I Am Struggling to Find a State Better Than Texas

This summer I have been doing a lot of traveling! One of the perks of becoming a teacher is the fact that I can actually enjoy my summers, even in my adult years, without having to worry about work. Whoever even came up with the idea of taking away summer breaks once you graduate from school in the first place?

Anyway, it took me to travel to other states to realize that I really appreciate and enjoy living in Texas. Despite its participation in political viewpoints, I truly am thankful to reside in this state.

This summer I was given the opportunity to visit and spend time in San Diego, California, Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C.

It was truly a blessing and a great use of my summertime. Within those three states I got to see some pretty amazing things! I hiked and saw the entirety of L.A. from atop of a mountain, I went to the Top of the World tower in Baltimore, and I got to see all of the amazing statues and monuments in D.C.

Traveling has given me the opportunity to understand that there is so much more to the world beyond Texas. However, it also gave me a deeper appreciation for my home state. In those other states, there are certain things that are different from the culture in Texas that took me by surprise.

California

This summer my sister was given the amazing opportunity to intern at the esteemed KPMG Co. at a location in San Diego. Upon learning this information (congratulations to her by the way) I took this as my chance to finally achieve one of my childhood dream of going to California!

I helped my sister move into her place for the summer and let me just say, that first week for her was terrible. I was glad that I got to spend that horrible first week with her because at least she could have some company.

What made the week so bad was primarily the AirBnb that she initially moved into. It did not offer any good parking that was near the actual home, nor did it have any useful amenities like kitchen-use or laundry room-use. It was not an ideal place for anyone to live if they are staying there for the entire summer. That's why my sister and I had to search for a better AirBnb for her to stay in.

There was a night when we almost had to run for our lives from a group of raccoons. That was exhilarating but also our last straw. We had to find her a new place to stay in San Diego and get her out of there immediately.

Our entire first week was mainly adjusting to the new state and adapting to our current situation. On top of the crappy AirBnb experience, my sister ran over something on the highway and critically damaged her car. I was able to do a cheap repair, but her car needed body work. However, since so much is expensive, I don't think either of us really wanted to take the car to a shop at all.

Despite all of our mishaps, we still managed to have a good time and visit places throughout San Diego. We even spent some time in Los Angeles and I soon learned that that place is my favorite thing about California.

Los Angeles is the reason why many people can withstand the expensive way of living in California. If I was born in LA, I wouldn't want to leave either. The place was absolutely stunning!

There is so much to see there and we didn't spend nearly enough time in that city while I was there. Maybe when I return to California, I will visit LA again.

Maryland and Virginia

Virginia is probably one of the most beautiful states in the country. The picture here is one I took while on a hike with a few friends that I was visiting.

They actually lived in Maryland, but since those states are so close to each other, we always found ourselves visiting Virginia as well.

In this picture, however, there is an entire story behind my experience at that hiking trail. Don was one of the friends that I was visiting and he brought us to this trail.

His adventurous tendencies took us through the trail and occasionally off the main path too. Following him off the trail was scary, but it really encouraged me to get over myself and let go of my inner fears. If we hadn't gone off trail, then I wouldn't have been able to capture this photo. As you can see it looks as if I am standing on rocks in the middle of a lake, that's because I was!

Was it dangerous? Yes. Was I afraid? Yes. Did I decide to explore off trail anyway? Reluctantly, but yes!

There was also a moment where I found myself trapped on a rock in the middle of the lake. The only way out of this situation was to jump from that one to a farther rock nearby. It was scary and I sat there and contemplated the jump for about 5 to 10 minutes, but eventually I made the jump and got back to land safely.

Now I have a cool memory from Virginia and daring stories to tell.

Home Sweet Home

Although my trip to Maryland and Virginia was a much better experience than my time in San Diego, I would still consider Texas as the superior state over the three.

I would definitely go back to all three locations. I plan on returning to San Diego because I forgot that that is where San Diego Comic Con takes place, so a second trip there will be planned soon. (Be on the lookout for that blog post)

Texas still remains as my preferred state of residence. I really did enjoy getting to experience what life might be like in those states rather than Texas, but in the end, I was ready to return home.

Eventually, I will find a place that I can really see as a home, but until then it is Texas for now.

Until next time.

Jefferson K. Coe