"Johnny Cash"

Three summers ago I did the craziest thing I've ever done in my life. I loaded up the Pontiac with all my belongings, burnt myself the ultimate road trip cd, and headed south. My life had suddenly turned into a Jason Aldean song. I was moving on, starting over, and by god I was NEVER coming back.

Let's face it. I was having a quarter-life crisis. My twenty-fifth birthday was nearing, my ex was getting married, and I seemed to be stuck in a major rut. I was working three jobs at the time, barely making rent, and partying WAY TOO much. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. I needed an extended vacation. The only problem, as it always tends to be, was money. I had to figure out a way to escape from what had become my own personal hell, yet still find a way to survive financially. And then it hit me. I work for a nationwide company. I can transfer anywhere. So that's what I did. 

Within my company, each store has a five digit identification number. One day I chose a number at random, plugged it into the store locator, and decided that whatever came up was where I was going. Hell I could have ended up in Puerto Rico or Alaska, it didn't matter. I had made up my mind and I was going to follow through regardless.

Fate will have it that the very first number I brought up and called was in West Palm Beach, Florida. Although that first store did not have an opening, they referred me to one down the street that did. I was on my way.

The next issue was finding a place to live.  I spent the next few months, with help from both my mom and step-mom, researching every apartment complex in South Florida. Sadly, they were all way beyond my price range, unless of course I wanted to live in Dade county and be featured on the next episode of Cops. I was starting to become extremely discouraged until somehow fate decided to intervene again.

A friend of the family, whom I barely even knew at the time, had gotten wind that I was moving to his neck of the woods. Since he lived with his girlfriend and was rarely home, he offered me a place to stay. The next thing I know, I'm living in a two-story townhouse on the beach in the richest zip code in America. In fact, my neighbors consisted of celebrities such as Alan Jackson and Tiger Woods. I was living the dream. I was experiencing things and seeing life from a whole new perspective and for the first time ever, I was doing it all by myself.