I told myself quite sometime ago, I was going to leave Albany and New York State behind for greener pastures. I wanted to go somewhere the winters aren’t so harsh and didn’t have so much road-salt, where the laws and government aren’t so overbearing, where the taxes were low. I wanted to move to a rural community, where I could have fires and burn anything I wanted to, make a lot of noise, own any guns I so desired to buy and shoot. Hunt, fish, trap, camp, and live off-the-grid. Have a hobby farm, have chickens, goats, pigs, cows, or any other animal that makes delicious meat to eat.

I live in the suburbs of Delmar and take the bus to work at my job downtown, wearing a suit, because it’s easy, cheap, and my job pays well despite the long hours and the stress. It’s not for passion or because I think I can change anything in New York. I’ve kind of given up on having much of an opinion or working for change, as even if I didn’t have to worry about the potential conflict with work, I think I would feel fustrated about the lack of success at what I’m doing. I’m just happy making the system work as it does, and taking home a good paycheck every two weeks.

But beyond that, I don’t really have a plan, beyond where I’m stuck in New York. I like the countryside and spending time in the woods. But I’m hardly a skilled hunter, sportsmen, much less a farmer. I have some money, but no land of my own. But beyond that, I really have no idea how to relocate to another part of the country, especially if I have no connections out there, and really don’t know much about an area besides what I kind find on the Internet. Finding a job when you no nobody from another part of the life, much less traveling across the country for a job interview thats less then certain, is a heavy lift to say the least.

Weekends camping in the wilderness and road trips into the countryside keep me sane. I may just be struck in a system and in a place that I’m not crazy about, but getting away for a couple of days, seems to pacify me. I like the money and the toys. But some point, I really need to make a decision on moving forward beyond Albany.