Tale of two cities

Here, one woman details how she broke up with her boyfriend and embraced a relationship with the real love of her life:

New York.

Her boyfriend lived in Minnesota. She lived in Manhattan. She hoped he'd move; he didn't want to.

So she chose New York over him. She summarizes her feelings beautifully:

When I was contemplating the end of my relationship with the ex, I thought about one of the home truths of writing, that you should go to whatever question scares you the most; that’s probably where the best material is. What, I wondered, if I did that with my life? What if I went after the very thing that frightened me?

The scariest thing I could think of was to choose a path that, however right, meant I could be alone for the rest of my life, not know the comfort and security of a partner, the sweetness of shared history, the imprint of a mattress that knows two bodies well.

When you're thinking about sharing your life with someone, people sometimes underestimate the importance of location. It's something that makes people shrug and say, "If you really love someone, you'll find a way to make it work."

But the feeling of being in love with a city is one of the most exhilarating sensations of all.

It's possible to live in the greatest place and be miserable.

However, when you really love where you live, you get a daily sense of belonging from the people who surround you.

Even if you don't know their names.