I like to travel. This may not be a surprising statement from a person with a travel blog. I am always trying to find a way to travel more. The travel bug is an addiction of sorts. Maybe just an obsessive hobby. And just as an alcoholic needs to know when the liquor store opens on a weekday, I must cram myself into a miserably small plane seat for a few hours and appear in a new city. So rather than find some semblance of balance in my life, I have decided to travel full time. Also just got a new job. Supported by a laptop and an internet connection, my girlfriend and I now live the digital nomad life. Every month we will be in a new city. Starting with Seattle.

This was my first time in Seattle. We stayed in the Pike Place area, which is tourist central. But tourist areas are not all bad. October is generally the offseason and weekdays the streets are less crowded. So without the crowds, we were left with the famous Pike Place market, a variety of places to eat and drink, fun little stores, and amazing views of the bay all in a walkable area. The real downside is the cost. They don’t change the prices just because less people show up. On top of this inflationary environment erasing the middle class, our pockets were feeling shallow.

We stayed in an old building that had been repurposed for Airbnbs and short term rentals. The company that ran it provided some things like soap and paper towels, but mostly we were on our own in a small apartment. So it was like staying in a bigger hotel room with less service. When I say ‘old’, I mean missing things like a dishwasher, dryer, bathroom fan and garbage disposal. Like, what is this, Europe? So all of this, in a small, one bedroom apartment, where we both worked every day, I would not call it luxury. Not that I’m complaining, the location was unbeatable. But this was no vacation.

Well let’s talk about the good things. Anyone that has been to Seattle has been to the Pike Place Market: an outdoor market with heavy fish aromas. The many stands sell art, sculptures, books, honey, spices, fruit, and of course: seafood. You can stand around waiting for someone to buy a whole fish so you can see them throw it over the counter. Surrounding the market is an abundance of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. The first ever Starbucks is down there. We never went. Even on the slowest, rainiest weekday, it always had a line out the door. There are bookstores, a map store, two Irish pubs, a Target, and a burlesque shop (never got around to that one). All within a block or two of our place.

The first day we got there we went to see the Avalanche play the Kraken on opening night. I was shouting, it was rowdy. They really hate Cale Makar from a hit last playoffs. The Avs won. A great start to the trip followed with a busy week. No matter how long a trip is, there is always a sense of urgency upon arrival to do as much as possible. That is the case for me, at least. We tried many restaurants. Most beers were $10. I ate the best shrimp po boy of my life. We saw the gum wall (it’s as gross as it is interesting). We had drinks on a rooftop bar with stunning views.

Friday night after a few bars Monika and I stumbled upon a small bar called Rabbit Box. As much as anyone can “stumble” upon something in a tourist hot spot. They told us we could have a drink before the bands came on, but would have to pay the cover if we stayed past then. I told them we would be out shortly, but the first band came on before we had finished our drinks. It was a strange place to have live music because any given night a band could only play to about 20 people. It was intimate.

The first act I’m not sure you could call a band. It was two guys dressed in shiny, silky garments and high heels. Their mascara eyes were alive with passion as they sang over some techno-pop and retro-electro soundscapes. Neither of them played instruments, nor did they have band members that did. Just the two of them strutting around and pouring their hearts and souls into every song. After they were done, we got kicked out for not paying the cover.

Saturday and Sunday we spent with my sister and her boyfriend. It was really good to see them. We bounced around town, including the rooftop bar on Saturday. Sunday we went up to Ballard, just North of Seattle where they are new residents. We watched some football and walked through a farmer’s market. Just a lazy Sunday for the most part. But even the most casual agenda is a tax on energy, especially when there is no break. Hence the sleepiness. In Seattle. This was month two of being a digital nomad and I was still adjusting.

The following weekend we drove to Olympic national park. We drove onto the ferry, which took us across the bay, to a road that crosses many bridges and contoured to a long shoreline. We had only planned a single hike for the day. The hike was relatively short compared to the amount of driving, but I loved the forest. It was an old-growth forest filled with enormous trees draped in vines and moss. Everything was lush and quiet. This was October, so the leaves were an array of colors. We walked over a bridges and up some wet stones to a thin waterfall. Not the hardest hike, nor the most impressive waterfall, but the setting as a whole could have been straight from a fairytale.

Not satisfied, we turned up another path to extend our hike further. This incline was much, much steeper and had many switchbacks up a large hill in the forest. After what had to have been either three days or twenty minutes of hiking, we stopped to catch our breath. We asked some fellow hikers on the way down if we were near the top. They laughed and said we were barely a quarter of the way. My sister was fighting a cold, not sure how she even made it that far, and considering that, our decision to turn back was made for us.

