I live somewhere very rural, but travel the country going to various cities for my job. When my family moved out here we were treated as outsiders because our last name was unfamiliar to the community. I was an artsy kid going to a tiny highschool where the dominant culture could basically be defined as "redneck". I always felt out of place, and never welcome. To this day, when I go into town I get funny looks from people because I like to dress nicely.

When I finally got the chance to travel and meet people I realized how much bigger, and more accepting the world could be. I've heard other country folks talk about how rude and inhospitable people in the city are, which is weird because my experience has been the opposite.

There are things I like about the countryside. It can be a peaceful place to relax for a bit. But there are zero opportunities, be it personal or professional. Because I work in an on- call basis, I'll go through stretches where I'll not work for weeks or even a month or two at a time, and when you're out here without anybody to talk to outside of immediate family and nowhere to go (especially in the winter) you start to go kind of crazy. Which is why I'm hoping to move out soon and start working full time in a city.