Genesis

5:07am. A cup of coffee and a look around. Everything's packed and ready to go. Some bumps along the way in recent days, but I'm done looking back. The time has come to look forward until that "Portland - This Exit" sign comes in to view.

I've got some clothes, some hopes, a guitar, and a prayer. It sounds like the American dream. It feels like something else. My heart is heavy. I'm going to miss my Mom, my sisters, my dog, my friends, and the greatest place on Earth(Ogden canyon).

But I can't stay. The Ghost of Sorrow is here. It visits me every time I pass a place where there are memories of 'her'. Can it follow me 600 miles? That's what I'm about to find out.

Time out for charity

Hey everyone. I encourage you to consider participating in this campaign from Bic. It is for the organization dosomething.org, which basically encourages people to DO SOMETHING for their community.

Bic's challenge: Shave your head, make a video of it, put it on YouTube and submit it to Bic. For your suffering they will contribute $444 to dosomething.org. I'm all over that! Here is my video.

What I'll miss

This adventure is for the most part a welcome one. But there are things that I'll miss. Here are some of them:

The natural beauty in Utah is unsurpassed by anywhere I've visited. There are so many "spots" up Ogden canyon that I have claimed as my own. That canyon was my refuge from everything, until I got engaged and showed the woman all of my favorite places. Now they provide no refuge, only memories and thoughts of what could have been.

I'll miss dominating all of my friends at video games. Just kidding.. I suck at them. This was my one good game out of thousands. For some reason, that night... Wii bowling was my bitch. More than the games... I'll miss my friends. We just had what might be our last hoorah. It seems like yesterday when we were getting thrown out of movie theatres and brawling in some random Idaho Subway sub shop.

Being involved in the local music scene. That's Zayn Jones singing, me on the right on lead guitar.

Then there's the real big one. My Mom and sisters. The last few years have been different. I guess we're all adults now and it's an adjustment. But Jackie (bottom left) has always been my Mom away from Mom. Not seeing her every day is going to be the hardest thing to get used to. They're all amazing ladies. Maybe that's the reason I'm not married yet - No one can compare.

And lastly - Utah beer gets alot of grief. But the local brewers win tons of awards nationally, and have many golds in the World Beer Cup. I will miss the local beer!

---

What would you miss if you packed up and moved hundreds of miles away?

The End.

"I just wanna go home... whatever that means" - a lyric from a Brett Turner song.

Howdy. My name is John Irving. I am a musician from Idaho living in Ogden, Utah most of my life. The last year of my life has seen a 4 year relationship end. It was a good thing... but pretty much everywhere I go I see a memory of us. So.... I gotta get the hell out of here.

Right: A photo from my latest gig by talented photographer Rick Weller . I was sitting in on ukulele with The Peter Harvey Band.

Now this is a blog all about how my life got twisted upside down. I'd like to take a minute - just sit right there, I'll tell you how I plan to become the prince of a town called... Portland, Oregon.

Last year I started doing open mics with my poorly written songs and met some of the greatest people you could ever imagine. Watching them has been inspirational. These people go out and get what they want from life. Like Zayn Jones.

Zayn is a country singer/songwriter from Utah. I was his guitarist for almost a year. This dude has dreams, and he's doing everything in his power to make them a reality. In June 2010, he packed everything he owned in to a car and took off for Nashville. He let nothing get in his way.

He inspired me to do the same. But my dreams have never lied in music. Music is something I do to feel good, but I don't want it to be a career, not that I even have the talent to make that happen. My two dreams have always been:

1. Get the hell out of Utah
2. Get the hell out of Utah

For years I've plotted my escape and have had many failed attempts. But this time - it's happening.

Why the Portland area? Because I have family there who knew of my desire to leave Mormonville, and they offered me a place. They're actually in Vancouver Washington... But it's the Portland metro area. It's all basically Portland.

My heart kinda hurts though. There's the obvious sadness of leaving my family and friends behind. But theres more. Utah has a very underrated music scene. I am happy to be involved with it as a fan and once in a while as a participant, and it really sucks to say goodbye to people who I really care about like that.

600 miles from everything I've ever known. Moving to a city that has almost as many people as the entire state of Utah. Let's blow shit up.

QUESTION:

Have you ever just left everything you've ever known and went on to somewhere completely new? What was the result... did you stay and are you better for it, or did you go back home?

Let me know in the comments!