MMR: To Move or not To Move

So, recently I've been talking quite a bit about possibly moving once my lease was up. There's no real catalyst behind this other than the feeling that I need a change. I've lived in the same area my whole life. Something new would be nice.

So, today, I'd like to do two things. One, I wanna look at the pros and cons to moving; and two, I wanna list out some of the places I've been thinking about.

PROs: First, a change of scenery would be fun. It would be a new adventure in my life, and as anyone who reads this blog knows, I'm always looking for my next adventure. Second, I could choose where I live. I like the Bay Area, and San Jose is a very nice city...but I've always wanted to live somewhere warmer, and more specifically, somewhere tropical and more laid back. I'm a very laid back person for the most part, and the Bay Area is quite high strung.

CONs: Well, the act of moving is always a pain...packing up your shit, finding a new place, a new job, etc. Driving the big moving truck around, physically moving all your shit in and out of houses. Ugh. But the biggest con would have to be moving away from my best friends, most of whom live up in the Sacramento Valley, and a few in the South Bay. If I'm living in, say, San Diego, that's a long drive to Williams for a weekend. Also, all my favorite sports teams are here...and sports are a big part of my life. I love going to Sharks games and A's games. They're two things I do that are just pure bliss. If I were to move to, say, Tampa, I'd be stuck with the Lightning and only seeing the Sharks once a year at best. Sad times.

I'm not sure if the PROs outweigh the CONs of moving yet. The packing up and physically moving is not a CON I will take into consideration, since I'll have to move anyways when my lease is up. But not getting to see my friends and not getting to watch the Sharks and the A's would be big adjustments for me. I'm not sure living somewhere tropical and/or laid back would be a big enough upgrade in my life. Luckily, I'm young, and have no ties to this area that I have to stick around for (you know, girlfriends or wives or a house or anything like that). If I wanna move around and try new places out, now is the time to do so. If I ever meet someone who thinks I'm pretty great and I think so as well, and some sort of settling down occurs, it'll be hard to uproot an entire family on my whims. I also have until October at the earliest until I would even think about moving somewhere else, since my lease is up after September. So, we'll see. Its just something I've been thinking a lot about.

I'd love to hear people's opinions. I may ignore them completely, but its always nice to hear some other points of view.

Moving right along, if I do decide to move, I've been thinking of the following:

1. San Diego, CA - This has been at the top of my list for a while. San Diego is an amazing city. It's totally chill, and on the ocean with amazing beaches. They definately run at my speed down there. Also, my sister lives there, which could provide some entertaining times, as well as someone I know for when I'm just starting out there and making new friends. San Diego is warm, on the ocean, and pretty much everything I'm looking for in a city except for the tropicalness of it. It would be pretty great, methinks.

2. Tampa, FL - This one is kind of random, I know. But, I have been in the area once, and I really liked it. It's on the gulf coast of Florida, but its actually a really nice city. There's sports teams there to keep me entertained (they have everything, football, baseball, hockey). It's a tropical climate, which I'd really like to try out living in. And it would be totally different! This would be a huge move, but one that could be very entertaining. I'd like to visit there again sometime before I'd ever consider moving there...check out pace of life and how chill the city vibe is...but I'm definately interested in the Tampa Bay area.

3. Washington D.C. - This one would probably fall underneath the Bay Area in terms of places I'd like to live. But, as a political science major, it could provide some interesting opportunities to see if I'd even want to pursue a career in politics. But it snows there, and its cold in the winter, and its definately a high strung town that doesn't take anything "easy." I also wouldn't want to live in the city itself, but in one of the suburbs in Maryland or Virginia...which would mean commuting, ugh. But its definately worth considering, depending on what I want to do down the road with my life.

Of course, I could always expatriate and live on some random Caribbean island working at a bar and living in an oceanside shanty. Could be fun!

Where else might be a fun place to live? Suggestions?

Anyways, that's enough for now. I'm out.