The appeal of the gypsy life

"She said I think I'll go to Boston, I think I'll start a new life
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name
I'll get out of California, I'm tired of the weather
I think I'll get a lover and fly em out to Spain
I think I'll go to Boston, I think that I'm just tired
I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind
I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset
I hear it's nice in the Summer, some snow would be nice
Boston, where no one knows my name"
- "Boston"
Augustana

I always swore that I would leave where I was raised. I would not be one of those people who grew where my roots were planted, and failed to venture to a different place. I wanted to see how other people lived, what I liked better, and what I would come to appreciate about where I grew up.
I left suburban New York to attend college in Georgia. Athens, a vibrant college town, is situated about an hour and a half from Atlanta, among numerous rural/semi-suburban towns. It was my first introduction to living in the South, and my foray into a different lifestyle.
Although The University of Georgia boasts students from all over the world, the largest percentage of students seemed to hail from the Atlanta suburbs. Most people who hailed from these suburbs (Gwinett County, etc.) seemed to believe that this area of Atlanta was their private mecca. No place could top growing up in Gwinett County; no city was greater than Atlanta. Why would anyone live in New York, or California.
Conversely, I met a number of people who came from rural towns that had one traffic light, at best. Many of these people felt that where they came from was the worst place in the country. There was nothing to do there, they said. They came to Athens to live somewhere with more excitement.
I never wanted to believe that where I came from was either the best or worst place to be.
I wanted to travel; I wanted to live in different places, meet different people.
I always thought the perfect lifestyle involved moving around frequently, and having few attachments. Whenever I grew tired of the direction my life was headed in, it always seemed as though moving would change everything.
Leaving town couldn't change everything, though. It merely took my life and placed it in a different environment. Although a new environment is often the first step towards change, it never solved my problems. That is up to me, wherever my travels lead me.

"And daydreamed about how to make your life better by leaving town"
- "Leaving Town"
Dexter Freebish