What is there to do in Dallas?

I am just starting this blog, mainly to vent, ramble, and learn from my experiences here in Dallas, and share them with others. I think I will touch on various subjects, including finding a job, food ( I find it impossible to not take food into account with my everyday life) , traveling out of Dallas (since this will be my personal journal, I can do whatever I please, thank you very much), but I will mainly be taking a look into various outings and things to do IN Dallas. Events, parties, activities that are affordable, fun, but can possibly be done outside of Dallas to entertain others with my same problem: the lack of a real job.

I have lived in Dallas now for 2 years on my own. I grew up here until as I was about 13, but at that point in my life I was still requiring my parents to haul me around everywhere, and had little, to no money from allowance to afford a driver to take over their position.  Having been here now, with my own means of transportation (still working on getting that driver), for a couple of years, I figured I would have been able to find plenty of things to do and keep me entertained while looking for a job, once I had a job, and once I won the lottery to where I wouldn’t need a job.

When I first got here, in my mind I had endless options of things to do to keep my busy. But, as I learned fairly quickly, it’s only so exciting to go to the bars here every weekend when you can afford to spend money on it every weekend. Being in a college town was a great time, and I thought that spending $10 for a movie ticket, popcorn and a drink was expensive, I had no idea what I was in for when I moved up to the big city. Now what I found out in Dallas is that it is almost more enticing to stay at home, watch a movie on Netflix, eat saltines, and drink tap water, than pay roughly $20-$30 for the same thing at a movie theater.

Now, I am not any kind of high-maintenance, but I do like nice things just like the next guy. Finding clothes that look good without breaking the bank is one tough job in itself ( my definition of “look good” is always changing and different, but stays pretty classic and as far as you can be from the dragons and lions bedazzled on the shirts that many wear today). I want to wear good looking clothes, but I run through my closet pretty quickly. And what doesn’t help, is 9 times out of 10, my laundry still has all the “going out” shirts I own still unwashed, for the next time I want to go out.

Considering I had not found a job that was in the realm of what I wanted to do by the end of summer when I was about to move to Dallas, I was able to use some connections and found a volunteer opportunity that would be a great resume builder and a stepping stone to a real job. I found out how quickly my life plan of graduate high school, go to college, graduate college, get a real job changed when the economy took a hit and  I was stuck with a degree from a good school, that was almost worthless. I was fortunate to have family and friends that I was able to live with cheaply in the Dallas area, and took advantage of that opportunity. Well, after a couple months there, and some side jobs for some extra spending money, I could barely even afford to go out at all. On a positive note, some extra weight was lost during this period. But that didn’t really help my financial situation, and in fact, it was a small hindrance.  Well, at one point a couple months down the road, I had a job. Then the organization struggled, and I didn’t have a job anymore.  I had some side jobs that kept me alive and through that next summer, but not the 9-5 kind of job that basically everyone has. The most important aspect of this was the lack of a steady revenue stream to enjoy the luxuries of life, such as eating out at Chipotle and Whataburger. 

A couple things changed this past Fall, and as it stands, I am working two volunteer positions that I love, and two paid positions I work to survive.  The way things are, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I won’t get too in-depth about what I do, but I will say that I get to travel a lot with the volunteer positions (one of my favorite things to do, so that is fair payment for the time being), and I get to work a lot. I suppose that second bit goes hand in hand with the fact that I have four jobs.  Overall, in a regular work week, I work just over 50 hours, spread out amongst the four positions. So it could be worse, but I still want to be able to enjoy my life as a twenty-something.  It’s hard to get a break, but it sure is enjoyable when it comes around once in a blue moon.

Needless to say, I work hard. But, equally important is that I like to play hard. Finding enjoyable forms of entertainment to fill my spare time, that won’t leave me begging the parents for money (or a ride) are crucial. Now, I’m not necessarily limiting this to night-time activities. I love to go out and do things on the occasional day off. I am open to all suggestions. I’m not necessarily looking for free things to do, but things that can be done cheaply.

There. That’s my back story for this blog. If you skimmed through everything I just said, you only need to come away with this:

 

I’m bored, frugal, and running out of options. What is there to do in Dallas?

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Collin