Clairemont Times: Farewell, San Diego

When I decided to do a road trip seven months ago from Boston to San Diego, I had no idea what to expect.

I had studied abroad in Italy for a semester in college, so I anticipated what it would be like living in a drastically different place.

However, unlike my experience in Italy, this was not an organized program with students my age. I was not in college anymore, and I knew it would be different.

I had no job. I had no apartment. I had never even been to California, let alone San Diego.

Besides traveling to San Diego with my friend from my hometown and knowing a couple of older kids who had graduated from my high school, everything else was foreign to me.

I wrote a piece for the Clairemont Times when I first arrived describing a sense of culture shock. In other words, I could not believe that was I here.

The palm trees. The Mexican influence. The beach and outdoor culture. All of it was and still is, surreal.

As I now leave San Diego and head back to Boston, I still can’t believe I have lived here for seven months.

From coaching freshman baseball at a San Diego high school to playing beach volleyball and jumping into the ocean as the sun sets, there were so many special experiences that I had during my time here that will stay with me when I leave.

Some of my favorites include:

1.     Eating more Taco Surf Burritos than I would have ever imagined

2.     Hitting batting practice on a baseball field in San Diego with my same friend who I used to hit baseballs with back in Boston…. In January

3.     Reporting at a San Diego Padres game and interviewing one of my idols, Don Orsillo

4.     Visiting Mexico on New Year’s Day

5.     Hiking Torey Pines

6.     Playing pickup outdoor basketball more times than I can count at Pacific Beach Rec Center with locals from San Diego and other east coast transplants  

7.     Visiting Legoland and the San Diego Zoo

8.     Chilling by the fire on the beach with the new friends I met in San Diego

This list is just a fraction of all of the amazing experiences I had in San Diego (I didn’t even mention La Jolla or Sunset Cliffs).

When I describe San Diego to my friends from the East Coast, I describe it as paradise.

And it is true.

In Boston, there are no palm trees. The weather isn’t perfect year-round. The most popular beaches people visit are about an hour away, and the streets are not crowded with bikers and people on rollerblades.

In addition, people don’t flood the bars on a Sunday (Sunday Fun-day is not a thing), and most people don’t surf.

The culture and vibe in San Diego were actually like a different country for me.

It was that different.

But, I have learned that the most important experiences in life have nothing to do with where you live, the things you can do in that place, or the weather.

Rather, it is the relationships that you form and the small moments that you have along the way. That is what makes an experience meaningful or memorable.

Coaching baseball was a great experience. Winning felt terrific and losing felt awful. But what I will remember the most is the relationships I made with the kids, the other coaches, and even the parents.

I may not recall a specific game a year from now, but I will remember how rewarding it felt to see one specific kid persevere and mature from the beginning of the season to the end.

Hitting baseballs on a San Diego field was fantastic, but it was really special because I was hitting baseballs with my buddy from Boston who I have known since little league.

Playing beach volleyball and witnessing the sunset as I jumped in the ocean was surreal. But what made that moment memorable was that my friend and I were with two kids we had bonded with just a couple of months ago.

Although it has been a great seven months, it is time for me to go back to the east coast and be closer to my family and old friends.

But I will certainly miss all of the amazing experiences I have had here.

There are not many places where you can bike along the beach to the bay as the sun sets in the middle of winter.

San Diego is a special place, and I will always cherish my time here.

Farewell, San Diego.