I know that's not necessarily an attractive quality to a lot of people, but I'm oddly proud of it. Go fig.
Anyway, I've got one more year of grad school. Naturally, I'm already scouting out potential locations which I may call my future home.
I have already ruled out many places based on extensive research and several important, highly influential factors:
- St. Louis - I hate the Cardinals.
- Atlanta, Chicago and DC - My road rage needs no further provocation.
- Hawaii - I really don't like coconut.
- Kentucky - Do I really need to get into that again?
- The American Southwest - Raise your hand if you think this is a good idea. I dare you.
This has pretty much whittled me down to a few key places. Mind you, they're only general musings, but I do so love to muse.
In the South we have:
- Wilmington, NC - They have a beach.
- Savannah - They have a beach.
- Charleston, SC - They have a beach.
- Austin - For funsies
This is my attempt to be open-minded and give the South my best shot. Plus, I figure while I live down here, I may as well visit some of these places anyway. I already wanted to see Savannah and Charleston but then Salt and Allyson made them seem even fancier with their freaky churches and bedazzled penises.
In the North, we have:
- Boston - Awesome accents and baseball fanaticism
- Ann Arbor, MI - I'd finally get to live in a mitten!
- Toronto, ON - If the Winter Olympics opening ceremony didn't make you want to be at least a little Canadian, then I don't know how to help you.
- Seattle - My brother lives there. And so does coffee.
- San Diego - Weather, bloggers and a bitchin' zoo
As it turns out, there are a crap ton of bloggers living in Southern California (I refuse to call it SoCal) and I would love to meet so many of them/you. One of whom is my beloved blogsbian, SurferWife. I have already frightened her plenty with the prospect of showing up on her front doorstep with a sleeping bag in one hand and our love fern in the other. She pretends she's cool with it, but I think she's already changed the locks and hidden the hummus.
Over the next 12 months, my plan is to use a substantial amount of my financial aid money to gallavant across the country and visit as many of these places as possible. Besides, how often to I get the opportunity to gallavant? Not as often as you'd think.
However, I do frolic like a champ.
43 comments:
My unsolicited opinions:
- I REALLY would like to live in Austin. It's supposedly like Bloomington, but bigger and, you know, in Texas. The bbq is probably awesome.
- I also have relatives in Seattle and it seems pretty awesome. I'd like to live there, too.
- Ann Arbor has always seemed like a more northern version of Bloomington to me. A college town with lots to do, but with more snow.
- Yay for Toronto! You'd be in my neighborhood if you moved there. It may not seem obvious, but it's also really close to the beach and to Niagara Falls (and to London!). Everyone who I've met who lives there or has ever lived there seems to LOVE Toronto.
Please let me know when you frolic up to Ann Arbor! I want to come with you!
Ummm . . . What is UP with Texas lately? Everyone I know seems to be moving there or thinking about moving there! I will tell you more about it in an e-mail, but I think you should move to Austin. Just seriously, seriously consider it. And maybe we can get Lisa to move there, too, when she comes home . . .
Wilmington, Savannah, and Charleston are amazing. Get on your gallivanting boots and go there now. Seriously.
Ann Arbor is actually a really nice little town here in the mitten. However, I'm getting ready to move to NC regardless. As you said...beaches. :)
NO NYC?! oh well... I vote for Austin.
Well, being an Austinite, I can tell you that there's a lot of fun shit to do here... it's very enjoyable and all that jazz. BUT it's a little bit like an oven here right now. Okay, a LOT like an oven. And that kinda lasts, like, all summer. Do you have a tendency to melt in the heat?
If you want to come see the city, though, i can show you a good place to get a brew. :)
I am currently advocating that everyone I talk to move to Philadelphia. Because I am. Though what there is there beside food I really couldn't tell you. The Jersey Shore is close by?
Well come to Ann Arbor you can have fun with the blooming film industry and the college town plus the Chicago, Detroit, and Windsor nearby, plenty of things to do, many vacation areas with the great lakes and very affordable right now.
Wilmington is awesome. That's my vote.
I've heard great things about Austin! San Diego is always a great place to be too!
Savannah
Charleston
Seattle
San Diego
Well, Charleston starts with a C and the rest with an S, so maybe cut that one out.
