Leaving Austin

I’ve been thinking a lot about my future recently and I think it is worth giving some context as to how I ended up in Seattle again.  Seattle was not my first choice of destination after Austin.  I wanted (and, to be honest, I still want) to move back to SoCal.  But alas, cruel fate and circumstance once again had other plans for me.  After quitting my job in Austin and spending an enjoyable and pleasant extended trip back to the UK in the summer of 2015, I came back to Austin with the plan to take my time in finding the right new job for me.  But suddenly that time was taken away from me.  As soon as I came back (or it may even have been in one of my last days still in the UK before I came back), I found out that my apartment had been leased and I had 3 weeks to move out.  Damn.  What to do?

I could have (and maybe should have?) taken a chance and moved to somewhere like San Diego without the security of a job lined up.  I think this was feasible – I don’t think I would have a problem finding a job once there, likely working remotely.  I don’t think it would necessarily have been an ideal job, but at least I would be living in a city I love and want to live in.  The more conservative option was to line up a job before moving out, removing a lot of the uncertainty (and with relocation as part of the job deal, removing a lot of the stress about moving) – and in my somewhat panicked state that is what I chose to do.  Given the extremely tight time frame, and the fact that I didn’t (and don’t) want to move to any of the main hubs for my industry (the Bay Area, Boston, New Jersey) my options were limited, but I knew that there would likely be an opening back at my previous employer in Seattle.  Sure enough I applied, I interviewed and got it – and so here I am.  Once again, my questionable decision-making skills have got me in a position that I’m not entirely happy with – but that is the story of my life.  And once again, I think about what could have been.