Living in the Triangle in North Carolina

Some places feel like home right away, but others just don't. This is one of them. After 3 weeks of living in this Airbnb, I can say that I have been looking forward to moving to the next one. Since the moment I arrived... In fact, one indication of that is that I never unpacked my 3 boxes of kitchen stuff that so far have been unpacked on Day 1 of each arrival to the new place.

Let's focus on what I like about this place:

1. Its location. Only 15 minutes from Durham, the place is very quiet. I can hear cicadas every night when the noisy air conditioner goes to the sleep mode.
2. The host. She gives me vegetables from her garden, brings me wine and occasional cooked meals.
3. The amount of new to me kitchen appliances. I finally had a chance to try a high speed blender and InstaPot. Loved both of them. I also love the gigantic refrigerator, although that allows me to buy more food that I have to eat.
4. Shower pressure. It's very strong.
5. MiFi jetpack (aka hotspot). I love the darn thing. Such a great source for high speed internet regardless where you are as long as you have Verizon cell service.
6. There is a park within 5 minutes driving distance where I walk in the morning before it gets desperately hot and humid.

Now onto things that I don't like:

1. The place is old and unmaintained. The carpets are stained, the ceiling in the bedroom is falling apart and has been taped multiple times to preserve some sort of integrity. The overall feeling is that I don't want to touch anything, I don't walk barefoot, ever.
2. Bugs. I have to vacuum once every few days to clean them up. The building is below the ground about 6 inches, not a big deal, just a step down, but it is surrounded by bushes and plants that typically hide creatures such as crickets, millipedes, beetles, lizards, mosquitos and other wonders of nature that often accidentally end up away from their home environment into mine. Luckily, the bedroom is on the second floor, so it is somewhat protected from crawling types, yet the flying ones easily make it upstairs terrorizing the residents (well, me...).
3. Clutter. There is just too much stuff that is non-functional. The desk and multiple small tables, but no couch. Fifteen sets of dishes, a four slice toaster (the place could barely fit two people), a bunch of personal stuff that some may think adds character if you visit the place for a day or tow, but completely in the way when you actually live there. 
4. Lack of light. While the first floor has French doors - the main source of light - the second floor has two tiny windows that are perpetually open (they are so old that you can keep spinning the knob to close them and lose track of time) that don't offer either air flow or natural light.
5. There is nowhere to walk, I have to drive to the local park to go for a walk. Not the worst case scenario, but still affects my overall fitness and activity level.
6. How much I spent on this place. This so far has been the most expensive place, yet the worst.

I am not the only one who is not a big fan of this place. My cat is finally getting used to it, but still misses the open windows where he can look outside and listen to the birds. He does like running up and down the stairs, but is not as relaxed as he was in our previous places.

The good thing is that nothing is permanent, and in my case every place has its end date. Two third of the stay down, one third to go (who's counting?)

I've enjoyed the proximity of larger cities. I recently visited Sarah Duke Gardens and walked around there for an hour enjoying an enormous variety of plants.

The view from the main entrance

Cacti reminded me of California

I loved the diversity of plants in this small pond

My mother would have loved the color scheme of this arrangement

Beautiful fish waiting to be fed

Japanese water feature

Another day I went on a hike Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail with an unexpected view from the top of the mountain. I returned there a few days later by hiking another longer route going through Hillsborough town. This pathway was more established with lots of foot traffic Hillsborough River Walk & Occoneeche Mountain Park.

The view from the top of the mountain

Deer who did not fear me one bit - this shot was taken maybe 6 ft from her

Interesting "village" displaying how amazing these huts are

One hut from the inside - bone dry after rain

This was a really odd display with no context, I liked the looks of it

I also decided to take a long drive to the coast to Wilmington. Located 3 hours away, the town became the home for a few friends of mine who I planned to meet with a few months ago. Unfortunately, the timing was not right, so I spent there a few hours solo enjoying the warm water of the Atlantic ocean, eating a sugary (and not in a good way) acai bowl at Adapt Kitchen near Wrightsville beach, stopping at Lidl and walking downtown where I found a pizza joint with an amazing margherita pie.

Rainy day on the beach

Loved this sign!

I joined a group of women hikers for a local sunrise hike (yep, starting at 6 am) and certain that the crowd around here would suit my beliefs and comfort zone should I decide to settle down here at some point in the future. In the meantime, I am trying to maximize my exploration while dealing with some uncertainties and doubts about the future.