I moved to the "city" with my wife to be able to afford to go back to school and eventually become a school teacher. The cost of living here is amazing and cheap. We have everything we can possibly want; a house, a car, money to travel. The only thing we do not have up here is a social life.
My wife an I met when we were both living in Toronto, Ontario. We lived in an apartment, and we did many social things. My wife likes to dance, so we went dancing. We loved having friends over for dinners, so we did. I love concerts, and so went to them. I played Dungeons & Dragons with my friends, it was awesome. It is amazing what you take for granted when you live in a big city like Toronto.
Now that I live in the small town, it is very nice and quiet etc..., but I miss being implicated in the many possible activities that a city has to offer, especially D&D.
I currently play D&D three times a week. I play on Tuesdays with my original Toronto based group via Teamspeak and MapTools. I run organized play (D&D Encounters) at my FLGS on Friday evenings, and play D&D 3.5 with friends on Friday nights. I love to play and will continue to play wherever I am.
I have recently been feeling "out of the loop" when it comes to the gaming community. As much as people chat, message, email, blog, forumate etc., it is not the same as being there in person. I don't know if any of you can relate to an experience such as this? I feel disconnected from the people of the game. I mean, I have not been to a convention, a con or anything else. The most I have done is ONCE gone to play D&D Encounters at Dueling Grounds in Toronto with Ameron from dungeonsmaster.com. To be able to go every Wednesday would be awesome, but I live 6 hours and 535km away from the closest gaming location. Below are some words that somewhat describe the feeling I get:
All my friends are so small town, My parents live in a same small town, my job is so small town, Provides little opportunity, hey! - John Cougar MellencampI am not trying to complain about the town I live in. It is a beautiful town. It really is. I jsut wish it was closer to a mojor centre where there would be some life. My job is really not small town either, but there are no jobs to be had. I have been supply teaching for most of the year so far.
I have gotten the itch, the itch to play D&D and to write about the game, to participate in the community involved with the game. I want to go to GenCon, I want to go to Pax'es, and all the other conventions. I just have to travel 6 hours to get to the airport, or travel 20 hours to get to Boston. I want to mingle with people who play the same game as me and have the same interest in talking about the game as I do. I am the type of person who needs to bounce ideas off people. Green is my personality and logic is sometimes a stumbling block for my writing. Talking with other people gets the juices flowing.
The good news is, that I am hopefully moving back to Toronto this summer to pursue my teaching career. Being in Toronto will make it easier for me to go to GenCon this year. Living in a small town has afforded me the luxury of being able to go to go back to school without breaking the bank, while giving me a wonderful place to stay that does not tap me of all my money.
Do any of you feel the same way as I do?
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