End of an Era.

Almost eleven years ago, I started streaming on Twitch. At the time, I was living in a small apartment I was renting. Having recently moved twice, I needed an escape. Previously, I had lived in a much older apartment. Having only lived there for a few months, the problems with the place were clear. It was a harsh reality check for a young adult who was only just getting used to adult life. I needed a social outlet that was an alternative to multiplayer games. League was my primary game at the time, and it was having enough negative impacts that it needed to be cut back as much as possible. Streaming seemed like an easy way to talk with people while also not getting extremely stressed by the game I was playing.

The apartment was small, cramped, and borderline claustrophobic. It had one window and a patio door for natural light. Due to the shape of the building, I only got to see the sun from inside for about an hour every day. Thanks to the shift times I worked back then, I did not see the sun for most of the year. Eventually, streaming became my main source of income and still is to this day. Eventually, the sleeping space became my office. Many of you might know this space as the "Void." In total, I created, chatted, streamed, edited, and worked in that apartment for ten and a half years.

Leaving that space is a harsh line in the sand for me. While that apartment was fine on paper, aside from its cramped nature and lack of natural light, it was a distressing box for me. I had more bad memories there than good. This became starkly obvious when I went on vacation in 2024. I spent a week in Las Vegas with friends and had a fantastic time. When I got home, I was planning for an additional few days of relaxing in a staycation for my remaining days off. However, when I walked back into that tiny apartment, my gut tied itself in a knot. It was like walking into a cold, harsh fog with freezing rain. I felt a bit sick, and more than anything, I needed to go someplace else. It did not matter where. That night, I booked a hotel in Victoria, went to Vancouver Island, and extended my time off by three days.

I had been telling myself for years that I would not rent another place and would live there until I could afford to buy something nicer. Within a few weeks of that vacation and realization that the four walls I had lived within for so long were affecting me so negatively, I went to the island again with my friend Kevin. During that trip, I looked at a few apartments. The following week, I returned with my dad to look at an apartment a second time. With my parents' approval, I made an offer on an apartment—almost twice the size of the place I had been renting.

Below are some photos of the old apartment, with descriptions of how I made use of the space. Next week, I'll share photos of the new place once I've got the pile of boxes and cables fully unpacked and set up. I really feel like I should apologize for the lack of posts these past few weeks. Yet, I realize that the reality of this kind of move was more all-consuming than I expected. Going forward, posts should be more regular once again. Thanks for sticking around in the meantime.

Since I've only just moved in I'll be taking it a bit easy this week. Lots of stuff still needs proper setting up and unpacking. We'll be starting a few Fortress and world. I want to stream from Tuesday - Thursday. Friday is a maybe depending on how productive I am in the evenings. I need to get a review..? of adventure mode edited and I have a future of the fortress video to do as well. I should also get to work on the next "big" video project sooner rather than later.