To Paraphrase The Animals: I Gotta Get Out of this Place!

Lately it has become painfully obvious to me that I'm never going to get a good job living in eastern North Carolina unless, of course, that job happens to be in eastern North Carolina. And not that such a scenario would be so terrible; I grew up here, I always planned to return someday, and overall this place has been pretty good to me. The thing is that ever since I was in high school, I've been planning to get out and see and experience as much of the rest of the world as possible until I finally decide to "settle down" (whatever that means).

College was just the first step. Still in NC, but far enough away that I didn't have my parents in my face all the time (although they were close enough that if I really got in trouble, they could still help me out some). Next came law school in the Sunshine State, and aside from my obvious disenchantment with the legal profession, that was also a great experience. Then came a little speedbump. After much deliberation, I decided to return to NC for the bar exam. I guess the overriding factor here was my desire to return to NC "someday," and I thought that getting my license here would serve me best in the long run.

As it turns out, though, I don't think I'm quite ready for "someday" yet (interesting sidenote: according to Creedence Clearwater Revival, "someday" never comes). However, the other side of that double-edged sword is that an NC law license basically means jack-shit outside the Tar Heel State's borders. That has created quite a predicament for me. Do I focus more on finding a bona fide legal position here in NC, and risk feeling like I'm giving up my dream of getting out and seeing more of the world, or do I essentially ignore the law degree/bar certification I worked so hard for, and try my hand at something else for a couple of years?

At the beginning of this ill-fated job search, I really just sort of took a laissez-faire approach: apply to all kinds of jobs all over the place, and whichever one I got was where I would go. Unfortunately, that hasn't exactly worked out too well, as here I sit all these many months later. As such, I've decided it's time for a much more pro-active approach, where I just take what's left of my meager savings, pick a general geographic region, and just go for it. Here are some places I've been considering taking this crazy train as of late:

Charlotte, NC: If I do stay in NC, this is really the only city I would want to be in. Even though Raleigh, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem are all "real" cities in my opinion, I think Charlotte is the only one in which I wouldn't feel I was taking a step backwards after living in Miami. Cool downtown, Panthers, Bobcats, pretty far from the beach but really close to skiing/snowboarding, and most importantly about 95% of my college friends live in the area. Definite contender.

Washington, DC: I've always loved DC, and I always seem to meet to girls when I go there. Enough said. I also have a few friends up there, and I've always thought it would be cool to be around the hustle-and-bustle of our government at work. All the pro sports are covered (little- known piece of trivia: my first ever professional sporting event attended live was the Capitals vs the Tampa Bay Lightning at the MCI Center), and I don't think I'll ever get tired of the Smithsonian.

New York, NY: I know I want to be in a big city, so why not go to the biggest? I know that packing up and moving to New York would probably be the craziest/scariest/most exciting/most expensive thing I've ever done in my life, but that just makes me want to do it even more. This idea first came to me sort of as a joke: my brother has been talking about moving up there for a while to pursue an acting career, and my mom said I should go too just to keep him out of trouble. Then the more I thought about it, it occurred to me, "why the hell not?" Certainly would be an adventure.

Miami, FL: I was very much convinced that when I drove away from here in May, I would only be returning for short vacations, if ever. There were so many things I disliked about Miami, it's hard for me to even admit that I've thought about going back. There is definitely a comfort-level factor here, though, as I'm already so familiar with the area, and the weather is a plus (especially this time of year). Still, I feel like I left on my own terms, and I'd kind of like to leave it that way. Chances are pretty small - but not non-existent - that I'll be going back permanently.

Atlanta, GA: I've really never cared much for Atlanta, and I think the chances of me moving there are much smaller than going back to Miami. It is a big city, though, and it's only a couple of hours away so moving all of my crap down there wouldn't a huge pain. Can't rule it out completely.

Los Angeles, CA: I've only applied to one job in LA, and strangely enough, it is one of the few I've heard back from. I put this one in the longshot category, too, although I do have family in LA and the adventure factor would be at least as high as it would be for NYC. This one would also probably take the biggest adjustment for me as I've been representin' East Coast my whole life, yo.

London, UK: At some point in my life I desperately want to spend about a year working somewhere in Europe, and this is the city that feel most at home in already. Dublin, Ireland is a close second place contender. Now if I can just find a way around those pesky EU work permits. Probability here: somewhere in the 0.0-0.5% range. This is one city, however, I would take a substantially crappier job just for the opportunity.

Tampa/Boston/Chicago/Philadelphia/Jacksonville/Dallas/San Fran: All big cities where I know at least one person and I don't have any specific objections to trying out for a while. Beyond that, no strong feelings one way or the other. Requirement: firm job offer on the table.

Those are all of the places I can think of right off the top of my head, although I know there are probably several others I wouldn't totally count out. Anyway, I'm getting really serious about this (if I wait much longer I won't even be able to afford to set up a new place), and right now I fully expect to have a new zip code in the next 2-3 weeks.

Any thoughts, questions, or comments on this matter would be greatly appreciated.