I've been all over the state of California so far in 2006.
Spent New Year's in L.A., that next week in Tahoe, and I just got back from Eureka.
I seem to be interested in travel, and so time of work makes that do-able.
Where to next?
Sonoma County: It is beautiful here, but it is also very expensive, and good jobs are very hard to find. Still, I had some reasons to stay here.
1) I had a house/area I liked a lot but I was forced to move out in mid Oct. I was unable to find a place in the same city in time that I could afford, so now I live about a 30 min drive west of there. I could just as well moved much further to another nice area, but ...
2) I had a great paying job that I liked a lot, but I was laid off in mid Nov. (I'm an electrical engineer, my job was sent overseas) It has been almost two months now with no real work. I'm still looking. Since I don't have the house or the job anymore, I could move somewhere I like were there actualy are good jobs except ...
3) I had a serious girlfriend who didn't want to leave here, but we broke up in early Dec. She was kinda open to moving away when I never would have. Now she still has a house she loves and a great paying job, and things between us haven't been that good for a while anyways.
I can just feel my roots to this area melt away.
Do I have other good reasons to stay? My family is close, but I see them infrequently anyway, and I could travel to see them a few times a year and they would see me as often as they do now. So, staying to keep them close, when I haven't been seeing them doesn't feel like a good reason.
Oh, I'm in 'North of Malibu', this really fun surf band. It alone isn't a good reason to stay, but it was just about my last reason to not want to move away. I found out just this morning that our drummer is moving to Kansas in Feb. and that will be it for the band.
Sure, I could keep looking for a good job here, while I keep looking for a place I'd like to live near by. Sooner or later I'll meet another great local gal, and I know I can find another band to play with in the area, but do I really want to?