One of the major disadvantages to this quirky lifestyle I’ve created for myself is home instability. When everything else is up in the air, not having a stable address just might be the worst part. It’s probably the thing that would deter most people from choosing this route. And I don’t blame them.
Occasionally I look back on some of my former apartments and try to remember what it felt like to be at home. Places where I could have stayed for much longer. But they rarely kept me for more than 3 years. There was the cute, oddly-shaped Oakland apartment with the red door. I had a sliver of a view of Lake Merritt, a private entrance, and a back door, all of which made me think I was doing something. In Philadelphia I had the nicest and cheapest (in retrospect) apartment, with a huge porch, two floors, a gigantic bedroom, and a view of one of my favorite Ethiopian restaurants. Forget about everything else that may have been upsetting me at those times…they were the good ‘ole days! I had a lease, some keys, and immediate access to all of my belongings.
Today, well, not so much. Continue reading