I’m steadily checking out of Portland. I can tell because
I’m increasingly losing interest in starting new friendships, investing in
non-starter friendships and my tolerance for pointless banter has hit a new all-time low. I just can’t be bothered, other things on my mind and thus I'm preferring my own company, spending time at home and nurturing my better, more rewarding/reciprocal friendships.
The larger point though is that Portland is a city of
infatuation. To enjoy it, you must adore it and remain ever devoted to it.
Don’t get me wrong it is fragrant and tantalizing with more temptation and
indulgence than the average American city. However it is incredibly homogenized, exhaustingly
self-affirming, and mind-numbingly preoccupied with it’s own bloated sense of
grandioseness. I can no longer abide.
Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed this city, loved it even and reveled in its treasures as if flipping in fresh, crisp waters after swimming for months in buoyancy of heavily salted marine waters. Lately though I've become too fatigued with the continuous effort and perpetual-motion required to keep the breathing orifices above the liquid. It’s treading, both in the metaphorical and the existential sense. I am fatigued of upholding the self-congratulatory affect and cooler than though exterior. The town no longer fuels me, and I think it’s starting to show.
Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed this city, loved it even and reveled in its treasures as if flipping in fresh, crisp waters after swimming for months in buoyancy of heavily salted marine waters. Lately though I've become too fatigued with the continuous effort and perpetual-motion required to keep the breathing orifices above the liquid. It’s treading, both in the metaphorical and the existential sense. I am fatigued of upholding the self-congratulatory affect and cooler than though exterior. The town no longer fuels me, and I think it’s starting to show.
Tonight I returned to REI to investigate luggage for the
second time. I settled on a swank and smart Victorionox rolling suitcase.
It’s smaller than other options capacity-wise but looks wholly more function, with a
pleasing form to boot. I shall test out all my packing options while traveling
Italy, refine my systems and then deploy them to lands that are the antithesis of
Italy. A flawed approach? Perhaps, but
better than no approach at all.
I’m attempting a suitcase + daybag/pack approach that I’ve
never had the courage to edit towards... Restricting myself to such limited
luggage I’m sure will yield benefits disproportionally and will put the whims
of travel in my favor. Less is more, and I’m aiming for 100 or less.
