making drastic changes in life

[Pax]

Yes. Combine that with the fact of only 24 hours in a day and no one to split household tasks with, and there are plenty of important things that never get done.

I know when my honey had her hysterectomy and I had to do everything for a few weeks, it felt overwhelming. I eventually starting letting things slide because I ran out of hours in the day.

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi All,
Early on in this thread I mentioned that we were checking out area for possible retirement. So now we are in western NC. It ticked a lot of boxes on paper so we wanted to come check it out. It is a beautiful area of the country. It reminds me of the Adirondacks in NY. There seems to be good trail accessibility and lots of outdoor stuff to do. I am not sure how anyone could cycle here, the roads are SUPER scary.

The cost of living sure would be a huge bonus for us, but I do have a few concerns about living here, and I do not mean to offend anyone, so please keep that in mind.

I think it may be a bit conservative for me. Although all of the people we have chatted with have been lovely, there seems to be a very strong religious thread running here and we are not religious at all. Down the road that may be a problem. Also I did not expected to see people flying rebel flags. I know that should not bother me, but on some level it does. So maybe this is too far south for a girl that grew up in the northeast? I do not know.

Maybe I should not worry about the religion thing but we had a blow up with our best friends of almost 25 years this winter over religion and it shook me. Over the years as they were raising their family they have become super conservative. It never really bubbled up because we have been friends for so long and because we are always doing stuff. And then I showed them a picture of us at 14,000 feet last summer hanging prayer flags atop a peak out west to honor my Mom. And then it hit the fan
So it has made me gun shy. It probably did not help that when they were saying grace before dinner when the said amen, I said Ommmmmm. I just could not help myself.

But It sure si beautiful country and they have a kicking farmer's market!

[Crankin]

I will answer you, based on my personal experience, living in the south and the west, as a northeastener.
When I moved to Miami as a teen, it was the height of the late 60s. All I saw, sort of blended in to the urban/suburban landscape, were Confederate flags, KKK signs not that far out of town, and other kids telling me I was going to hell because I was Jewish. It was such a culture shock, I didn't speak to my dad for months. Fast forward a few years, when I moved to AZ. That was fine at first. I also had my sheltered little world in a university town and my friends from the Jewish Community Center. Work was full of super conservative teachers and students from one particular religion. I had a great job, a house in a very desireable area, and lots of friends. But in the end, I wanted my kids to grow up with the values I grew up with. It just felt super hard to do it in AZ, as the political climate became increasingly repressive. I think it would have been easier in Tucson, which is more liberal.
I have been enamored of the climate and other recreational activities in quite a few places I have visited, but I know I could never live there. Hence, my list is very short when it comes to places I could actually live. I love where I live and we decided about 5 years ago, we are never moving. This is why we are now living in a smaller townhouse that is paid for. We will travel and maybe buy a small 2nd home in western MA, but I learned a long time ago that there's more to a place than the scenery.