indecisivewandering OP t1_j6zu1j4 wrote on February 3, 2023 at 1:28 AM

Reply to comment by Separate-Sentence366 in Is renting on a GS5 salary possible? by indecisivewandering

The mental health boost of being able to navigate a city.. my god it'd be great. I am totally fine with the bohemian poverty, right now I barely make 1,200/month without the chance for friendship or anything. I'm in more of a retirement community than a college town, which makes things markedly worse for meeting people around my own age.

The only slight concern I've got is affording medical treatment/travel to Duke hospital but my family could likely chip in, and there wouldn't be the need for a 6 hour drive each way anymore.

solidrecommendations t1_j6zwx9b wrote on February 3, 2023 at 1:50 AM

Amtrak from DC to Durham … not terrible (have done it myself)

There’s also MegaBus

Separate-Sentence366 t1_j72bzj8 wrote on February 3, 2023 at 3:57 PM

Seems to me like you should make the leap.

And like the other reply here, I’ve taken Amtrak from DC to Durham and it’s not bad. You’d be able to navigate it all on your own—metro to Union Station; Amtrak to Durham; Uber to Duke and then the campus is pretty walkable. The busses would probably be even cheaper.

indecisivewandering OP t1_j72djj1 wrote on February 3, 2023 at 4:07 PM

Yep yep. At this point I only go about once every 2 months, hopefully this changes over time. My doc has said at some point the less we need to see each other, the better/more stable my condition is.

I ought to save up for the months in between now and the FO, put in a few months on the job and maybe I'll get to contracting at some point in the near future. The thing is at my current job it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything? Public procurement though feels like the work is a lot more meaningful and impactful.