Shreveport Week

After getting back to Shreveport from Amsterdam, I had lots of questions running through my mind about my plans for when I leave Amsterdam for good next month: where will I live? What will I do with my free time? I began by narrowing down where I want to live. I started by choosing places that I already knew some people, and places that I feel I could get active in the community. I wanted it to be a place with lots going on, and preferably a good international airport. I have narrowed it down to four cities. In no particular order, they are: San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington, DC, and New York. I have decided that the best way to make an informed decision is to go visit each place for a couple of weeks, see how I like them, and then make my decision. I will start with San Francisco in October.

After getting all that settled, I decided that since my entire family is in Shreveport, and that I am a little tired staying either at my Mom or Dad's place while in town, and given the fact that I will be visiting several times a year, I came to the decision that it made sense for me to buy a small place of my own in Shreveport. So, a good portion of my week was spent with my sister-in-law, Alice, who is a realtor in Shreveport, looking at houses. I saw a couple I liked, but the one I really liked has just come on the market and the seller is asking way too much for it. I eventually decided that I would wait until next month before making any offers. I still have a fair amount of travel planned, although I did decide to cancel a couple of trips in October and November in order to give me some time in the States to get my life situated. I don't need a house in Shreveport right away, so I thought it would be better to wait until I got something I liked at a good price, or the perfect house for me came on the market.

I spent a good amount of time organizing the mess I left at my Dad's house during the mad dash to pack for Amsterdam last time. I also needed to organize all the stuff that I brought with me back from Amsterdam. Eventually, I bought some huge plastic storage tub things and packed it all away and put in my Dad's storage unit. I also spent a good amount of the week hanging out with my adorably gorgeous niece and nephew, who are getting so big and are so much fun! I never thought I would have so much fun being an uncle! Today is my brother's birthday, so last night we had a birthday party for him. We did it last night because Mom and I were leaving today for Amsterdam (and then to Nairobi on Sunday!). All in all, it was a good week where I made a lot of decisions about the next chapter of my life. I've kinda felt like I've been in a quarter-life crisis the last few months, just wandering until I figured out what I was going to do next, and I feel that this week I accomplished a lot in figuring that out. At least now I have the beginnings of a plan, so that makes me feel like I'm making progress! Now I am sitting in the business class lounge in Houston with my Mom, waiting on our flight to Amsterdam. We arrive tomorrow morning, and I am excited to show Mom my (current) favorite city of the world before we are off on our African safari!!


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Location:Shreveport, LA