One of the things I most enjoy about traveling is talking about it. In this new weekly series, I’d like to pose some of the questions I’ve discussed with friends, family and fellow travelers over the years. I invite you to pull up your backpack, grab a handful of the local snack food and chime in with your comments and thoughts. Feel free to respond to others, but remember to play nice!
Here’s a Question for You:
How and why did you end up living where you live?
I grew up in the Midwest, but I never managed to fall in love with winter. I moved across the country for college and jumped into the Peace Corps after graduating, so we ended up living in Kenya for awhile. When we returned home from our service, my husband and I relocated back in the Midwest and did some soul searching about where we wanted to live. Our criteria: Good weather, lots of outdoor activities and near a major airport. At the time, Clark County was in search of teachers, which worked out well for my husband’s job search. We packed our bags, loaded up our pets and headed across the country to Sin City. The rest is history.
Join the conversation!
Katie Hammel
I grew up in Detroit, and at the age of 22, decided that though I loved the city I wanted to try living somewhere else. My husband (then boyfriend) and I sold most of our stuff, packed the rest and two cats on a plane, and flew to Seattle. We lived there for two years but it never felt like home. So we decided to look elsewhere. I found a job in Chicago, so we sold everything again, packed up the cats again, and have been in Chicago for four years.
Now that I have a job that allows me to live anywhere, and the husband is looking to move companies, we’re thinking about where we want to live next.
January 28, 2011 at 8:23 am
JoAnna
I also moved to Washington states because I needed to go somewhere new, but I moved to Eastern Washington, which is where I went to college. I tend to have a need to pick up and move after a certain period of time, just because there is so much of the world to check out.
I can’t wait to hear about your next hometown!
January 28, 2011 at 8:38 am
Jen
I grew up in Seattle, but went across the state to college. Lived there for 8 years (!!) and moved to another town in Eastern Washington after grad school. We only lived there for a couple months before the husb got his first teaching job out on the WA peninsula. Unfortunately that didn’t work out so we found ourselves back in our college town. I worked full time for the university and husb was a stay at home dad for awhile. Eventually we got sick of college living so we quit are jobs and moved in with his parents, with no jobs lined up. We ended up getting jobs and our own place within 3 months. We’re still here, but husb has the worst luck with jobs and so now we are looking to move again. We’d like to live in the area, but are open to change. My requirements are 1) no scary bugs 2) no natural disaster seasons. After that, I can deal
January 28, 2011 at 9:00 am
Jen
AH! Typos! Please pardon all the typos!
January 28, 2011 at 9:01 am
Emily S.
Those sound exactly like my requirements – no bugs and no tornadoes!!!
January 28, 2011 at 9:58 am
JoAnna
No bugs and no natural disasters … sounds like a good living situation to me, though I’m much more partial to places that don’t have extremely cold temperatures.
January 30, 2011 at 6:38 pm
James Schipper
Lived in Southern California most of my life.
Lived in Vegas/Henderson for about 5 years.
Met someone who lived here in Florida. Visited a few times over a few years, figured out a way to change my business to work from wherever and moved here.
January 28, 2011 at 9:56 am
Emily S.
Sometimes I really don’t know! My boyfriend and I grew up in St. Louis, and wanted to try something new for a while. We didn’t want to deal with snow in winter, and we wanted to go west… thus Las Vegas! It was an enormous change, but it’s starting to feel like home.
January 28, 2011 at 9:56 am
Gray
I grew up in Vermont. Tried living in the Hudson Valley region of NY for 9 months and hated it, moved back. Moved to the Burlington area of Vermont because it held the best job prospects. I’d really like to try living somewhere else at this point. I love Vermont 6 months out of the year, but winters are killing me.
January 28, 2011 at 11:22 am
Katharine
I grew up in Washington state and lived in four different areas growing up. I stayed in-state to go to college and for my first job. Eventually my husband joined the Air Force and they moved us across the country to Delaware. They just moved us again, but internationally this time, so we’re going to get to spend some time living in England and exploring Europe.
January 28, 2011 at 11:22 am
JoAnna
I’m so stoked you’re living in England right now! Just may have to make plans to come visit you while you’re living there.
January 30, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Cam
I grew up just outside of Toronto, Ontario.
After high school I came out to Vancouver for the summer and loved it! I moved there six months later and its been 13 since… It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth!
January 28, 2011 at 12:50 pm
JoAnna
I agree … Vancouver is absolutely stunning. I haven’t spent nearly enough time there.
January 30, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Trisha Miller
I wound up in Arizona for the same reason a lot of people wind up in the cities in which they live.…..love! I moved here to be with the man that I adore, and have been here 11 years…now though we’re looking around to figure out where we want to move to, and are actually looking seriously at several different cities around the world, not just the U.S.….I can’t wait to see where I wind up next!
January 28, 2011 at 12:55 pm
JoAnna
How exciting! Arizona is such a beautiful state, but I’m really excited to see where you end up next!
January 30, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Alouise
Gee I definitely have the most uninteresting answer so far. But here it goes.
I was born in Edmonton, Alberta. My family moved to Leduc (a small city 15 minutes south of Edmonton) when I was 5. When I was 19 I moved to Edmonton with some friends. For financial reasons I moved back home a few years ago. Now I’m in school (in Edmonton, commuting), so I’m living with my parents to save rent money.
But I am planning to move somewhere new when I graduate. Actually the program I’m in has an internship for the last year, so I could be out before then. Don’t know where for sure, but it’ll be some place where winter doesn’t last so long. The 6 month comment Gray posted resonates all too well.
January 28, 2011 at 10:45 pm
JoAnna
There are lots of places that don’t have snow. Start walking south now and you’ll be there by May!
January 30, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Laura
This is a really interesting question! I have an uninteresting answer… I grew up in Pittsburgh and have lived here all my life. For some reason I didn’t want to relocate after college so now I have a job keeping me here. My fiancé and I want to live somewhere else at some point and split time between the US and Brazil (where he’s from) and I dream of living in both a huge international city and on the beach.
January 30, 2011 at 1:27 pm
JoAnna
There are lots of huge cities and beaches in the world, Laura. Go ahead and spin the globe!
January 30, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Maria Staal
I was born and grew up in a small town in the Netherlands and after travelling around the world for seven years, I am now back in said town.
I came back, because I like the town and because my parents live there. It’s nice to be near them for a change.
January 31, 2011 at 6:40 am
JoAnna
I’ve found that the more I travel, the more I appreciate my home. I can definitely respect where you’re coming from.
February 1, 2011 at 2:12 pm