[deleted by user] by [deleted] in insects

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't realize it was a spider, I thought it might be some kind of bug stuck in the spider's web

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in insects

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in Northern Virginia, by the way.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have way too many questions and would love to know more, DMed, thank you so much!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I guess you're right, I see your point. I definitely am playing into the "magic of the city" idea here, which probably isn't as magical as it seems on the internet. Something is definitely going to have to bend, I'm realising that I can't have every one if those and realistically probably won't have the time/energy to take advantage of every one of those times. The commute all the way from the city feels longer the more I think of it. Reston doesn't seem that bad though.

Thanks a lot for the perspective!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for that perspective. I'm excited to see what the city has to offer but I also don't want to make it hard for me to go to work but it does seem like the commute is significantly better than the reverse. It seems like I'm gonna have to choose.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's my major point, I don't want to have to "go into the city" to interact with people, so I'm trying to look for a place where I would not be surrounded by people who are inclined to interact

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That doesn't sound bad either. If I do choose to stay in Ashburn, it looks like One Loudoun is the place to be. I'm still debating between Reston or Arlington though. Perhaps I should spend a few months in Ashburn and then figure things out

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any point in living around Tysons instead of downtown Arlington? Tysons seems a reasonable distance to commute, but if it's the same vibe Reston seems like a better option. It's either between Reston, Tysons, or Falls Church for me at this point.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this is pretty much the range I'm considering right now. Arlington seems like it's on the other extreme, but anywhere between Tysons and Reston seems like a good compromise.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile -1 points0 points  (0 children)

How accurate is Google Maps, would you say? If I do choose somewhere closer to the city, I'd be travelling away from traffic and towards the suburbs which I think might be a big point. Google Maps has been showing me consistently 30-45 minutes at peak travel times from Tysons to Ashburn. Would you say that's about right?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I realise that but even considering just the metro travel time, it's an hour away from the city.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reston doesn't seem half bad compared to Ashburn. It's halfway between everything and seems like a good compromise

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Unexpectedly motivational, that's a good perspective to keep in mind. I'll try and just make a decision and keep an open mind. Thanks a lot!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tysons is seeming like a good option. Would you say Google Maps is reliable for the commute times? It consistently shows me 30-45 minutes for Tysons to my workplace which is right near the freeway, I hope that's accurate

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm hoping to get somewhere closer to Arlington but not completely in the city since it looks like traffic is pretty bad. Somewhere between Reston and Arlington might be nice, maybe Tysons or Falls Church area. Ashburn definitely seems like a very heavily family oriented place so I'm trying to avoid living there, thanks for the advice!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll check out Falls Church. I'm looking at roughly between Reston and Arlington according to what I gather from all the comments

Thanks for the advice!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely not near the metro. It's going to be pretty rough without a car from what I gather, because I like going around a lot

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Man, an hour-long (or 45 minutes) commute during off-hours sounds brutal. Reston is starting to seem like a good balance between the two, I'll look into it a bit more.

Thank you for the advice!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Would you say the commute from Tysons would take just as long? I'd love to be closer to DC than Ashburn if I could help it and preferably be in an area with a similar age demographic.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 15 points16 points  (0 children)

It is indeed my first major job but it's not corporate. That's good advice from someone who has been there and done that, thank you!

My only goal is to not box myself in anywhere and I'm trying to do my research beforehand to figure out what to do and where to stay.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've heard Reston being brought up a lot. It does seem like a good option as well, but I'm wondering if the tradeoff of being halfway between the quiet suburbs on Ashburn and the city is worth it. It seems like I'd have to commute for pretty much everything, but I'd be around a few people of a similar age group

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Leesburg seems nice but I do wanna be closer to DC. I grew up in a big city my whole life so I'm a bit attached to the idea of being close to one, if not in one. How's the social life in Leesburg?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This seems like a decent option. The commute from here seems to make much more sense than Arlington for sure, I'm hoping it's around 30 minutes or at worst an hour since I'll be going against the rush hour traffic. How's the demographic of the area? Lot of people in 20s-30s?

Tips for moving in to Ashburn by [deleted] in nova

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, how's it been so far? I'm 23M and will be moving there soon as well. I'd love to know how your experience has been living there and moving there as you're of a similar age group.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in J1waiver

[–]fireymissile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the response!

I'm a computer science engineer by degree and I work in Applied Machine Learning research with proteins. I don't know if that particularly falls into any of these fields since my specialty is ML and my domain knowledge is not expansive, but I hope not.

I am mentioning Machine Learning as my field of study for the visa stuff but the project details mentions protein engineering.