4.5 Years in San Diego

I've now lived longer in San Diego than I did in either Ann Arbor or Washington State. I'm pretty well settled in here, with a house, family and job I enjoy. I now own enough stuff that moving to a new place doesn't sound fun, and I've spent so much time getting our house the way we want it. Plus, it's hard to think of a better place to live.

There is a map of the USA that hangs above our table at home. It's a map I used to look at for hours at a time as a kid. A few years ago my wife took it from my parents house and had it framed for me as a gift. Sometimes I look at it and think of all the interesting places there must be to live, and how that might change depending on the phase of your life.

Most of the people I work with are in the Navy and move around every 2-3 years. It would be fun to live in Hawaii, Key West, Guam, Japan or Italy for a few years, but maybe not a place I'd want to homestead.

Growing up in the Midwest I always wanted to live by mountains and water. I always envied the small town that my Dad grew up in but I wouldn't want to be more than a few hours from a major city. Having an decent sized airport close-by seems important. It would be nice to live in a town with some charm, or better yet, a college town. I don't want to live in a place that gets too hot and humid, or that has a long and cold winter. It can't be too expensive either.

San Diego does pretty well by those standards, although the traffic and cost-of-living aren't great. My former town of Poulsbo, WA also checks many of the boxes, as does Ann Arbor. Davis, CA and San Luis Obispo, CA where my wife has lived are both pretty good too. It's likely that the perfect place isn't one of the places my wife or I have ever lived.

My parents have spent the last 10 years halfheartedly looking for a place to retire to. Their criteria is quite different from mine, but I think they enjoy checking different places out in their quest to find the right one. I think it's a fun thing to think about, even if you like where you live. I like looking at the map and thinking about it.