The best months of my year are the ones where I sleep in twelve different beds.

Between two clerkships, I had four months of unstructured time. I could have rented a place in Italy. I could have hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. I could have read the books I'd been meaning to read. Instead I bought tickets to twelve cities where I had friends, and I showed up.

Dallas. San Diego. Los Angeles. San Francisco. Seattle. Bend. Coaticook. Bergen. Amsterdam. Edinburgh. Glasgow. Dubai.

The trip cost what a month at a nice hotel would cost. It returned what no hotel can. In each city, I slept on a couch or a guest bed. I ate at the restaurants my friends go to when no one is looking. I met the people they've been talking about for years. I saw what their life actually looks like at 7pm on a Tuesday.

The difference between visiting a city and visiting a friend in a city is the difference between a postcard and a letter. The postcard is the version polished for sending. The letter is the actual handwriting. You learn something from both, but only the letter tells you what the person was like that week.

Twelve cities, twelve friends, twelve mirrors. You see yourself reflected in each of them, held by someone who has known you long enough to be honest.

If you have a window of months between things, do not fill it with the experience the brochure sells. Fill it with the friends you've been promising to see. The brochure will still be there next year. Your friends won't all be where they are right now.