We all have a hometown. There are streets that we inherit from our families that grow with us. You know the neighbors. They know you. If you were blindfolded, you could still tell where you were by the bumpy railroad tracks on Market Street. That’s what makes it home.
But there is a special place for the first city you conquer on your own; the one that you don’t know and it doesn’t care to know you. I heard that 40% of people never leave their hometown. For the 60% of us who have lived elsewhere, we all have that place. It’s what drove us to learn faster, to be smarter, to work harder.
These cities teach you a new language. For me in the south, I had to learn that “bless your heart” was an old white lady’s way of saying “you’re so dumb but it’s cute you tried.”
You have to find your “greasy spoon.” That’s what I have come to call a cheap and reliable breakfast diner. You don’t get the opportunity to go home easily or regularly but that greasy spoon is the easy fix for nostalgia.
You learn how to get to work. You learn how to get home. You let yourself get lost to try to discover new parts of town. You find a few gems but mostly you learn where you don’t want to go.
There is nothing like your first city because it’s forever yours. It’s the first city that you chose to call home. You may go elsewhere in life but that spirit of tenacity, curiosity, and wonder will stay with you and in every trip back.