An Uncomplicated Life Blog: When Your Hometown No Longer Feels Like Home

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

When Your Hometown No Longer Feels Like Home

We've been traveling a whole lot over the past month, and with all those flights I've had the chance to be back in Minneapolis twice. And it was really... Weird.

When the plane is landing, I can still tell you what neighborhood we're flying over. I can tell you what freeways are under the plane, to the right and to the left. What lake is which at several thousand feet.

Winter in Minneapolis lasts half the year. Not joking.


I can still tell you what terminal I'm in just by glancing around upon exiting the plane. (Minneapolis has the BEST airport. Every seat has an iPad to play on. Hey free Wifi!)

I remember my first summer in Texas, I just ached to be back North, heading up to a cabin, playing on someone's boat on Lake Minnetonka or running around Lake Calhoun.

Then, the aching stopped.

Now I step foot in Minneapolis and I cringe at the thick Minnesotan accents (did they get stronger while I was away?) I roll my eyes at the insanely liberal things I hear people say ("Corporate taxes should be so high they pay for everyone's healthcare. It's only fair!") And the weather! Everyone is constantly bitching about the dang weather. Hey guys, the weather just isn't that interesting of a topic to be discussed so excessively, alright?

I didn't like anything but the weather in Dallas at first. It felt like a massive concrete jungle with endless suburban sprawl. I had never seen multi-tier freeways nor exit ramps 20 stories high.

Cray-zay Dallas highways that would be a death sentence of ice in Minneapolis


I started yoga teacher training a month after relocating here, and found a niche of folks I really enjoyed. They were smart, had a dry sense of humor, were direct communicators and the best part? They wanted to hang out with me on the weekends! In Minnesota, if you haven't been hanging with your clique since high school, you'll be hard pressed to find friends that call you for more than a mid-week happy hour. People just like what they know and are rarely interested in new things, especially friends. It's strange.

Bright lights, big city: Dallas, TX


Fast forward to today. I freaking LOVE Dallas! I have my yoga friends, I have my mom group friends, I have my fitness club friends. I didn't know so many awesome people could all live in the same city! I love making fun of its quirks and I love how much people down here just loooooove Texas.

When we stopped through Minneapolis on our travels over the past month, I noticed a strange thing: It no longer feels like home. Even more shocking to me was that I was so glad I no longer live there.

Everyone is Dallas is so much more fun, unpretentious and genuwine. People just want to kick back with a drink and laugh together. I think I've finally found a place where I fit in.

Hey Dallas, you're not so bad after all.

24 comments:

  1. I have the same feelings when I go home to Jacksonville...it doesn't really feel like home anymore, Boston is home now!! But I do love going back...for my family but the weather too LOL! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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    1. Yeah, I can totally see why you'd like going back, lol! It's strange to go "home" and just think, "no... This isn't home anymore!"

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  2. I loved reading this Paige. I had the same roller coaster of emotions when I moved to FSJ. Now when I go "home" to Vancouver it doesn't feel like home and when we land in FSJ I feel a sense of comfort. Also good for you for putting yourself out there when you first moved to Dallas. Doing yoga training or anything that gets you out and meeting people is the best way to enjoy a new city and too often I think people don't do stuff like that and then end up hating their new city. I joined a swim and bike club when I first moved here and it made a world of a difference.

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    1. Thank you! And yes, doing something to get yourself connected in your new city is absolutely key to finding friends and happiness. Isolation is horrible in the best of circumstances!

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  3. It's crazy when the place you used to call home just doesn't feel that way anymore, and even more weird when you come to that realization! Glad you've found a place that feels like home, and like "YOU" :) And, it's gotta beat the crazy long winters of MN! (We have friends there and they always say how they can't believe they are still there, especially during these months then the high for the day can be in the negatives)

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    1. HAHA! Everyone, and I mean everyone, who lives in MN says that. Because winter goes from Nov-May. And you nailed it, this city finally is one that feels like "me", mostly because I've found such great people to connect with here.

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  4. I feel EXACTLY the same way when I go home! It's so weird. DC is home now and when I go home I feel like I don't quite fit anymore. Or did I ever fit? it's all so odd!

