do. I knew it was going to be tough, as this was the first time in my 22 years of life that I would be farther than a car drive away from home, but it was a challenge I was looking forward to.

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This year has probably been one of the hardest things I have ever done and will continue to be up there when I think of my most difficult life experiences. Moving to a city that I had never visited while it being extremely shut down due to a global pandemic, knowing nobody, living in a hotel/Airbnb for the first few weeks since I didn’t have housing, and starting a new job is definitely a way to feel overwhelmed really quickly. I would call my mom everyday when I first moved out here just so I could have somebody to talk to. It was a lot of Meghan time. And that definitely takes a toll on oneself. In order to get through some of these more challenging times, my mom told me to create a list on my phone with all the months and under each month I would put things to look forward to or things to check out that month. It would end up leading to me creating this blog.

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When I first moved out here, I started sending a weekly email update on my life out in Seattle to family and friends. Telling them about what was going on in my life that week, where I visited or might have done. Sending my weekly emails pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to get out of my apartment especially on weekends. Check out that restaurant I’ve been wanting to try or going to that park that everyone says has the best view of the skyline (Kerry Park). I wanted to have my emails sound intriguing so I needed to do things to write about and keep everyone reading engaged. Slowly moving from weekly to monthly and then after the new year was when I would start adding book recommendations at the end of my emails. I come from a big family of readers and constantly had aunts and uncles asking what book they should read next. Then finally, one day this past May, I decided to start a blog and The Library Abroad was created.

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While I am excited to be back in Chicago and especially closer to friends and family, I’m grateful for my time out in Seattle and I would not change this past year at all. I was fortunate enough to be able to see some amazing things, had lots of loved ones come visit, and travel to some really cool destinations I might not have gotten to if I didn’t live in Seattle. So while my time on the west coast has come to an end for now, the year I decided to uproot my life and move across the country will always be one for the books.

Until Next Time, The Library Abroad