Fourth of July, Redondo Beach. Fireworks across the horizon.
It’s 1,300 miles to Austin—a two-day trip. I wanted to do the whole 20-hour drive in one spell, but looking at the moving truck parked outside, it’ll be a little more than just unwieldy. I’m not just moving there because the girl I’m in love with is starting a job and graduate school there. I’m moving because we’re not the first ones to leave Los Angeles for the reasons you might guess.
Four years, amigos. Four years in this glittering city, full of wealth and hardship, opportunity and denial, cliches and exploration. For the last four years I’ve seen friends move in and out, rents go up, cars slip in and out of my grasp. I’ve moved at least once a year in the past four years. I loved being part of a big city—it felt good to be part of something larger than myself. (It’s why I contemplated moving to New York after grad school.) But the grating repetition of LA life—looking out the window, seeing the sea of expensive cars—can eat a man up from the inside. Living in Los Angeles is like sitting in a smoke-filled room, staring at a poster that says “I’M BETTER THAN YOU.”
When the time comes, the time comes.
But in the meanwhile, I’ve got this beautiful, humble website to thank for giving me a chance. For getting me my first press car, my first press trip, my first reviews…my first chance at this business that occupied my time and my life and my passions for my post-college life.
The last 110 episodes have been nothing but fun—so many good guests, so many great discussions. (We recorded on a boat! We talked to Bob Lutz! We may have gotten drunk!) And, all these episodes inadvertently charted my progress from Very Famous Auto Journalist to Semi-Retired Auto Journalist to Who Knows What I’ll Be Now.
Something, I reckon. Something that won’t stray too far from a platform where I can voice obsequious opinions about horseless carriages, especially while using the word “obsequious.”
At least I still have my certificate from Cadillac CTS-V Racing School.
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