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There’s a photo of me sitting in a stroller all bundled up with a fuzzy pink hat tied around my head, a yellow sweater, and some slip-on red shoes. My stroller stuck in the sand, the waves behind me and the pier framing the sunset are nothing compared to my sweet smile and chubby cheeks.

August, 2001. The last time my parents found themselves on the West Coast.

Last year, at the end of February, was my first time on the West Coast as an adult. I remember committing last minute to a girl from my high school who needed help moving across the country from her home in Harrisburg to a small town outside of Seattle. It was a 40 hour drive through a region I’ve never seen to a state I’ve never stepped foot  with a girl I barely knew. Along the road, we stopped for meals, gas and lots of coffee before the long stretches of highway in Montana would keep our eyes glued in awe to the beauty around us as we drove through the mountains.

And in Seattle, I didn’t feel out of place like I expected to. I visited coffee shops and cat cafes, people watched at the local parks and at the library and took part in the touristy activities by the water. And by the end of the night, on my way to the airport in an Uber, I imagined what living there post-grad would be like. Where I’d end up has been on my mind for a while, and you can’t gauge the vibe of a place until you’ve actually been there. And I’ve always wondered if that vibe carried over into California.

I told my parents about going to San Francisco, and they told me all the stories they had from 21 years ago of dragging me around San Francisco and California. Alcatraz, Madame Tussauds, the beach – all places I plan to see and visit on our trip soon. As a kid, I used to carry around a brass souvenir my parents bought of a cable car because it looked like the trolley in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood on TV. The West Coast was always this place my parents visited once with no real plan in the future of returning.

What I’ve noticed about visiting a new city is the self-reflection that I always experience with it. I think it’s watching myself figure out a new environment with its unique culture and challenges. And deciding whether I would work there, live there, raise kids or just return for a visit sometime – who knows.