This week I turned 18, and along with my birthday I experienced a newfound adulthood, and by newfound adulthood I mean boring adulting. Today, I took my first trip into downtown ALONE, which if you know me, is something I don’t typically do. I hate going places by myself, especially public places, transportation, or city-like environments, so downtown state college by myself during the middle of the day is basically my worst nightmare, but I persevered.
My adventure began with figuring out the bus system. Although I’ve ridden the CataBus before, and I know very little about where the stops on each line are, along with which line to take depending on where I am going. Today, I had to adult my way over to the post office to mail a package, and although I know where in downtown the post office is, I had absolutely no clue how to get there. I was riding around in circles on the bus on my way there because I passed my stop and then decided to just wait for it to come again. I think I sat on the bus for a solid hour just waiting to get to my stop for a second time, but I eventually got off the bus at the correct stop and made it to the post office.
After mailing my package, I walked around downtown for a little bit and then settled on going into Target, which I also had yet to do alone here. I wanted to buy knitting supplies, but unfortunately Target didn’t have any, so then I walked around downtown more trying to find a knitting store, but my efforts were to no avail. I went to the Bank after that because I needed to convert some Euros to Dollars, but the bank directly across from campus told me they were incapable of doing that, so then I ended up having to walk all the way to a bank downtown near the far west end of campus to get the money converted.
Although I had to walk around for quite a bit on my own today in an unfamiliar place, I genuinely enjoyed this little trip downtown because it allowed me to work on my newfound independence, along with learning how to be a proper adult, and I got to explore areas of downtown that I had yet to see. I know today’s entry was a bit boring, but so is adulthood apparently.
P.S. If anyone knows of any shops downtown or nearby that sell knitting supplies, please let me know. Adulting also means being a grandma and knitting in my free time now.
Well first of all, Happy Belated Birthday!
I totally get not wanting to walk around alone because I am the exact same way. I take joy in talking while walking and having a companion to go somewhere. I am super impressed with all the tasks you completed. I am such a procrastinator that I would probably get off the bus if I missed my spot and go home. I love your closing sentence about adulthood being boring because it made me laugh. Unfortunately, I do not know of any places that sell knitting supplies, but if I find any, I will let you know!
This is the most realistic post about the state college downtown experience, I feel the exact same way about walking alone downtown. I feel like everyone is fine walking around on campus blasting music through headphones, but being alone downtown requires a lot of awareness, and is usually more comfortable with a friend. I can also totally relate to being unable to find anything downtown, it is a maze that definitely requires Google Maps to navigate, it is honestly really impressive to me that you managed to locate and carry out your banking tasks. In response to your final question, unfortunately I do not knit and am unaware of where to find supplies, but I have a friend who is an avid knitter, so I will let you know if she can impart any knitting knowledge!
This was the most entertaining and relatable thing I ever read. The way it was written was so engaging, I felt like I was on the adventure right along with you. I loved how you described being independent as scary because I know most people feel that. I also want to say slay for doing all of that by yourself. The ps at the end also so cute, I wish I knew a store, but I think if you are feeling brave enough to take the bus a longer way the Walmart or bigger target might have stuff. Side note happy late birthday!!!