In 3 days, I’m moving to Salem, Oregon.
My journey to the Pacific Northwest has been years in the making. Even before I got laid off from High Tech Institute, a job I worked at work 7 years, I was actively looking for positions in Seattle. Then, after I got laid off, I was interviewing, mostly by phone, for jobs in Portland and Seattle. It became obvious to me that finding a job up there was going to be hard – things like not having an address in either state, or knowing anyone who lived there. Of course, it didn’t help that companies for the most part were not hiring at this time and the economy had just gone to shit. We were also saddled with a mortgage and a house which we couldn’t get equal value for.
So my dreams of moving had to wait. It turns out that in the grand scheme of things, they wouldn’t have to wait long, and that what came next would put me in the best position to finally close a 10 year chapter of living in Arizona and the southwest.
I was incredibly fortunate to find a job at a great advertising agency in Tempe called Off Madison Ave. I had known about these guys from my work at High Tech, and immediately developed many great personal and professional friendships. The job was incredibly challenging – something that High Tech didn’t prepare me for. Whereas the client side of marketing was a more laid back, political exercise (in my experience) the agency side is a frantic, deadline oriented world where shifting gears daily and spontaneous creativity is the norm. Over the past year and a half, I developed a lot of different types of skills – organization, project management, leadership and training. But what was probably most important, were the friendships. It was one friendship in particular that has gotten me packing my car for a cross country trip on Friday.
I’ll be leaving quite a few great friends behind, but I know we’ll stay in touch. Whether it is my good buddies Andrew and Eric who worked with me those long seven years at HTI, or my friends Cori, Holly, Ruben, Amy, Chris and others at the agency who shared so many of the good and occasional “tough” times. I’ll especially miss my creative family (Cori and Holly) who actively sought my perspective on so many different projects, and who tolerated my random farting noises (made by mouth, i swear) and demands of going out to lunch daily.
What i won’t miss is the 100 degree days, or the bad allergies. I won’t cry over speed cameras every mile on the interstate or the joy of living in a “red state” where its perfectly legal to walk around with AK47s – in public. And surely, I won’t long for 12-14 hour days and sleepless nights (although I know my new gig will present new challenges as well).
Some say the grass isn’t always greener, but I can say that after visiting both Oregon and Arizona, it truly is. When I moved to Arizona I was in awe of the mountains, and cactus and well, the mexican food. With Oregon I’ll be in awe of the climate, and trees and natural beauty of forests, rivers and wineries. It will be different, but “different” is what I need right now, so I am looking forward to this change.
Over the next few days I’ll begin my journey in earnest. First up is an 18 hour drive from Phoenix to Salem which will take me through California. I’ll post pictures, videos and recaps of the trip. Check back if you’d like to see.
Related posts on Not Will Smith:
- Back to Salem, for good Its been a grueling past couple of days. The last I wrote, I was heading back to Phoenix to help move my wife and the 2 dogs up to Oregon....
- The Yellow Brick Road to Salem My route to Salem. Sigh, a 20 hour drive awaits. Here is the route, and some pics snapped along the way. View Larger Map...