It’s no secret that I dislike living in Florida. Heck if you known me for awhile you’d know it’s the biggest reason I went to school out of state. But when I moved down to Miami for work I didn’t know what to expect. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a love letter to Miami or anything like that, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Between the corruption, the crazy news, the bad weather, and Florida Man (America’s true super hero), I did find my time down here to be better than expected. Of course I saw plenty of “plastic people” (as my therapist calls them), but I expected that. Miami is a town for tourists and a gateway to the rest of the US. Lots of people just come and go, and like other cities we also attract lots of self absorbed people. Sometimes it almost feels like you’re wading through murky waters, BUT I found a lot of NICE people.
I’d always known there were plenty of good people wherever you go, it’s just fact. Yet I found a level of friendliness I didn’t expect to find.
From day one down here I was already looking ahead to leaving. To get back to the cold “north;” everything north of Florida is considered “north” to us, even the South. My childhood was spent traveling between Florida, West Virginia, and Virginia, and going to college in Blacksburg, VA left a lasting influence in me. But now that I’m packing and getting ready to leave, I can’t help but feel a desire to stay another year or two.
The Real Surprise
You see, while I was here I didn’t really give Miami the chance it deserved. There were places I wanted to go that I just didn’t (especially Vizcaya, a photographer’s dream). Funnily enough, it’s the people that make me want to stay.
It can be difficult making new friends when you move somewhere new, but it’s rewarding. Between work friends, people I knew online, and people I met from Meetup groups. One of the guys I ended up hanging out (we went shooting a lot) with the most down here came from an online gaming group. What really stinks is that I’ve been making friends lately and getting slammed with the lay off extremely limits what I can do with them. Sure I was planning to leave Miami (probably within the next year), but I wanted to do it on my own terms.
So I guess this post is more about the people I met here than the city. The group of friends I built turned out to be a support system from the very beginning. Needless to say, I’ll miss them, but I’ll stay in touch. Miami taught me that you can truly find good people no matter where you go. I have no fear of being alone wherever I go now as meeting new people is its own reward. I’ll make the best of what little time I have left here, but I will miss it.
