Ithaca, NY is a place where worlds collide. It’s a double edge sword. An urban oasis surrounded by the natural environment. It’s physical geographic location cradles the town like a gem among stone. People come together here and people grow up here. Bumper stickers read, “10,000 square miles surrounded by reality” and they couldn’t be more right.

I’ve spent my whole life here in Ithaca and have found the beauty in that as well as the constraints. My choice to attend Ithaca College after living 18 years in the town that shares its name wasn’t one that was met with much understanding from my peers. Why confine yourself to same scenery, same people for another four years? I asked myself questions like this. The answer: IC had everything that I was looking for and just felt like home. Partly because Ithaca is home, but also the community and small, personalized experience that I knew I would get fueled my decision.

Familiarity is important. One of the best things about living in the same place your whole life is having a home base, literally. Ithaca is the perfect jumping-off point for travelers, artists and dreamers alike. From here I’ve traveled everywhere from Australia to Spain. Going away feels best when you know you have somewhere lovely to come back to.

Like two sides of the same coin, little is left to explore here for me. I really have to challenge myself to get out and find little locales that I’ve yet to discover, change up my scenery. With an abundance of gorges and waterfalls, restaurants and shops, each day is a chance to go out and treat my hometown like someplace exotic. Though, it’s difficult at times. Especially in the winter, driving the same roads, seeing the same gray sky and experiencing the same people day after day can become exhausting. Sometimes I feel like I need to get away and change the pace of normal life; the only life I’ve ever known.

I love this little slice of paradise, even though some mornings it’s 10 degrees and I have to brush the snow off my car in order to go anywhere. I wouldn’t change the fact that I’ve only ever resided in one place for 19 years, I’ve been awarded some of the greatest opportunities of my life because of that fact. I’ve gotten to know the ins and outs of one place and that trust and knowingness is so valuable. I love Ithaca and I love to travel. Even just the desire to get up and go has kept me sane all these years.

I am a homebody with wanderlust, which may sound like an oxymoron to anyone else, but to me it’s synonymous with growing up in a small town.