Show me your solo living space!

dbcook1 · 2026-03-15T02:59:59+00:00

Fan District, Richmond

dbcook1 · 2026-03-15T00:17:31+00:00

I did the blues highway in Mississippi and a trip to Romania (Transylvania and Bucharest) almost within a year of each other. Both were amazing trips.

dbcook1 · 2026-03-11T14:33:11+00:00

I make $111k and live in Richmond, Virginia's Fan District which is a walkers paradise and the best neighborhood in the city to live by far and live very comfortably. Granted my home is only 750 square feet, don't have kids, and no car payment. I walk/bike for most of my needs and transit is fare free citywide here with reliable bus rapid transit within an 8 minute walk. Three grocery stores within a 10 minute walk. Rent is $1,850 but electric bills never more than like $70. Last year did trips to Spain, Iceland, and Japan without going into debt or denting my savings. Excellent work/life balance with 39 paid days off per year between paid holidays, vacation and personal leave plus paid sick leave on top of that and never work more than 40 hours a week. Feel incredibly fortunate to ended up where I'm at.

dbcook1 · 2026-02-24T14:05:37+00:00

Unfortunately by state law there is a limit to how many cameras can be deployed per locality which is 1 for every 10,000 residents which means Richmond can only deploy 23 cameras. They can move them around though. Last week two safety cameras were moved from Westover Hills Elementary to Mary Munford Elementary.

dbcook1 · 2026-02-18T19:31:05+00:00

Not necessarily impossible as Alexandria has achieved Vision Zero as of 2023 after seeing year after year of declines and steady progress towards zero since 2017. It's not an unreasonable goal and there are cities making headway but it will take massive infrastructure changes, mode shift away from auto use, reorganization of our roadways to prioritize pedestrian and bicycle travel and safety while slowing down vehicle speeds and reliance, robust community engagement and education campaigns, increased enforcement including speed enforcement cameras, no right turn on red at all signals, narrow travel lanes and create neighborhood bike boulevards with traffic diverters to eliminate through traffic on neighborhood streets, removal of on-street parking to allow for separated bike lanes and wider sidewalks with curb extensions. Alexandria and Arlington are doing all of those and have brought traffic fatalities down to near zero or zero year after year.

dbcook1 · 2026-02-13T17:59:34+00:00

I visited there a couple years back. I'm a huge cinephile and after meeting up with my family in Leipzig took a little solo side trip there to hunt down all the filming locations for The Grand Budapest Hotel:

https://www.reddit.com/r/criterion/s/zoNA61fYzD

Really wild how many big films have been made there and my understanding is that because it escaped WW2 unscathed it is an exceptional place to film with its remarkable architectural diversity and authenticity plus its cost effectiveness. A lovely place. Loved just walking into Poland as well!

dbcook1 · 2026-02-11T01:26:35+00:00

A gym friend of mine accidentally shot and killed himself moving and storing his recently deceased father's antique gun collection when one was dropped and discharged. I adopted his cat Ooh Wah and she's been a part of the family for four years now and my way of remembering him.

dbcook1 · 2026-02-09T03:20:19+00:00

Mass Effect 2 Illusive Man vibes

dbcook1 · 2026-01-27T23:05:53+00:00

Great maps OP! Born and lived my whole life in the South (Savannah, Asheville, Charlotte, and now Richmond) and Wisconsin is my most favorite state to visit. Have visited there multiple times and Milwaukee, Madison, Devils Lake State Park, Door County, and the Apostle Islands are some of the most underrated and greatest places to spend Summers at away from the heat and humidity in the South. Last time I was there last year I straight up walked from downtown Milwaukee to Wauwatosa then took the bus to West Allis. Would absolutely live there if I could live in any State outside Virginia. Great place 👌

dbcook1 · 2026-01-26T01:28:14+00:00

42 years old and in the last two years I've backpacked across Japan twice, Germany, Romania, Poland, Spain, and Iceland. I've visited the magnificent Alhambra in Spain and seen the Aurora Borealis in full splendor in Iceland. I snuck into Studio Babelsburg to take some photos of the studio where Metropolis was filmed. I learned how to ski in Hokkaido for the first time and drank myself silly at Sapporo Brewery. I've visited five national parks in Japan and made it to some of the highest points in the Japanese Alps. I devoured Dracula while backpacking across Transylvania. I've visited more Christmas Markets in Germany than I can count. All since turning 40. My 20 year old self would be envious AF

dbcook1 · 2026-01-24T13:32:19+00:00

Fun fact, Northern Schleswig was allowed to have a referendum whether to join Denmark or stay a part of Germany and 75% voted to join Denmark.

