South Bay Apartment Hunting and Exciting News!

I've been waiting all week to post this, hoping I'd come up with something brilliant to say, but when it comes down to it, I'm just extremely happy. Last weekend, my girlfriend Megan was out here to look for apartments in the South Bay, and amazingly she found not one, not two, but THREE great apartments in 24 hours of looking. Yet, somehow it took me a month to find one...hmmm...

Anyhow, she had a bit of a decision to make on which apartment to take, centered around which neighborhood would feel most like home for her. It got me thinking a lot about what makes a home a home and how each persons' needs differ when choosing a new home. She wound up choosing an apartment in Santa Clara, which I thought was the right choice. It's by the university, ensuring an active neighborhood and, more importantly, near her aunt and cousin.

Looking back on my own transition this year, I feel that I have been able to make the bay area a home, but one thing has always been missing: my family. Having Megan out here will help a lot, but I certainly still miss my family dearly. More broadly, I wonder how greater mobility will impact the American (or global) family unit over the next few decades. More and more people are going away from home for school, moving often for new jobs, and even living abroad. I'd like to think that technology will enable more people to work remotely and remove the pressure to move away from family, or at least keep family more connected when apart, but thus far I don't see either happening as effectively as it should.

In the near term, though, I'm thrilled that Megan will be out here and that my best friend Mike (of I'm With Stupid fame) and my parents will be visiting this summer. Maybe I'll even convince them all to move out here, who knows? Last time my family came to visit was when my sister and brother-in-law came to see me in Boston- and they moved there months later. So, can't say it's so far-fetched. :)