Homecoming
March 30, 2025. Seattle. I was on the ferry from Bremerton, heading back to a city I hadn’t seen in two and a half years. The weekend had been soaked in rain while I camped in the Olympics, and the forecast looked just as bleak. I didn’t expect much. But as the ferry turned into Puget Sound, the skies opened up. It felt like Seattle had shown up just for me.
Mount Rainier appeared on my right. Behind me, the Olympics were hidden in clouds. Ahead, I could see the Space Needle, framed by the Cascades.
I cried. I laughed. I smiled.
I was back.
I’ve lived in seven cities so far - Vadodara, Jodhpur, New Delhi, Atlanta, Seattle, Chicago, and New York. Seattle is the one that feels most like home.
I first came here in the winter of 2019, fresh out of college and nervous about my Amazon interview. The sky was gray. It was raining. I had only seen Seattle in Grey’s Anatomy and read about it during quiz competitions. That trip didn’t leave much of a mark.
But a few months later, I moved. The city reminded me of Shimla and Manali - places I visited with my parents during summer breaks. Cold. Cloudy. The smell of wet trees and water in the air. Just as I began to settle in, COVID hit, and I returned to the East Coast to quarantine.
The third time was different.
In the summer of 2020, I fell for Seattle.
I’d finish work by 4 p.m., rent a car, head out for a hike along I-90, and be back by dinner. I learned to run along the Elliott Bay Trail, Mt Rainier always watching. That mountain saw me go from barely running a mile to finishing a half marathon. I bought a bike and rode 80 miles around Lake Washington. I began building a list of hikes. Every time I met another hiker on a trail, I felt a little more like a local. That list is still growing.
For me, it’s the mountains. No photo, no postcard, not even memory does them justice.
Rainier just is - and because it’s often hidden, the days it shows up feel like a gift. As if the mountains are looking out for you.
That’s how I felt on March 30.
I left Seattle in 2022 chasing a dream that ran its course. The years since have been hard. But on that ferry, with Rainier in sight, it felt like Seattle was welcoming me back. Like I had never left.
April 8, 2025. Seattle. I’m flying back to New York today. I make a promise to myself - to return every year. This place makes me feel most like myself.
If I ever have kids, I’d want them to grow up here. There’s something steady and grounding about this place.
My dream is simple: a home on Mercer Island.
Mornings with Rainier.
Afternoons kayaking.
Weekend hikes in the Olympics.
That’s the life I’d want to come home to.