When we first started telling friends and family about our plan to live as nomads for a while, we often were asked “How long do you plan to stay on the road?” and “Are you going to come back to live in Puget Sound?” Both answers from us have been, “We have no idea!” We both have said we want to be open to the possibility of finding someplace else we want to settle, just as we are open to the possibility that we might want to live as nomads for an extended period of time. Heck, we’re even open to the possibility that we might hate this lifestyle and totally bail to move back home after one year!
It’s no secret to anyone who visits our home region of Puget Sound, that it is a truly special place. We absolutely love the proximity to both the water and the mountains, while living in a metropolitan area that gives us access to amazing live music opportunities and fantastic dining options. But it is also true that we’ve spent the entirety of our married lives living in Puget Sound and we know there are many other amazing places in this country that we could visit and fall in love with, the same way we love Puget Sound. So, if we’re going to consider living somewhere else, we should look at the factors we would consider in deciding to move permanently to a new place.
Here are the factors we consider when rating a place to live:
Scenic Beauty: Growing up with Mt. Rainier in our backyard and being able to access both the ocean beaches and the mountains within a two hour drive make Puget Sound hard to beat in this category, but we’re open to natural beauty of all kinds.
Weather/Climate: We’re pretty used to rain and gray skies from November-May. We’d want to find someplace that doesn’t have super extreme weather of either the cold or hot variety. Steve hates it when the temperature climbs above 90 and Michelle hates driving in the snow. We’d look for a place that doesn’t have either extreme too regularly.
Arts and Culture: We love live music, Broadway musicals, museums, and experiencing new things. We would absolutely want to live somewhere where we can attend shows and that is not too far to drive when our favorite musicians go on tour.
Food: Yep, we love food! We want to have a variety of dining options not too far, as well as access to a grocery store that allows us to purchase food in line with the healthy lifestyle we live.
Alignment with our values: We want to live someplace with diversity. We love learning about, and living with people who are different from us. We want to have neighbors who value people regardless of their gender, race, sexuality, or religion. We believe that we need community and we want to be in community with people who share our values.
So there you have it. We’ll rate each of these five categories on a scale of 1-10, giving us a score out of 50. How many cities/regions will get close to our beloved Puget Sound? Do you have a recommendation for someplace we should put on our travel list to consider? Only time will tell whether we settle back into a stationary life, or if we continue this nomadic life.
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