Last week, in the midst of our 100th brainstorming session about what the heck we’re doing with our lives in the immediate future–we had a crazy idea; what if we just moved somewhere completely different? During our brainstorming sessions, whether about life or work or upcoming renovations–there are no bad ideas or wrong answers or ridiculous thoughts.
We started making a list of what we’d look for in a new city:
• Big city amenities with a small town feel. (ie: Lots to do but no crazy traffic)
• Easy access to fresh produce and organic grocery stores
• Great schools for the kids!
• A great food scene with restaurants that have lots of allergy options (I am dairy/gluten/grain/soy free)
• 4 Seasons, but predominately warm would be nice
• Low Crime
• Close to a major airport
• Diversity & Culture & Kind People
• Mature trees (always) and Interesting architecture
We took a couple fun quizzes!
This one was pretty in depth from Quizony, and said I belong in New York–could the description have any more cliches??!
This one, from Brainfall, was fast and said Wisconsin!
This one is worldwide, from Playbuzz, and I got the UK! (Not sure where they got that I like rainy days or football!)
This one I got LA, but I think it was a little skewed toward a younger crowd. One question had four options of what I like to do at night and NONE of them included stay home and ALL of them included going to a bar as just one of the activities. Haha.
Even TIME has a quiz–it takes only a few seconds to take and is based completely around your mood. “The United States of Attitude.” (I got North Carolina)
Although fun, we weren’t going to get an answer from taking 100 quizzes online. But some of them did get us thinking about what’s also important to us. The more we researched, the more we were drawn to...North Carolina! And then as we were Zillow and Chilling and couldn’t find a house we didn’t like there. (We were looking in the Raleigh/Durham area). Out of curiosity, we threw the question out on Instagram Stories to ask you “If you could live anywhere in the US–where would you live? We got answers in almost every state with reasons that had us considering everywhere from Montana to Tennessee to New Mexico.
(When we visited beautiful St. George, Utah last fall)
Growing up, if I wasn’t sure what to do about something, my mom would say, “One day, all day, pretend like you’re going to do x, and the next day pretend all day that you’re going to do y. And then see how you feel!” We did that. And even though the day we were moving to North Carolina felt exciting (and warm!), the day that we were staying here in beautiful Idaho to rebuild the cabin felt more like home. It feels like the only way. We can’t not! That’s not to say there isn’t a major move somewhere down the road, but in the meantime, we have family, friends, mature trees, 4 seasons (although predominately cold! haha), organic produce options, the most beautiful wilderness you wouldn’t believe, kind people and not a traffic jam in sight.
Would love to hear where you’re drawn to and why in the comments!
Austin! Austin! Austin !
I feel like you’d enjoy taking on a project in St Augustine FL. Of course it’s Florida so it’s predominantly hot (and humid!) so maybe not a long term thing. But between the beach and all the history (oldest continuous city in the country) along with lots of small businesses popping g hop (I went to high school with many of those business owners), I bet you’d enjoy it even as a short term thing.
North Carolina really is great. But I think you were looking in the wrong city! Check out WInston Salem and see what you think. (College town, not too far from mountains, very charming with a great art scene downtown, lots of local farm to table type of restaurants- and not as many chains. Great cost of living and easy access to all the major east coast cities. Oh and beaches with in driving distance.)
RDU is great but knowing what I know about rexburg and you guys from your blog I think you should give WS a glance!
Yes! I second Winston Salem. I love it here. I’m a midwest transplant, moving here about four or five years ago. It’s such a great town for all these reasons!
Interesting topic! Strange that you got NY and NC – since those are quite different. Personally, I love exploring different places. I’ve been drawn to Argentina. It’s a beautiful country with lots of geographic variety – everything from world class cities like Buenos Aires to ice glaciers and cascade mountains in Patagonia to tropical waterfalls such as Igauza.
I’m in Los Angeles rigth now, but my next stop is Salt Lake City. I want to spend some serious time in the mountains, but still see some of my favorite bands.