Seattle is RAIN.
San Diego is Surferwife.
I'm thinking Elephantia (i know i spelled that wrong) would do well having both parents around.
Thank God for my Mimi-Dawg.
Someone finally speaks with reason. I don't know what all this Ann Arbor and Austin bullshit is about.
Never trust a city that is early in the alphabet. When the terrorists open their friendly atlas, what do you think they see first?!
Also. If you don't move to San Diego we will break up.
Now. Wasn't that simple?
even though you cleverly position it as a "mitten", I still would never live in MI. and i would tell you to avoid Boston like the plague.
Boston. Hands down, no questions asked. My favorite city in the US.
However, I would add a new city to the mix - Virginia Beach. Because they have a beach. And I live there.
San Diego is in the North?
Well I guess it has been a long time since I took a geography class.
Now I already know that you ruled out DC because you have road rage, but just hear me out here....Baltimore is AWESOME. Sure we have lots of murdering going on, but that's pretty much contained to the really bad areas of the city. The touristy areas only have the occasional mugging.
I'm not really doing much to sell this place, am I?
If you go to Charleston, we can hang out twice a year!!!
Have fun frolicking!!! Ohio didn't even make the long list, did it? It never does. At the end all, though, my vote is Texas. :)
Savannah and Charleston are FABULOUS... because they have these really great cemeteries, mostly. And open container laws.
But Seattle is the place for a smarty pants like you. Come here, pretty please, during your gallavanting.
shame.
how much more convincing do you need?
i've dedicated my name to my blessed state.
let's hammer it down with a few new points of interest you may not be aware of:
-we have the the most orangey people on the planet.
-the rest of the country hates our racist ways.
-you're more likely to get your honda stolen here than anywhere else. (you'll have to get a honda before moving here)
-our women over 40 population keeps victoria secret's PINK collection in business
and
-DMX, jenna jamison and alice cooper all live here. 3 of my heroes.
ps- i'm in washington right now happily avoiding the 118 degree weather. not a huge fan of arizona in august and neither is my super soggy crotch.
1) I hear Boston traffic is horrendous
2) Living in a mitten would be way better than living in a boot. Italy would be so jealous.
3) My in-laws live in Savannah. Just a head's up.
Well, since beaches are a priority and Surferwife, then I say Cali is the place for you!
Can't wait to see where you end up? I get the whole moving-around-constantly desire. My family however have put their foot down. My husband told me to bury him in the backyard the next time I plan on moving again.
gallavanting is overrated. frolicking is where it's AT ;)
and i canNOT believe that you left "the part of florida that is really considered alabama most of the time" off of your final cut list. really? what...you've got something against cows, tractors, rockin' dental hygeine, people who routinely use "y'all" as pretty much any part of speech (really...it can be done.... "y'all...those ya'lls were y'allrific!" see....noun, verb, and adjective. bam!), and the MOSTEST important part...ME? no? still not selling it? shoot....then go ahead and move in with surferwife and make it all official-like.
Charleston, SC! I went on vacation there last week. It was amazing. It's really exciting and friendly, yes, there's a beach, the history is really cool, and it's beautiful. You can also walk everywhere if you're downtown. We didn't take our car out the whole three days we were there.
I liked the shopping too XD
~Kendra
I vote Seattle. The rain is not that bad, and it's over 90 today so it does get warm. We have coffee, we're diverse, and you could live outside of the city but still get there easily. (As a side note, my friend who lives in AZ, always comes home to Seattle and mentions how good it feels to be in a state with so much green, and water and mountains compared to AZ's brown, flat rocks.)
Forget Seattle immediately - I hear it's rainy, which can be very depressing.
I, of course, would highly recommend Toronto. Although the Olympics were in Vancouver (other side of the country) us Canadians are all pretty much the same.
Besides, San Diego has all that awful sunshine which can cause that nasty melonoma.
I'd love Wilmington. Beautiful area. And Dawson's Creek was filmed there.
Seattle is one of my favorite places to visit...in the summer (and ONLY the summer).
San Diego has a beach. So does Orange County (my neck of the woods), and Los Angeles!
I'm going to school in SD, and I'm stoked about it so...you can imagine which of your option I'M rooting for! ;D
My vote? Ann Arbor....it's like Michigan's version of Bloomington.
