Moving across country involves many changes. My surprise is having moved across country so many times, I thought it would be easy and it's not. The challenge isn't buying the house as we've bought and sold more than 10 houses. It's more about the change in weather, landscape and views and ultimately lifestyle changes.
You see we're moving to our retirement home and I'll be honest, it's scary to think this might be our last home. Another thing that's different is our new location isn't related to a new job, although we picked New Hampshire (closer to where the boys were going to school) for our last corporate move.
Moving Across Country & Learning About New Places
Most people move for a new job or to be closer to family. Moving for retirement might involve family but not always and that's our challenge. So why is it so difficult? To understand this, I've been analyzing (yes, that's my technical background) what I loved about prior moves.
From New York to California, was an adventure as it was the first time I couldn't drive home (parents).- From California back to Connecticut (then New York), to start a family and there were more job opportunities there.
- From New York to Tokyo, for more adventure with little risk as higher living expenses were covered by my employer and we knew we'd be going home.
- From Tokyo to California, going home to a location where there were many job choices as we had 2 careers to consider.
- From California to New Hampshire, because we wanted to be on the east coast, near family and our sons away at school.
And here's what I learned from looking at the various reasons why we've moved across country. I've always lived near the ocean, although my current home just 2 blocks from the Atlantic, is the first home where we have water views. That helps me understand why moving inland is not as comfortable as all our other moves.
We're planning to move to Fountain Hills, a community outside of Phoenix AZ. It's desert (so is California) and I'm giving up my water although I'm now having second thoughts about finding a house with a pool … if it makes sense.
Exploring Different Houses & Neighborhoods Across the Country
Neighborhoods for me have always been about your neighbors, schools and the kids your children will play with. By visiting Phoenix and Orlando in the last few weeks, I'm now realizing how different house choices are in each community. So let me share as you might see some new things about where you live.
Moving Across Country to Fountain Hills, AZ
Arizona isn't anything like New Hampshire, or anywhere on the east coast. The big difference – desert versus lush trees, shrubs and everything green. And we're moving across country, to Arizon for … astronomy (my husband's passion), as they have more than 300 clear nights and minimal moisture. Fountain Hills amazingly is a city that doesn't have street lights, to which my husband says yea
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