I’ve been wanting to move for a while now. I don’t hate Baltimore. I know I would miss it. But I need a change. I considered moving several years ago, but didn’t because I ended up meeting the band I was in and that took off. So I willingly stayed.
I’m not going to move right now. I need to finish school. Then I need to start my career and get some experience for a few years, save some money, and then go for it. So it’s going to be a while before it happens.
One thing that’s important to me is the weather. But unlike a lot of people, I don’t want to live someplace where it’s hot year round. I think places with Mediterranean or Marine west coast/Oceanic climates would be ideal. This basically mean it’s those “in-between” temperatures most of the year: not too hot, not too cold: Spring and Fall weather, basically. I can’t stand humidity anymore. I can’t take these windy and cold winters in Maryland. It’s not that I can’t just suck it up. My body physically reacts badly to it! When it’s cold outside, my back muscles really tense up. They tense up so much that it hurts. There’s nothing I can do to just make the muscles relax (unless maybe I was prescribed a pill, but I’d rather not go that route if I could avoid it). And when it’s really hot and humid out, my skin reacts badly. This summer, I’ve been breaking out worse than I ever have in my life. But when we get a few days or a week of not-as-hot weather, my skin improves a lot.
The weather also really affects my mood. For one thing, when the clocks go back in the fall, I can’t stand it. I realize that most of the U.S. changes the clocks in the fall and spring. But it does get darker almost an hour earlier in Baltimore than it did when I was growing up in Dayton, Ohio because of its latitude in the time zone. We’re closer to the beginning of the time zone, but Dayton is at the end of the zone.
I think West Coast would be right for me. Not just because of the weather, but because of the culture and economies out there. And I just need something different from Baltimore. If I moved somewhere else on the East Coast, not only would I not have the desired weather, but it would be too similar to here.
So what cities have my desired climate in North America? There’s San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, Canada. San Diego/SF were my first choices. But the cost of living is so ridiculously high there, that I just don’t think they are the best choices. Everyone I know who’s been to San Diego says the people are nice, their sinuses/allergies are virtually gone (that would be great for me), the crime is relatively low, and it’s generally an awesome town. (Though most places would have lower crime than Baltimore). But I need to live somewhere somewhat reasonable. I know I’ll eventually be making more money, but that doesn’t mean I want to pay a lot more for the same things and struggle for basic needs.
I’ve always kind of considered moving to Canada in the back of my mind. The country seems beautiful. Maybe it’s just the “grass is greener” thing, but it seems better in general there. I know it’s not perfect. But they seem to have less serious problems than America does. But the thing is, a lot of Canada is cold. Vancouver has the Oceanic climate. But it’s also very expensive. Its housing is about the 13th highest in the whole world. That’s bad.
So that brings me to Seattle and Portland. They seem like awesome towns. They are pretty liberal. They have good music and arts scenes. Of course, that’s important to me. When I was a teenager, I wanted to move there just because a lot of the bands I liked where from those two cities (as well as Olympia). But as I’m getting older, there are other reasons I think it seems decent. Seattle has a great economy. It seems like a pretty city. I know these cities aren’t cheap, but I think they are do-able. All of the people I know who’ve lived in Seattle say good things about the place. When I tell most people I am thinking about Seattle, they tell me it rains a ton there. But if you look at the annual rainfall, it’s less than Baltimore. And Baltimore doesn’t get an extreme amount of rain.
According to Wikipedia: “Despite being on the margin of the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, the city of Seattle has a reputation for frequent rain. In reality, the so-called “rainy city” receives an unremarkable 37.1 inches (94.2 cm) of precipitation a year, which is much less precipitation than New York City, Atlanta, and Houston and most cities of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Seattle’s worldwide reputation for rain derives from the fact that it is cloudy (not rainy) an average of 226 days per year (vs. 132 in New York City). Most of the precipitation falls as drizzle or light rain, with downpours happening only occasionally. The spring, late fall, and winter are filled with days when it does not rain but looks as if it may because of cloudy, overcast skies.”
People think it’s weird but I like overcast weather. Yesterday (before it rained), I thought the weather was near perfect. It wasn’t too dark out, but it wasn’t annoyingly bright. The temperature was great. It was overcast. That may sound weird, but that’s how I feel. My body just feels better when the weather is different and my mood is affected.
Of course, I can hear things about cities from people and I can read articles. But I won’t know for sure where I want to move until I go around and visit the places. I am hoping by next year to visit Seattle and Portland. I need a vacation anyway and it would make sense to go somewhere I’m considering living.
I was also somewhat considering Las Vegas, which I never thought of until recently. Obviously it’s the desert and not Mediterranean. But it’s still not as humid as the East Coast. And I’d rather have really hot summers than have the hot summers and cold, windy winters we have here. I’m not a gambler, so I didn’t think Vegas would be for me. But talking to my friend Tommy who moved there, he made it seem like a place I might really like. He doesn’t gamble, either. There is a whole other scene there for the locals.
So who knows for sure where I’ll end up living. I have several years to decide for sure. But it doesn’t hurt to get a good idea sooner than that.