Yo ho yo ho, a jetlagged life for me

This month has brought with it a few firsts for me. I backed up my MacBook (I've had it for two years ... my bad). Andy and I moved to Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village in Chi-town, and I greedily consumed the world's best burrito at the frequently imitated but never duplicated La Pasadita, just two blocks away. Oh, I also began a 100% travel position with Intel in Portland, from which I write this post.

The project itself is a fantastic one, complete with pirates, magic beanstalks and social media campaigns. I have thus far found myself surrounded by bright, creative minds who are teaching me far more than they might realize. (If you're reading this, guys - thanks. I'm taking notes and plan to kick ass.) This opportunity is an exciting one for me, and challenging. I'll be frank about it: that makes me love it even more.

But some challenges are ... well, challenging. I'm back to hotel life again. As it is set up now, I'll be here for two weeks at a time and then head home for a weekend. Lather, rinse, repeat, month after month. I would be lying if I said that wasn't hard for me. There's Andy, who I'll miss like crazy and that goes without saying. There are the cats, who just might nuzzle Andy to death from lack of attention and play. There's the amazing new apartment and neighborhood I got to spend a whole two weeks in before being absent 75% of the time.

... and then there are the oft-denied upsides:

• Without my constant requests for footrubs and HGTV/Food Network/MTV/History Channel marathons, Andy's grades will skyrocket, not that you can really improve much on a 4.0. (I still like to credit that to my working in Houston last semester).
• If anyone gets a cat's ass to the face in the middle of the night, it ain't gonna be me!
• Portland is beautiful. My work has granted me the chance to really experience great places, both abroad and around my own country. But even more rewarding are the connections I've made with the people in those locales, and believe me - many of them are FAR more traveled than I. That means I always have ample opportunity to learn about and from them, and it helps me keep my end-goals in clear focus.
• Absence makes the heart grow fonder. If you don't believe it, try it. If you dare.
  

If you're worried about the long-distance thing, or have the itch to go somewhere and try something new but are feeling that gut-wrenching fear of the unknown, here is my advice: Give yourself the benefit of pushing through that knot and give it a try. Just once. See how it feels on the other side of a tough decision, and then judge whether the grass is greener. Either way, you'll come out of it a more experienced human being, who, at the very least, can say you gave it a try.

And if you're looking for ideas, try Portland. I hear they've got incredibly cool IT consultants looking for people to hang out with tons of really tall trees.