Heres my dilemma

every city in the US is the same, some have minor differences but it's all the same.
your girl is going to be in school for awhile, i agree with what others have said, take a trip for a little while and see how things go, you can always turn around if things suck.
don't get a tent, use a tarp.
i always come back to my home town in minnesota, i hate it, but it's my home. turns out it's one of my favorite places on this planet. don't take home and the friends you have there for granted... unless they really do suck as completely as you stated
 
^ Eh... I disagree. I hear that a lot from jaded travelers (and I kind of am one), but it's just not true. It depends on what you do in every city that makes the entire visit different. If all you do is get drunk from one place to the next, of course it's going to seem like that.
 
Really? So you really think Pensacola is the same as Portland? Or that Richmond is pretty much the same as Omaha?

No disrespect, just curious. I like asking people why they think such things. Because I hear that pretty often.
 
if it was me, i'd get a cell phone to keep her happy, find a road dog and leave and write my fate from there.
you've got one life, follow your heart above anything else..when you fail at life, it's only because you failed yourself..which one would be failure to you..
 
I agree. If you're going to do it then do it. Don't sit on a StP site and talk about this shit wearing a train rag and blah blah blah in your fucking picture if you need someone to hold your hand and tell you how. Seriously, dude. Grow balls, stick your shit in a home bum pack or whatever pack you got and leave. New gear comes to you, and then maybe you won't be sitting at a computer trying to be a train rider or traveler with your rag on asking questions you can figure out on your own. If you have that rag on, you should already know all of this.
 
I took off when I was 15 or 16. Felt like I had to. My life has been hard at times and unstable, but I’m glad I’m not panting to get some crummy job so I can buy a bunch of junk I don’t need. It’s good to live out of the rut.
 
You sitting around being depressed because you're stuck in one place is not improving your relationship. Just get on goin. She's already decided what she thinks is important, and traveling with you is not it, so you have to decide whats important to you, and do it.
 
you're girl ain't never gonna want to go with you unless you can prove you're doing some awesome. she's doing what she wants to do and you gotta do you, bro

capitalism doesn't give folks a lot of latitude to decide how to do things on their own terms, but you always have this choice:
accept the fact that you are a wage slave and a rental peasant and deal with it or say FUCK IT, do what you want to do, and accept the consequences

figure it out for yourself and don't rely on others to give you ballast