The grass is always greener elsewhere. “not bad” is actually good imo.

Personally, I moved to JPN from the US because of a job opportunity over 20 years ago.
But if given the opportunity to move back, I don’t think I would move back. the US has turned into something I don’t recognize as well as I thought I did.

I do feel like the perpetual foreigner, but alas.
I’ve been to Europe on business and enjoy every trip, but that’s because I’m not really living the local life, in a hotel, taking taxis, dining out every night…

I’ve re-played GTA V a lot, mainly because all I had for the longest time was a PS3…
It’s kinda like watching friends or seinfeld over and over. comforting?
I now own a PS4 level gaming PC and am playing, surprise surprise, GTAV…

24 and in college, were you military or doctorate? if the former, hopefully you don’t have student debt, the latter, don’t you want to be in the field?

You’re young, you don’t have much cash or savings, but you sound like you want that YouTuber lifestyle. Maybe that might be a way to finance your trip, but that’s a helluva gamble. But Turkey in March, how are you going to finish your classes, even if its online, I don’t see you doing them if your vacationing.

I don’t remember gap years being the norm in the US, but if you can take one, and can pay for it, give it a try. but if you have no means of paying for it, you might want to check your priorities. btw $3,000 will disappear in hotels alone, really quick

Tell them the truth. they are family. you shouldn’t lie to family. tell them your buddy is moving to town and rather than have them spend it alone in a new country, you want to show them around. just leave out the miserable stuff out of your explanation.

I haven’t been home for the holidays in more than 20 years.

Drink more fluids, blink more, and acknowledge you’re getting older and your body is slowly breaking down

Drink more fluids, blink more, and acknowledge you’re getting older and your body is slowly breaking down

I find I prefer no commentary, only because most of the color commentary is not very additive. I don’t mind theRadBrad because he doesn’t talk a mile a minute. he discusses strategy(if i choose this power up, if I go down this path, I’m not going there until I have item x) and he also does editing(I tried this but it didn’t work, and I’ll spare you the video of me eating it)

SEVEN KIDS!?

my hat’s off to you. if I had that many, I’d just be happy to sleep!

we both carve out time for our hobbies. We’re both kinda home bodies. I’m a tinkerer, but not by trade. If I had the floorspace I’d probably have a garage full of tools that could burn, break, cut off my fingers :)

I’m by no means rich, but I can afford to buy an OLEDdeck without having to resort to eating top ramen for a month…

I was debating whether or not to get a typical cheaper PC and an OG steamdeck for about the same total price I paid for the gaming PC, but figured I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone with the gaming PC. I can edit video and play games too, but it’s not as simple as console gaming(then again, neither is the steamdeck from what I’ve seen) a lot of tweaking of settings to get it in the right rez and fps sweet spots.

The OLED version quashed 2 of the 3 issues I had with the OG. Battery life and screen quality. The APU will have to be more than just a lithography shrink, but I’m torn about the need for more horsepower for games that don’t exist.

grrrr. need to plot how to justify a purchase. coming up a bit short, especially after buying the gaming pc…
“but I can play on the couch and be with you guys instead of going into my tiny man cave and being by myself” probably won’t hold…

dammit. that’s a great point.

my pc CAN wake up from sleep and go back to gaming, but it’s more complicated than tapping 1 button. (open lid, facial recognition log in, re-pair BT controller, hope the light sleep state didn’t kill the battery…)