and so it begins...

I recently quit my job to prepare for a new job in Uganda working for a start-up in renewable energy and income generating opportunities for folks living off the grid in rural areas in the country. More on http://fenixintl.com/ to come, but I have basically two weeks now to enjoy before leaving.

I think the first two days I was "unemployed" I just wrote sweatpants, like all day. That was all I could honestly think of and I'm not sure if friends were disappointed or in agreement about what you do in situations like this. It's funny, you wait 5 years for this moment, to be free, and then you don't know what to do with yourself. But really pretty quickly, I got slammed with reality and have been very busy - immunizations for Uganda, moving out of the co-op in Dorchester, selling and getting rid of way too much stuff that I've accumulated over the last 5 years (note to self: throw things away more often), cancelling credit cards and phone service, retirement planning from my 401K (I know boring, sorry), and planning a road trip and a ski trip.

So I am on phase one of my journey, the Road Trip. I am not crazy about the Mid-Atlantic having covered the area in sales for many years, but there are some great friends around here. My first stop (well really second after a short visit in Stamford, CT) is a visit with my buddy Titus in Williamsburg, NY - the hipster capital of the world (no not Titus, Williamsburg). While waiting for Titus to finish work (yes that's what the next two weeks will look like, waiting for friends to finish work), I went to this amazing vintage clothing store, which played sexy house music, and reacted very poorly to me asking if they ever bought clothing from people (I am travelling with boxes of stuff I need to get rid of). I then went to the darkest cafe I've ever been too - everyone was literally rubbing their blurry eyes in the dark as the Fleet Foxes played in the background. After a bar (with My Morning Jacket or some other hipster group - this is what you hear literally in every establishment in town), several razor clams at an amazing and surprisingly affordable and good steak house, and a few drinks later, my hipster experience was complete (although probably there are a few things I could have added with some more time). Next stop: Princeton, NJ!

grilled delicious razor clams