It was a mild summer day in early June deep in the suburbs of Denver, CO (Littleton if you must know) when it finally struck me that summer was truly here.  It’s no surprise to the native or long term Colorado resident that it had snowed a few shorts weeks prior.  That craziness was now over (hopefully) and it was time to feel the push of summer in full swing. I had just finished a series of grueling physical feats to conclude my first triathlon (only a sprint but I went crazy on the training), when it dawned on me I needed another vacation.  Well, that thought actually popped into my brain weeks ago when I booked my ticket to San Diego, now I could focus on the fact that this amazing trip was nearing.  It had been about 6 months since I last set foot on Californian soil and I have to be honest, I was stoked to get back out to my former stomping grounds and make some bad decisions.  It was going to be a good friends birthday, which past parties had proven to be simply amazing and rambunctious in nature, how could I not be psyched?  So I packed up minimal goods (which I’m pretty good at by this point in my life) and hopped on Southwest flight 1135.

Upon touching down, I calmly remained in my seat as I joyfully gazed at the overly anxious passengers rushing to their feet as soon as the seat belt sign had been extinguished and the well known “ding” was blared like a starting gun.  Glad to see everyone get up in such a rush so they can be rewarded with a 10 plus minute wait hunched over in front of their seat carefully bowing their heads as to make sure they don’t plow them into the bottom of the now empty overhead compartments.  Good work.  Last one off, I head to pick up my bag and finally step outside to take a deep breath of the air I had been longing for… I felt home.  Before you know it I’m off to the new site in which the majority of my friends had decided to relocate, Cardiff by the Sea.  I made a quick stop to see some past co-workers, always great to catch up, then one more stop to pick up my ride for the week (thanks Brian and Maureen).  Now I was officially on vacation.

I had one week to get it all in and I felt anxious to say the least.  I tried my best to relax, so we hit the beach volleyball courts to shake off the rust of a year long v-ball drought.  Simply amazing to be back on the beach with the smell of the ocean, the feel of the sand between my toes and the always beautiful sunsets that never cease to impress.  Life is amazing in the simplest ways.

Now it’s time to get down to business, Brandon’s birthday party was nearing and we wasted little time gettin’ at it.  The first night was started off the only way I know how, with a bare foot two mile run to the bars with my partner in crime Matt.  Don’t ask why, just accept it as a fact that we do stupid fun shit.   We danced the night away with a few drinks under our belt as we always do, they proceeded to trek back home, with shoes on this time.  Birthday night was here and we decided a pub crawl in Pacific Beach was the only way to go.  Crush some drinks at Cabo Cantina, then head to Moondoggies and flail around like a bunch of idiots.  I finally get a random girl to by me a drink,  then proceed to casually turn around and walk away… sweet redemption.  Great times only to be topped off with my favorite late night treat, Yogurtland.  You can’t force great times like these, they just kind of flow.

The rest of the trip essentially followed suit and I was more than ready to get back to this paradise on earth.  Great friends that you fall right back into sync with no matter how long you’ve been apart, beautiful scenery (both natural and unnatural in various ways), and an atmosphere that I just seem to fit into more snug than OJ’s black glove.  So the question now becomes, why the hell aren’t I there right now?  Part of me doesn’t really know the answer, while part of me see’s it crystal clear.  I’d be going back to a place where I went to escape a life I didn’t enjoy 3 years ago, only to be running back again.  I’d be starting over in 2007 with a hope and a prayer (cause God knows I sold all of my worldly possessions to get to Europe) when the rest of the world and my friends had moved on to 2010.  It’s great to rekindle past experiences and friendships, but the time had come for me to reminisce about the great times then move forward to new challenges instead of running from them.  Call it growing up, call it being responsible,  or just call it what it is… life, it doesn’t wait for you, so don’t wait for it.  I’ve stumbled across a challenging new adventure in Colorado and instead of looking everywhere except right in front of me for an opportunity, I’m going to take a chance, put all my baskets into one egg (that’s more fun than eggs in a basket) and aim to make it back to San Diego on my terms.  It’s easy to look at all the things you don’t have or all the places you aren’t at right now.  Every time that thought pops in the old noggin I remember one of my new favorite phrases:

Wherever you go, there you are