Being at the World Cup has made me reconsider one thing

Even up at 3:30 in the morning needing to wake up early to drive to Riyadh I've been thinking about it

Is relocating to a big city worth it?

I've pretty much lived my entire life in a small to mid sized midwestern town outside of 4 years in college (which wasn't in a big city either) and traveling (which tbf I do a lot of) and I can't complain too much. My parents are pretty much as rich as it gets so money/discrimination/any "hard" problem has never really been an issue. Also because of that I've never really felt sheltered due to the sheer volume of vacations (been to like 75 countries upon entering Saudi Arabia in a few hours, 4 world cups and a bunch of other sporting events), meeting my parents' business colleagues, learning new languages, etc

And even though I'm a kissless/dateless virgin I've always had loose friends because I am fairly integrated (watching football, playing pool, drinking, gym, etc) even being Indian American in a 95% white town--but being here around people from all over the world made me reconsider the shallowness of those friendships. I can count on one hand how many people my age from my town I know who have left North America or know anything much of substance about the world beyond. I pretty much hide my ethnicity (Indian) because the first question I'd get would be something that would come off as offensive even though it's not the intent--they just don't know any better (Something like "I heard people eat their own poop there. Have you ever tried that?" or "How is your mother allowed to drive?")

I can remember coming back from a summer and talking about my experience coming face to face (like 5 feet) with a leopard on the Serengeti while going out at night to take a piss or skydiving in a glacier in New Zealand and they flat out had no reaction and shifted the focus to college football or something ASAP. It's a negative for dating because pretty much nothing I rate as interesting is considered interesting by most people there

On the other hand the idea of being so far from my parents--even though I know they'd write me a blank check within an hour of my request for pretty much anything non stupid--is scary too along with being a nobody (and knowing nobody) in a big city is pretty scary. I start medical school in a year too so it's not like I'd have a ton of spare time nor am I under any illusion that I'd suddenly be seen as attractive the second I stepped into NYC or anything. I can easily imagine ending up more depressed than I am now even.