Aside from the entry about travels to Europe I haven't had much to say. Probably because my focus was on sleeping around and I was hesitant to tell you. But it is not what you think! What a shame! Returning from Buenos Aires last June I knew city life was essential but I also knew that the expat life was not for me. Though I know Buenos Aires and Argentina will be a regular stop in my travels I will not relocate there. It was clear the time had come to head back to the city I never stopped calling home. Yes, my roots are in Chicago, the windy city, and the energy of my home was calling. But how to pull this off, yet maintain the many important anchors in St. Joseph, Michigan, was a challenge. And an even bigger challenge was deciding where to land in this city that offered a myriad of options. It came to me that the best way to decide was not decide until I had "slept around".
In the midst of transition it is back to the basics. Maslow's hierarchy loomed large in my mind. I was on the bottom rung seeking shelter. My needs were very specific: short-term, furnished accommodations, in the heart of downtown Chicago, at an affordable price. I thought about placing an ad, you know, "desperately seeking shelter", but the thought of that lacked appeal. Friends steered me toward Craig's List with reassurance that all needs could be met by Craig.
Nothing is quite as easy as it sounds so it was not surprising when the first visit to Craig's list offered nothing but rentals out of the range of affordability. Most were geared toward corporate rentals with the company footing the bill. When one did catch my eye in the gold coast area I was on it. Entering the lobby my intuition said it was not the place. It had that look and smell like it had been around a long time with not much attention paid to sprucing it up. I queried a man leaving the lobby about the place. "So do you live here?" I asked. "Well, yes" he said, "I sold a condo near-by a couple of years ago and decided to just rent." "And how do you like it", I asked. "Well I'm a truck driver and am on the road most of the month so it works for me. But you can see, the building is old." Mind you, he didn't say vintage, quaint or historic. He said OLD! There you have it! And yes, after seeing the unit, that would be the best adjective to describe the place.
Just as I was beginning to think my dream was lofty and not to be reached, Dan posted his place. Looked good, the price was right, and my timing was on it When sitting at Starbuck's on Michigan Avenue we connected via phone and made the plan for the tour. This cute young man with a baseball cap opened the door to his place on Wacker Drive viewing Navy Pier. What more could I want, except maybe he could stick around instead of just sublet. Now if he came with the apartment I could truly say I was "sleeping around". No such luck.... off to Boston the place was mine for three months. The deal was done with a one paragraph letter of agreement, cash and a set of keys. It was an "if you build it they will come" sort of thing, but it began my city tour. Six months later I have claimed several neighborhoods in the city as mine....the top of the Magnificent Mile, the Loop, Bucktown, the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park. Now I am heading back to Buenos Aires with plans to check out Streeterville on my return.
Stay tuned for more on "Sleeping Around in the City"......
