This whole town is tourism. I wonder what it must be like to live here? I felt vaguely uncomfortable the entire time, until I felt really uncomfortable, in ways that only an angsty 19 year old can manage.

I still have this vignette in my head of this moment in a convenience store. It was one of those counters where the register goes to the depth of the counter, so I'm standing basically face to face with the clerk while my parents are paying to my left. She's about my age, and I'm wondering, is this really what she wants to be doing? Or is this all there is, here? She could be teaching a class or training to be a gardener but she's selling M&Ms to a bunch of self-absorbed tourists who don't even see her, and are just here for the day and will be gone tomorrow. It must suck to date around here, too.

The ride on the Ducks through a bit of nature was by far the high point.

(That is also the only time I've ever witnessed a golden retriever be anything but adorable - threatened to bite me for an abortive attempt at a head pat. Man, fuck the Dells.)

This applies to probably 90% of the people in the world. The whole follow your passions thing is an upper middle class developed world thing.

I'm convinced it's worse advice if you can afford to follow it without tremendous sacrifice or time to save up for it. If you can't afford to do it without long-term planning and commitment, then it's maybe good advice.