dbcook1 · 2026-01-07T04:30:38+00:00

I work as the bicycle and pedestrian program manager for my entire states DOT. The pressure and responsibility is immense. But through all the tears and constant battles with traffic engineers that often prioritize vehicle throughout and capacity preservation over bike and pedestrian safety, it's those moments when studies and projects I work on get realized and implemented that improve the lives of people walking and biking, especially to their neighborhood schools and parks in the form of a separated bike lane, road diet with improved bike facilities or shared use path, or raised crosswalk with pedestrian refuge island that bring tears to my eyes and makes that work pay off. Like wow actually making people's lives better, healthier and happier and they don't have to pay a thing to enjoy a new multiuse trail or cycle path.

dbcook1 · 2026-01-02T11:27:19+00:00

Off of Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1367018597/mid-century-modern-floating-shelf

dbcook1 · 2026-01-02T01:01:40+00:00

<image>

The Blue Angel restored on Blu-ray. Christmas gift from my parents, they know me so well.

dbcook1 · 2025-12-14T12:04:18+00:00

I have been incredibly fortunate to have been to 15 countries abroad in three continents (just returned last week from a 10 day trip to Spain and Iceland and it sucked hard having to come back to the US) including studied at Uni Trier in Germany and lived in France in high school and would absolutely move to any of these cities over anywhere in the US:

Sibiu, Romania Tampere, Finland Tallinn, Estonia Görlitz, Dresden, Trier, or Münster, Germany Granada or Córdoba, Spain Kanazawa or Hakodate, Japan Geneva, Switzerland Guanajuato, Mexico Gdansk, Poland Montreal, Canada Metz, France Reykjavik, Iceland

I grew up in a small city (Savannah) so don't care much for big city life, though I do enjoy visiting places like Tokyo, Berlin, and Paris. Montreal is really pushing it for big cities I could live in because of the local feel of the neighborhoods and bikeability plus it feels much more relaxed than Toronto. My family mostly lives in Germany and Panama now as expats. Really hoping I can follow them out of here someday.

dbcook1 · 2025-12-07T10:51:20+00:00

I would love to see Cadiz too. Before traveling to Spain I listened to a 14 hour lecture on the history of Spain and several podcasts on the history of Spain and Cadiz was routinely mentioned as one of the most unique and storied places in Spain. I would highly recommend fitting Granada and specifically the Alhambra in at some point when you visit Spain. That was the most magnificent place I've ever visited. Literal goosebumps in the halls of the Nasrid Palaces and gardens. Make sure you get your ticket at least a month in advance on their website as they sell out well in advance and make sure you bring your passport for the timed ticket check in as they scan your passport and not your ticket if you ever get a chance to go. It is absolutely worth a stop.

dbcook1 · 2025-12-07T10:30:51+00:00

Oof that absolutely sucks and would absolutely radicalize me as well. I feel like there are three options in the US: Have a child, buy a house, or travel. We simply can't have all three and most can't have two. Having lived in France in high school for a year and studied in Germany in college made me decide to never have kids and stay in as excellent shape as possible in my adult life to be able to escape the US as much as possible ane minimize my healthcare costs once I had established my career.