The drive home felt even longer. Sure there’s the beautiful landscape and the stunning ocean and yada yada, but six hours of driving for a two hour activity makes time pass slower. However, we took a different ferry home. This one went right into the heart of downtown. Many I’m sure have taken this ferry before, but we caught it at sunset. We watched the orange glow around the rim of the world fade to purple and black. Mount Rainer stood stoically as a lonely silhouette against the dying light of day. And as if God himself commanded it, the moon rose to replace the sun from behind the skyline. This mesmeric moonrise topped any I’d ever seen. The skyscrapers grew taller as we approached. The moon started as a shimmer behind downtown elevated to reflect itself across the bay. Forest be damned, that ferry ride stole the day.

I caught that cold my sister had, so I didn’t do much the following week. The next weekend my parents and other sister came to visit. We went to meet them up in Ballard for brunch, where my sister lives. Monika and I got turned around and missed the bus we were supposed to take, which I think is basically just a rite of passage when you’re in a new city. But getting off the bus was our true taste of Seattle. We stepped into a downpour. Wisely, I did not have rain boots or a rain jacket. The streets flowed like a dam had been breached. It was biblical. I was wading across the Mississippi in my tennis shoes at every crosswalk. We walked for about ten minutes before we stumbled into the brunch spot. Everyone looked at us like we just got rescued by the coast guard. But what can you do? So we ate the whole meal feeling our wet socks squelch in our shoes.

Later in the day we rented a little electric boat to tour around Lake Union at 5mph. What it lacked in adrenaline it made up for in scenery. A thin plastic sheet was draped all around the boat sealing us from the icy wind, while also containing our 80s tunes. Our vessel scooted along the rim of the bay in no hurry, drinking in the view of downtown. We studied the floating neighborhoods, close enough to look into their living rooms. We judged and praised the names of the boats that we passed. There was no real restriction on where we could go, yet sea planes literally flew over us and landed in the water around us. Not sure if air traffic control or the coast guard was the authority figure in this situation, but it seemed to be based on eyesight alone. That day I decided if I were to name a boat, it would be the S.S. Stutter.

My family went home, and the rest of our time was fairly uneventful. Except one event. One plain and ordinary weeknight we were cooking dinner in our tiny kitchen to avoid maxing out a credit card on another meal downtown. Monika, such a fine and industrious woman, was trying her hardest to open a pull-tab can of beans. She opened it indeed, but at a steep price. The razor edge of the can lid sliced her finger as she forced the can open. The gash seemed deep by the amount of blood rushing out of it. She began to panic. But in her shock she remembered there was a first aid kit under the sink. She also started to lie on the floor while reminding me of her history of passing out from pain-related incidents. In one previous incident, she passed out because her noodles were too hot. So even in the moment, I foresaw this being worse.

I wouldn’t say she was calm during this, but incredibly lucid. How does someone with such an iron grasp on their mental fortitude also have such low pain tolerance? Perhaps the later begets the former. In any case, she did pass out while I fumbled through the first aid kit. I wish I could describe it as dainty Sleeping Beauty falling into the arms of Prince Charming. But it probably looked a little more like a scene from The Exorcist. For Monika’s sake I’ll spare any further detail. I did get the finger wrapped up, then finished cooking dinner. After a few hours, we tried to change the bandage, which caused her to faint once more. It was bleeding again, and my second bandage job was even sloppier craftsmanship than the first.

You never know what you need until you need it. This is a lazy, blanket statement about life, but it is especially true for travelling. And especially especially true for long term travelling. There are the annoying things that you miss like good wifi and or that shirt you forgot to pack. Then there are other things like what urgent cares in this city are in-network and open at midnight? I gave up on playing doctor and tried to find someone more qualified to help while staying calm. We eventually found a Kaiser urgent care and took an uber there. Don’t get me started on the American healthcare system. But Kaiser in particular is awful. Everything is out of network. Kaiser is the German word for emperor. Like, they want to be the Hitler of healthcare? What the hell is that about?

Anyway long story short, we got in and a qualified doctor numbed and stitched her hand up. So that was a fun little adventure. But overall I enjoyed Seattle. It is breathtakingly scenic. Before we left, we squeezed in a few more activities. We saw Demetri Martin live (very funny). We went to a Seahawks game. We saw the city from my sister’s boyfriend’s office on the 50th? floor. We saw it from many angles and lived in the heart of it. Expensive for sure, but in this case I think you get what you pay for. Except the $10 beer. Beer is the same everywhere.