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!