Adventures in LuLu

(Smith Rock…although it looks a little like the old tv show Land of the Lost, right?)

I have lived in Washington, DC for 26 years. How on earth did that happen? I was just taking a year off before going to law school and next thing you know, a quarter of a century has passed. When I am on the road for work, I don’t miss DC. I miss David and the dogs. I miss friends. But I really don’t miss the city. Yet when I think about moving it is nearly impossible to contemplate. If not moving for love or a job, then what is the north star when deciding where to live. When I think “I could live anywhere near an airport,” it makes it nearly impossible to decide where exactly that would be.

A sense of place is such a funny thing. Some friends I know love a certain place. My friend Kelsey loves Crested Butte. Or another friend Valerie has always loved the beach so is moving to Florida to finally live near one. For me, there are a lot of places I like, but not one that calls to me.

The whole idea of living in one place when I don’t have kids or other responsibilities that require me to do that is proving a false construct. With Airbnb and VRBO, David and I could live in a different place every month. We could follow good weather around the country. What’s to stop us? Yet nomadic life holds little appeal. I do like community. I like to know my neighbors, have restaurant owners welcome me by name, and actually get mail addressed to me and not just “current resident.”

I’ve made a list. It started out practical. I need to be near a reasonable airport for my work.

Then I thought about priority preferences. I’d like it to be a place where we already know people so like a sour dough starter, we have a shot at making friends quickly. I want to live on water if possible. Lake, river, stream, ocean. I’d love to be able to roll out of bed and go kayaking from my yard. Good close hikes nearby. Dogs like a robust walk in the morning and it is good for the entire family. Some civilization nearby (say 8-10 miles max). Market, a few restaurants, maybe a good place to hear live music.

Then I started getting shallow. A place where my hair looks tousled not like a big fuzz ball.

It is actually this last one that really starts to cut into the places we could live. I’m down to these: Bend, Ashland, Hood River, Missoula, Bozeman, Healdsburg CA, Burlington VT, Stowe, Portsmouth NH, Lake Placid/Saranac Lake NY, and someplace in Colorado TBD. David wants to include Sand Point Idaho so I’ll list it here.

Now we just have to decide. Are we ready to try some place new? For now, we are enjoying our time out of the Beltway. After that we will see…