![\"Chillin'](\"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/BAmSwGLCIAAe_tK-300x400.jpg\")
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So Sunday afternoon, I boarded a train with most of my earthly possessions (at least, all of the ones I care to enjoy for the next year) and headed out to Utah. \u00a0I arrived Tuesday night, without a car, a job, or a place to live, but things have been working out really well so far and I hope to get all that stuff squared away in the next few days.<\/p>\n
This was my sixth or seventh time traveling cross country by train, so I knew the drill. \u00a0The hardest part is getting enough sleep, so I brought a blindfold and some earplugs, and that actually worked out really well. \u00a0There were a lot of interesting people on the train, and I spent some time chatting with a few of them. \u00a0The train is one of the easiest place to make friends, just because the people who take it tend to be very laid back and friendly.<\/p>\n
The train arrived in Provo late Tuesday evening, and I spent the night at my brother in law’s family, where I’m staying until I find a place to live. \u00a0Let me just say, it’s great to have friends and family to help you out when you really need it. \u00a0My old car was in the shop, so I set out on foot the next morning in search of an apartment. \u00a0Not much luck on that front so far, but I got my car back and found a few job leads, so it looks like I should be settled back down before long.<\/p>\n So why am I moving back to Utah? \u00a0A lot of reasons, but mostly because I just really like it out here. \u00a0I wanted to take a break before my next overseas adventure, catch up with some old friends and spend some time in a place that I know and love. \u00a0It also helps that there’s a good writing scene out here, with a bunch of great local conventions and conferences in the spring.<\/p>\n I didn’t always like Utah, but it’s really grown on me since I first came out here for college back in 2006. \u00a0The landscape is beautiful, with lots of amazing places to explore. \u00a0The people are really friendly and easy to get along with, even if your political views aren’t conservative (though admittedly, it’s harder). \u00a0The Mormon culture makes some things kind of quirky, but not in a way that makes it too hard for me to fit in. \u00a0In fact, if there’s any place in the world where I “fit in,” it’s probably here.<\/p>\n Things are kind of upside down right now, of course, but that will change once I find a place to live. \u00a0That’s going to take the focus away from my writing for a while, though hopefully not for too long. \u00a0In the meantime, today is another day, so I’d better get busy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So Sunday afternoon, I boarded a train with most of my earthly possessions (at least, all of the ones I care to enjoy for the next year) and headed out to Utah. \u00a0I arrived Tuesday night, without a car, a job, or a place to live, but things have been working out really well so… Continue reading Back in Utah…again!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Moving out to Utah again. If there's any place in the world where I fit in, it's probably here.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[857,569,650],"tags":[122,30,684,148,189],"class_list":["post-8014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sw","category-sbg","category-sk","tag-friends","tag-life-decisions","tag-mormon-culture","tag-travel","tag-utah","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iXK-25g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8014"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8023,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8014\/revisions\/8023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"BAsUBItCIAAYenb\"](\"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/BAsUBItCIAAYenb-300x400.jpg\")
Most of the time, though, I spent reading, figuring out my new phone, and writing. \u00a0Made some good progress on\u00a0The Sword Keeper<\/strong>, though it looks like I’ll be putting it on hold for a while to get\u00a0Stars of Blood and Glory<\/strong> ready for publication. \u00a0Wrote a little bit in\u00a0Star Wanderers: Benefactor<\/strong> as well–man, whenever I need a good escape, it’s always fun to write a Star Wanderers<\/strong> story! \u00a0I have no idea when this one will be ready, but I think it will turn out well.<\/p>\n