Day One: Turnersville, NJ to Reynoldsburg, OH

I have to say that moving is definitely one of the more interesting things that I have done with my life.

It is one of those bittersweet things. On one hand, I am obviously excited to see where this is going to take me. I can’t wait to see what Arizona has to offer, but on the other hand, there is still a pang of self doubt that constantly aches somewhere in the back of my mind. It’s the part of me that is terrified of the prospect of not finding my own footing. It’s the part of me that is afraid of change. It is the part of me that needs reassurance and certainty, but I think that is something that, deep down, we all share.

I wish that I could remember more about my move from Philadelphia to New Jersey, just for some insight on the experience. Sure, I would argue that it is not the same. I didn’t have a life set up in Philadelphia. I didn’t go to high school, and college. I didn’t have too many real friends that I left. I didn’t ever fall in love there. In many ways, it wasn’t the same, so perhaps in hindsight it doesn’t matter all that much, but who knows?

I for one, do not.

Moving is weird. Really weird. Right now, it doesn’t even feel like I left, not for good anyway, and honestly, I don’t think that it will set in until I am set up in my new house for an extended period of time. Until I am actually established and moving forward in Arizona. For now, it’s just going to feel like the next big adventure. It’s going to just feel like my next vacation.

I don’t know. I’ll save that talk for a future post. For now, I can only really relate to how I got where I am now, Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

Our weekend was interesting to say the least. We were definitely not prepared for this. At all. The packing that should have been done months in advance, got jammed into the three or four days prior to our departure. It got rushed into the last minute moments before we left. It was hectic to say the least. For all intents and purposes, we were pretty much winging it.

Late last night Kyle and I sat up and went over an estimated route. We looked at the map and decided that leaving late wasn’t such a bad idea. We decided we would tell everyone that we wanted to leave at noon, that way we would get out the door and on the road by one. Unfortunately, we didn’t get out the door at one. I’m pretty sure Mike wasn’t even up by one. The truck was being packed with boxes that kept magically appearing in the living room, with tables and computers and a little bit of everything, and somehow, it all fit.

Well, the things that mattered anyway, a feat that still amazes me.

By the time that Kyle arrived at the house with the Envoy (with boat), and we got the door on the Penske truck shut and locked, it was 6:00 pm. It wasn’t quite 1:00, but regardless, we were finally setting off into the sunset (or the pure darkness, the sun may have set hours before).

It was sad leaving the house, but it still felt right. It wasn’t easy driving away. It wasn’t easy leaving Brit behind (even just for now), or anything. It wasn’t easy leaving the house behind, knowing that the next time that I see it, someone else will be sleeping in my bedroom. Knowing that someone else will be cooking toast in our kitchen, or that someone else will be mowing our lawn (I lied. I’m okay with this part). I don’t know. It’s just a weird feeling. It’s something that I don’t think I was (or am) fully prepared for.

After we set out from our house, I drove to Chris’s house to pick him up. Somehow, I think that was just as hard (if not harder than leaving my house). I mean, after all, the Whelan’s are the reason that I moved to New Jersey in the first place, and in many ways their family means just as much to me as my own. Saying goodbye was terrible. It felt awful. It killed me to say goodbye to Will, which is dumb.

I know I will see him again. It’s not like we’re going through a one way portal, but at the same time, it killed me.

After we left his house, we took to the road and we drove, and drove, and drove. It was an eight and a half hour adventure that brought us to Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

On the way, we ate Sbarro (as seen in the main image), I got pulled over for speeding (got a ticket, of course), listened to a ton of stand up comedy, tried to stream audio from South Park episodes, went to Wal Mart in Pickerington, checked in at the hotel, went back to the Wal Mart in Pickerington to find Chris’s lost Zune, then went back to the hotel, got the dogs when my Mom arrived and started writing this.

What now? Bed time. We have a long day ahead of us, 14 hours to be precise. By this time tomorrow, I plan on being in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Wish me luck.