2004.....damn.
Actually, December of this year will be 20 years since I moved to Austin. I was 24 but still a kid, though I probably didn't think so at the time.
Had a heckuva time getting a job there, took far longer than I anticipated, and my little savings account that I thought was more than enough to float me along for a few months was bone dry by the time I got any traction. I took odd jobs and quick-cash gigs along with other.....er, "locals" who possibly didn't have citizenship that first year...anything I could get.
Always have had a weird regret about life there. Seems I either had time to enjoy the place but no money, or else I had a great job with plenty of $ and ZERO time to enjoy the city. I wasn't even there most of the time during the week, and my weekends were largely spent helping my church and taking a breather before the long week to come. Never really had time and money at the same time to just be there and enjoy things like I wanted.
That said, somehow I did manage to do a lot of things that first year, and still pushed myself to do things on weekends when I worked off and came home for a couple days. Just never felt like I got to enjoy everything nearly as much as I wanted.
Now when I visit the GD roads have changed so much I feel like I can barely navigate anywhere without a GPS. Somehow I meander around and I get there though. But it's the same thing now. Due to health problems I can't do any walking around or any fun touring like I want.
Me and Austin were just not meant to be, I suppose.
Still loved it, tho.