A Millennial in Wonderland

A fresh start in all senses of the word. A new town, new surroundings, new job and a new blog. But the town and surroundings aren’t really new. Not when you realize that I have been coming to Cape May, New Jersey every year since my birth. And I’m 23 years old.

That’s right folks, I’m a millennial. I’d like to say that I’m not your typical millennial because there are a lot of millennial things that I don’t do…mostly.

According to a “How Millennial Are You?” Buzzfeed quiz (a very millennial news source), I’m only “kind of a millennial.” Apparently I “have some similarities with the generation that’s ruining the world,  and am only partially responsible for the downfall of society.” Yeah, sounds about right.

I moved to Cape May full-time in February 2017.  I work at the Victorian Motel as a front desk clerk. A 40 hour work week isn’t so bad when you can take a walk on the beach after you punch out. I’m currently learning how to be a millennial in a place that is a vacation destination for a different generation.

Cape May is a hotspot for family vacationers; whether that’s baby boomers, Gen X (who tote millennials and Gen Z [that’s not very catchy] in tow). Somehow, I’m trying to fit in by living and working in CM full-time. And this blog is where I’m going to detail my experience. Which is somewhat unorthodox, like my path in life.

I previously blogged on CapeMayChick, about being a repeat vacationer. In August 2012, my family bought our dream home here in Cape May. A house we had been renting for the past few years. We couldn’t imagine being on a street anywhere else in town.

However, owning property here, as I’ve learned, does not make you a local. It strips you of your repeat vacationer status and replaces it with an odd term deemed “schlocal.” You’re not a full-time resident, but you do own property here; making you a combination of a shoobie (vacationer) and a local.

So I’m using my schlocal status to figure out how to survive being a millennial in a town without a Target (or one closer than an hour away) as well as figuring out how to earn a living and stay in a vacationer’s paradise. And somehow, I’m trying to make friends along the way.

I’ll be attempting to keep posts under 500 words, to cater to the millennial attention span.

So please join me here, at capemayrachel.com, to follow my adventure as a young millennial in Cape May.