Small town Big city

When airfare was mysteriously cheap in December, we bought tickets to visit my in-laws in NJ for June. We patted ourselves on the back for planning so far in advance and getting three tickets for just $1,000. We were supposed to leave June 12th, but when PJO's uncle passed away one week ago, we decided to move the trip up by one week. Luckily, I had bought travel insurance. United also said they would waive the fee to change our flights since it was due to a death in the family. But tickets were now over $1,000 EACH. Even after crediting the price we had paid for our original tickets, waiving the change fee and (hopefully) getting money from insurance, we had to shell out another $1,000. For a red eye flight. For seats that weren't together and happened to be in a row that didn't recline. Someone needs to invent a machine to teleport us ASAP. Anyway, I probably would have had to work during our trip as originally scheduled, but this week was even busier, so I worked out of the NY office of my firm. I commuted in on the train, went to my favorite places for coffee and lunch. It has been 6 years since I moved out of NYC, but I lived there recently enough to be able to navigate the subway and the streets easily and fall back into step with the native New Yorkers. I have been gone long enough to be able to appreciate how truly unique that city is. And I surprised myself by wishing (in some ways) that I could live here again. I could not wait to leave when I was living here. I hated the crowds, the noise, the dirt, the subway, the expense, the hassle of doing simple things like grocery shopping, and the lack of sunlight/outdoor space. The things I noticed on this trip were the plethora of young, educated, working professionals, amazing restaurants and bars, the energy you feel walking around the streets, the character, the proximity to anything and everything and the great sense of style of the people that live here. I know that it would be miserable to be a lawyer in the city and it would be downright impossible to raise a family the way I want to there. Our expenses would be outrageous. So I don't ACTUALLY want to live here again, but if I had the chance, I would totally go back in time and give myself a few years of working before having kids to live in the big city. This, and realizing how much money we could be saving right now while working the jobs we have without the expense of daycare, are the only times I have come close to wishing I would have waited to start a family. And on the whole, I would make the same decisions I have made over and over again without regret. But there are certain things that you give up. Maybe suburbia isn't for me. Los Angeles didn't always feel like a big city, I could see us going back there someday. I just hope at least one of my kids goes to school in New York City, preferably to Columbia. PJO and I will take week-long trips to visit them, take them to the best restaurants, shows, museums, etc...