You might have noticed that I’ve not been on Destructoid lately.

Sometimes we do crazy things. We take a look at the current state of our lives and realize that it’s time for a change. Things just get dull, and we begin to become jaded. Our day to day lives begin to seem like prisons, and the only way out is a major change.

That’s why I moved to Finland—sort of.

It was a number of things really. I got laid off from my job, was forced to change apartments, and had developed a serious case of apathy. Life suddenly stopped being exciting for me. Even video games began to seem dull.

So I did the only logical thing. I walked right into my departmental advisor’s office and applied to study abroad. I really didn’t care where, because it really didn’t matter. This was more a matter of saving my soul than visiting some tourist destination.

I just had to move—like Jack Kerouac just had to get on the road. It was an overwhelming compulsion.



I chose Finland because I heard it had lakes—seriously. I didn’t speak a word of Finnish, or know the first thing about Finland. I literally signed the form and found the country on the map when I got home.

I left North Carolina on New Years and haven’t looked back since. It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. I’ve got my soul and my zest for life back.

I’m living in Oulu—about a hundred miles from the Arctic Circle. When I first got here there was only three hours of daylight per day, the temperature was well below zero Fahrenheit, and I saw more snow in one day than I had previously seen in my whole life. It was wonderful.

I also discovered that I like photography, so all of the pictures are my own.



In the end I think I did it because of playing video games.

The hero always seems to make a hard choice and then sees it through to the end: Mario always goes after Peach; Final Fantasy characters leave their lives behind to save the world; and Master Chief keeps soldiering on. I realized I had to be my own hero, because no one was going to save me.

It’s cheesy I know.