Blog Detail

IMG_20160121_171503

Missing City Life

26 Jan , 2016,
Heidi Kumm
, , ,
No Comments

Every time someone asks how I feel about cities I always say “oh, I’m a country girl” because I truly am. I love the space, the freedom, the silence and the ability to leave your blinds open because there are no neighbors nearby. The country is awesome, whether it’s a flat grassland or a lumpy mountain range, it’s where my heart truly is.

But…

I may have had a moment of “city love” last week. Actually, a whole lot of moments…almost a full two days of city love! It all started at 7:30am in a line at Starbucks [I have a problem, their stupid stars + free drinks + random gift cards keep pulling me back in!]. I was just waiting to order my drink when the man ahead of me started a conversation about how I looked like a friend of his. Rather than being annoyed or weirded out by it we talked until our drinks arrived. It was kind of awesome — completely noncommittal chit chat with a stranger!

Before the caffeine even made its way into my blood stream I was bouncing my way into the Ibotta office where I had to hold myself back from hugging everyone. Seriously. I was so excited to be working around high energy people in an office full of hustle and bustle. I mean, the people I work with are great individuals worthy of hugs but I think I would have hugged strangers if they were the cause of the bubbly energy in the office that morning.

IMG_20160121_171503

What I get to stare at while tappity tapping away on my computer in the Ibotta Customer Service office. #citybeauty

At first I didn’t understand what was going on. Wasn’t I supposed to feel stifled by all the tall buildings and noisy cars? Weren’t all these people supposed to annoy me? Why was I actually enjoying my time in downtown Denver?!

Well, for one, it was “new” to me…it had been nearly 6 months since I did more than just drive through the city of Denver. But more importantly, Denver is a different kind of city during the week. Almost everyone I encountered was moving with a purpose, going to a predetermined destination for a specific reason. The confusion of aimless wandering was replaced with the energy of getting things done. I liked it, I was feeding off of it. This is what made my city love come bubbling up when I least expected it.

Remember when I let myself get irritated and stressed out about the pointless meanderings of tourist in Zermatt? That’s exactly how I feel about Silverthorne [where I’m living now]. It’s a town built up to meet the needs of bewildered tourists…great for them, headache inducing for the locals. Simply going to the grocery store in Silverthorne takes a lot of deep breaths and kinda-sorta disguised eye rolls. After just two weeks of living in a tourist city I had a whole new understanding for Amazon Prime and why you can buy things like toilet paper and garbage bags online. No way was I venturing into the city unless it was absolutely required!

This also explains why I loved Vienna and Zurich so much! They are both big, beautiful capitol cities filled with people going about their daily business with a purpose. Of course there were tourists, that’s exactly what I was, but they didn’t descend onto the streets in droves like they did on cities that depended upon the tourism industry. Prague on the other hand…it might be a capitol city but that place is FULL of wandering tourists! Worth a visit, but only one. IMHO.

A full mooon, city lights and a frozen lake…the view you get when running on city sidewalks. Even the mountain girl in me can’t complain!

So, where does all of this leave the country girl that lives inside me? She shouldn’t worry her pretty little head, I’m sticking to the country…it’s where I ultimately belong. What can I say, I’m really a fan of open blinds! Plus, the solitude and occasional inconvenience of country living is exactly what my psyche needs to really love the city when I’m lucky enough to be wandering around it…with purpose!

Also, if you haven’t already downloaded Ibotta for yourself, you should…it’ll get you cash back into your pocket for things like your regular groceries, random necessities and trips to stores like Sephora, Best Buy or REI. And, yes, they can pay out that cash in a Starbucks gift card, a contributor to my Starbucks problem. Use this Ibotta link to earn yourself a free $10 when you redeem your first rebate as a new member! #shamelessplug

Leave a Reply