Kari Sullivan

We took a two year break from Boston trips, and I think it did us some good. I love Boston, and it felt great to be back. In some ways, I really felt reconnected to the city, and it was almost like falling in love with it all over again. Without any obligations for once, we were free to do anything we wanted, and as a result, I think we had our best trip ever.

Boston seems to be changing, and I’d say for the better. It’s a lot more modern than it used to be, and I think it seems less conservative / provincial. For example, I am noticing a lot more openly gay couples than before. Oh and so many dogs! I love seeing dogs everywhere, especially places where they’re not supposed to be like the T.

I also didn’t really feel much of a recessionary vibe in Boston and Cambridge, which makes sense. I think that this recession is still very zip code based, so while the affluent parts of Boston may be hit, they sure don’t feel like someplace like Portland, OR. Cambridge feels even more removed from the rest of the country than it used to. The average IQ there has to be a standard deviation away from the average IQ in some parts of Texas. Pretty amazing.

My only small complaint about Boston is that it’s in the middle of this huge Red Sox bubble. I lived in Boston in 1997, and I can say without a doubt that a lot of the fandom is very fair-weather based. Not the biggest deal, but a lot of bridge and tunnel types seem to flood the city on game days – and there’s a bit of a Disney / Vegas frenzy that I rather avoid.

Overall, I feel like this trip definitely sparked a bit of a change in how I feel about Austin. While there are some things I love (like Tex-mex and funky Austinites), I really miss the more serious, intellectual atmosphere of the Northeast. I miss good Chinese food and people wearing suits. I even miss the winter, and that’s really saying something!

Needless to say, I hope I’m back in Boston soon!