OR Seattle. I love the Pacific Northwest, though I would prefer Oregon.
Apparently you need more advice:
I lived in Seattle 6 years - great people, great place, but do NOT move there if you like sunshine or enjoy not being depressed (by lack of sunshine - it's true).
My brother lives in Boston and it's a GREAT city. I'm not sure if they're sarcastic enough for you though, they take themselves pretty seriously.
I drove across the country back in '96, when you were probably an afterthought in your dad's mind, and highly recommend it.
P.S. I mentioned you in my blog post today.
P.P.S. love the blogsbian - did you make that up?
You can galavant right on up to Portland if you'd like. I'm moving there this Friday. We to have not stayed put this last year. I hate moving though. Like REALLY hate it.
Kudos to you and your great blog...
A few things...
1. Since when is San Diego in the North?
2. San Diego is awesome.
3. So is Boston. My BFF lives there.
4. South=no
5. How the hell did MI make the list, but MN didn't?? This confuses me. St. Paul is a rad city and very close to me.
That is all. Have fun galavanting!
the majority of my driving life was in the DC area--then i moved south and pretty much look like a crazy woman to these people every time i get in the car. southern drivers and a vehicular upbringing full of road rage do not go well together...
I have been trying to move to Austin for years but I can't sell my damn house.
I love it there. There are a lot of weird/fun things that I can't get enough of.
But for now Chicago has a hold of me and will not let me go. As a result, road rage is about to give me a heart attack, you now, right after my blood pressure goes through the roof.
Ohhhh! South! I'm going to Savannah next month for the first time. It seems perfect! Lazy days sipping on sweet tea...Ah, heaven!
But Boston? Cute boston boys with hot accents;)
Sara, nice to meet you! Thanks for the great comments on my blog, they mean a lot to me.
I've lived in the mitten. Very nice, as long as you have a job that is secure.
I grew up near Chicago. Those people are crazy -- they drive crazy and they have terrible taste in football teams. I don't believe they can be helped.
I live near DC, we're not so bad. You get tickets out here for "aggressive driving" so people are playing so nicely now. ;)
You have some great places on your list -- looks like some good gallivanting will be going on. Enjoy!
You're not traveling outside America? Visit the Congo and you'll meet some of your ancient relatives.
And yet you're not coming to KY. *wah*
PS Ann Arbor is very cold, windy, and snowy. Been there, done that.
I vote for anywhere there's a beach! (Says the gal 9 hours from the closest one.)
Love all the southern choices, as well as San Diego and Seattle. You did forget to consider Charlotte and Chicago - two of my favorites. :)
I'm good with relationships, but any and all other long term commitments scare me. Move to Savannah! I ADORE it there.
This is at that point where I say "men in the south are complete gentlemen and you may get to go to a cotillion AND eat alligator, all in the same day." And you say, "so???" I think you would be bored to tears in Savannah or Charleston because once you got past bedazzled penises and you rode out one hurricane, it would just be another historic town with big bugs and lots of Spanish moss. San Diego definitely seems very you. Or Seattle. Or split the difference and do San Francisco. Wait, is San Francisco splitting the difference? My geography ain't so good. Anyway, you need to be on a coast because I think Sara Without an H landlocked would be recipe for disaster. Also? I think you have to have a passport to go to Canada now....let alone live there. They're funny about us.
BLERG - blogger messed up again! I should really be copying and saving my comments before hitting RETURN!
My vote - Wilmington, NC. It's not closer to me but I will tell you if I had to move tomorrow it would be my first choice. I love the area, the beaches are so pretty and you aren't far from a very secluded beach town (Topsail Island, NC) it's about 45 mins away and so worth the trip! Wilmington makes my heart sing. I'd be a bit jealous to know you live there but I could totally visit you. ox
LOL.. hey Sara. Excuse me, did you say 86 the mayo? This does not compute. If you put it on an old boot, I'd eat it.
Great post here. Thanks for being around.
Keri
www.samwich365.com
LOL.. hey Sara. Excuse me, did you say 86 the mayo? This does not compute. If you put it on an old boot, I'd eat it.
Great post here. Thanks for being around.
Keri
www.samwich365.com
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