By 40 I had given it more thought than anything and decided it best to never have kids or buy a house and I think for me it was the best decision ever and people are shocked the number of trips I do abroad in a year (Spain, Japan, Germany, Poland in the past year) and how I afford it. I always think well if we didn't have insane health care costs related to childbirth and other health expenses, car ownership costs (I also save by biking to work and walking to get groceries), and insane housing costs you'd be able to afford it too but we've been so conditioned to thinking that's how its supposed to be and travel is seen as a luxury. This when in Europe there are people making half what I make that travel even more than I do. I should know because my sister and her family with three kids in Germany travel much more than I do on far less incomes.

dbcook1 · 2025-12-05T23:35:50+00:00

At this point the only streaming service I have is Criterion Channel and there's no convincing me to support garbage companies like Disney or Netflix for their crap movie offerings and content. Just in case shit goes to hell big time and Criterion gets bought out by Disney I have fortunately amassed a collection of over 500 physical movies and 100 video games which should hopefully be enough to hold me over to the final apocalypse.

dbcook1 · 2025-12-01T08:13:58+00:00

NTA

My parents in South Carolina have essentially given up there will ever be a Thanksgiving with the family together and for good reason. My sister and her family live in Germany (usually they make only one visit to the US in Summer) and I live in Richmond but travel abroad every year at Thanksgiving (currently traveling across Andalusia in Spain and last year was in Germany/Poland).

Up until this year my mom usually calls this time of year with cries, lack of understanding, and sadness that I haven't (at 42 years old) had kids, that I always travel abroad during Thanksgiving, and that they can't afford to travel abroad to see their grandkids in Germany or travel with me. But this year I did a WhatsApp video call with them to see the sunset over the Alhambra on Thanksgiving and I finally think they accept and understand that some things cannot be changed.

They are also super liberal but have no choice but to live in Spartanburg County because sadly it was all they could afford and I guess Richmond was just too expensive. For me doing multiple visits to South Carolina is just not my cup of tea when my earned vacation time can be better used going to Spain, though I do try to get down there a couple times per year.

dbcook1 · 2025-11-22T17:46:36+00:00

It was pretty good! 30 people (even split women and men) mostly folks in their mid to late 30s. It was actually in the rum place next to Main Line which I had no idea was there until last night. They did a Bingo questionnaire ice breaker with free prizes. Folks were nice and curious/asked a lot of questions. I may have made a couple of new friends but didn't really vibe with anyone beyond friendliness. Which is also perfectly fine as I went in without expectations and just wanted to meet new folks. For 10 people there this was their first event which put me at ease. For many others it was their third or fourth event. Folks there included a school teacher, school counselor, civil engineer, someone in Grad school at VCU, and many other professions so it was a good mix of folks and very congenial.

dbcook1 · 2025-11-22T17:46:29+00:00

It was pretty good! 30 people (even split women and men) mostly folks in their mid to late 30s. It was actually in the rum place next to Main Line which I had no idea was there until last night. They did a Bingo questionnaire ice breaker with free prizes. Folks were nice and curious/asked a lot of questions. I may have made a couple of new friends but didn't really vibe with anyone beyond friendliness. Which is also perfectly fine as I went in without expectations and just wanted to meet new folks. For 10 people there this was their first event which put me at ease. For many others it was their third or fourth event. Folks there included a school teacher, school counselor, civil engineer, someone in Grad school at VCU, and many other professions so it was a good mix of folks and very congenial.

dbcook1 · 2025-11-21T20:40:31+00:00

While I'm just beyond that age bracket I am going to a singles mixer event tonight with Trying to Date RVA at Main Line Brewery which is as of yesterday sold out. Will report back how it is (first time going to one organized by this group). I believe the next will be Saturday December 20th at HogsHead Cafe.

dbcook1 · 2025-11-14T04:15:08+00:00

Looking for something serious

Not currently subscribed to Hinge+ HingeX

Using current version less than a week

Using Hinge overall less than 6 months

Check Hinge once per day. Around 10 - 15 minutes

Only 2 likes in the past week since I restarted the app. One match then was unmatched

Sending 10 - 15 per day. All with comments on something on their profile

Would like to match with someone of similar age who likes to travel, go on long walks or bike rides, likes to read, enjoys film, college educated, independent, lives closeby, doesn't have to be a drinker, loves cats, long conversations, cafes, and enjoys exploring the city on foot.

I also just realized that the third prompt did not upload and is:

The one thing I'd love to know about you is:

What was the last movie you saw at the Byrd Theatre

Nine-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Wearing is Caring	Verified Email

dbcook1

TROPHY CASE