Late August, 2024


Now that I have a new apartment… what helps turn it into a home?

Well.

A few things happened to help me settle in. I mean, obviously bedsheets and such were the first order of business – this place did come fully furnished, but that didn’t include things like cookware, linens, books or a computer desk… or even a dresser, as interesting as that is.

I started with plants, though. They’re simple, easy, and make an immediate impact on how “homey” a place feels to me – I went to a spot I’d found on my explorations through the city, a store called “Howbert and Mays”, and picked up a few friends to keep me company:

From there, IKEA.

I rented a van for an afternoon, steeled myself to drive on the wrong side of the road, and made the journey North to the nearest IKEA. I picked up what I could, limiting how overwhelmed I got, and was thankfully able to fill in almost all the cracks that had been missing in the furniture department… and, for something like 20% the price of similar furniture when I’d originally moved to Hood River in Oregon.

Now, granted these pieces are IKEA, and not “fancy bespoke Oregon tomfoolery”, but… you know. Still. Pretty proud of that one.

After IKEA… All that was left was to wait for my shipment of things from the States.

I’d already received all the various packages from the Grand Adventure (Seen below), and those had been arranged as a starting point for the decoration of the apartment… but there was quite a bit still incoming. Things like my computer, my bike, and all the photos that I’d had up on the walls in Wilsonville. All had been carefully packed (by a moving company), and would be carefully delivered (again, moving company) in the closing weeks of August.

Of interesting note, though… after unpacking everything, and getting ready to put up all the various interesting things from Oregon…

I stopped.

I didn’t want to put them up. Neither the rocks I’d collected on hikes, nor the photos I’d printed from my adventures, felt right to put up in a place of clear visibility here.

It was an interesting realization: I’m good. I’ve moved on from Oregon, at least for now, and those memories have settled into their well deserved, and dearly earned, rest. I repackaged them, and put them into one of the storage areas of the new apartment. I thanked them for their help, through the years in Wilsonville, and wished them well on their continued slumber… at least until the time when I’m ready to revisit that portion of my life again.

For now, though, I’m happy in my new world. I’m strong in Dublin, and empowered with the memories of my adventure through Europe. I’ll never forget, nor lose, the memories of Oregon… but it’s time to make some new memories on a new continent.