I moved to Austin 5 years ago (Nov. 3rd 2001) and started working for National Instruments on Nov 12th. Back then I had a short-term (5 years) and a long-term (20+ years) plan: the short-term plan was to get my masters at UT and to save a good amount of money to start my own business in Colombia. The long term plan was a backup in case I decided to stay in Austin, I still wanted to go back to Colombia eventually and retire over there.

I have to admit that I have done nothing towards obtaining my masters. To be honest I don’t want to go to school right now, but I reconsider this in the future. About the money I’ve done ok, and I think buying a house was a great way of forcing myself to save more money. Also after 5 years here, I really like Austin. I’ve got used to the life style, I made great friends and I like my job a lot, so I don’t have a strong reason for going back to Colombia. Besides I can always go for vacations to see my family and friends, which is something I want to do every year. But this doesn’t mean I’m going to stay in Austin for good. The truth is that I no longer have a plan. I still dream about going back to Colombia one day, buy a small ‘finca’ and work as a professor at a University in Colombia. But only time will tell what I’ll end up doing with my life.

Anyway… happy 5 years in Austin anniversary to me!