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    1. Yes yes yes! I'm like, "whoa, who are these people and how did I used to interact with them everyday?! Get me outta here!" I feel like I'm just offending everyone or I'm fake laughing at bad jokes. You know, like a bad cocktail party you can't wait to ditch.

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  5. Sad, I have never had problem making friends here, and I am even somewhat socially awkward! I'm in St. Paul, though, that's probably why. It's obviously superior. (I KID!)

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    1. See, that's why you're a perfect fit for MN! You can hang with all the hipsters, the art gallery scenesters, and the coffee house addicts (fair trade only, duh). When you're a straight shooting, outgoing and gregarious jokester me, people don't know what to do with you. Don't worry, I had a great group of friends (I'm sure you were concerned, lol!) That friend base is just much, much bigger in Dallas, with only a quarter of the effort.

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  6. Texas is so happy to have you. :) Seriously.

    I think it's funny how "home" doesn't feel like home anymore. I feel the same way with my small town. My current city is "home" now.

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    1. Awww, thanks! What, you don't think honky tonks and running into ex's feels like home anymore?!?! ;)

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  7. Aww.. I feel like you just gave Dallas a hug... No one ever does that. No even me, and I've been a Texan for 25 years. Haha! =)

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    1. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I think I did? Well, maybe not a hug, but certainly a high five. Not the drivers here though. They still suck.

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  8. I'm still trying to figure out where "home" is! Where I live now is only temporary, for school - I'm open to the idea of moving back home, but not just because it's home, you know? I have a long list of places I'd like to move instead and hope that I can go somewhere else and make a new home like you have!

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    1. I always support folks moving and trying new cities out! It's such an adventure. Especially if you have your significant other with you, you have support and can build a life together. Go for it!

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  9. love this post girl - home is a hard thing for me. i used to land back in sydney after a month of being in KY and I would just want to curl up and ignore everything Australian about the place. I didn't want anyone to talk to me, I didn't want to listen to the radio and hear the accents and the slang words, I didn't want to notice I was in a much (MUCH) bigger city or that we were on the other side of the world.. fast forward a few years and sometimes coming back into Louisville makes me sad. I wish it were bigger, lol. But I think I like the smallness of it as well. But, honestly, to me, home is where the heart is and I hated coming back to Sydney so much because I'd left my heart on the other side of the world. Anyway. Ramble much?

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    1. I can imagine the international change would be super hard! And making the transition from large to small would also be tough. Where ever you end up, I hope you find happiness! Xx

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  10. I absolutely love this post! That is exactly how I feel about Boston now. Like that is all I knew and totally missed it when I first moved south. Now I go back and visit and it's fun to be in the city for a few days but I miss the water, sunshine and nice people. My brother and his wife absolutely adore living in Dallas as well. The healthcare system is apparently better too. At least that is what I'm told ;)

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    1. That's exactly it! Minneapolis will be a fun city to visit in the summer, eat at all the foodie restaurants, then peace back out to the land of amazing tacos and fun people. The only heathcare experience I had was having Henry, and it was delightful. I had the best nurses! Our room and the food were excellent too. So maybe your bro is right!

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  11. Awe, I love this! I moved to Dallas from up north too, buuut that was over a decade ago, so I most definitely embrace my Texan ways now. Haha. I feel like most people that visit Dallas don't leave with that impression, but there is definitely a more chill vibe in the city than people realize.

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    1. Yay! We've only been here for a few years, but I'm definitely embracing my new Texan ways. I'm glad you think it's chill too!! I think it depends on where you hang out. It's NOT chill in Highland Park where you have to "keep up with the Jones'" but Lake Highlands, Deep Ellum, even Lakewood is all pretty chill. But I hang with a bunch of yogis, so... :D

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  12. I'm a born & bred Texan so it's all I know & I'm kind of partial but I really love the state! ... Well I could take or leave some of the attitudes in Houston & could we just give El Paso to Mexico? (JK!) but really I'm glad you've found it to be home here! I do get really sick of people grumbling about how many 100° + days we run in the summer though. I don't think anywhere will have people that just love the weather all the time. :)

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    1. I love that everyone here (especially those born here) just love Texas! You don't see that kind of passion about other states. And I rarely hear people complain about the weather here. Aren't we all here because we love the heat?! I do. You won't hear me complain about 110!

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