The first thing my mom said to me when we got back home from vacation was, “When are you moving to Utah?”
“We’re not,” I replied. “Why would you think that?”
But I knew exactly why she said it. Whenever we go someplace new and have a good time there, we get the itch to pack up our belongings and call this new place home. It happened most recently on our trip to the Olympic Peninsula.
“How was Port Townsend?” my mom asked.
“Great!” I said. “We’re moving there!”
Granted, I did not offer a timeline as to when this impending move might occur, but it was enough to cause her to worry. My parents don’t want us to move too far away. I even blogged about it:
And now Tara and I want to move to Port Townsend. We even found a house.
The same thing happened when we returned from Denver. And every single time I pass through Astoria, I dream of a house on a hill overlooking the Columbia River. Hell, we can’t even go to a show in Portland without me admiring the neighborhood and gushing over how amazing it would be to live in an urban oasis like the Hawthorne district or Laurelhurst.
You have to understand, this whole “plan” to uproot ourselves and move to a new city will likely never come to fruition. Because every time I feel the tug of someplace new – Omaha, anybody?! – common sense eventually prevails. I love Washington. The Pacific Northwest is the greatest place on earth. Why would I ever want to leave?
And so it goes with Utah. It’s true, I did mention to Tara that if I had to live someplace else, Utah would make my Top 5 list. And I might also have said – purely hypothetically, of course – that if money were no object, I would be keen on buying a house in Park City. Utah is beautiful, and they have actual seasons. Plus, there are tons of hiking opportunities. And…the Great Salt Lake! But I did not come back from this current trip with any immediate desire to move. The truth is, I’m far too liberal for Utah. I have a “live and let live” mentality, but the politics and religion would drive me nuts. PDX is more my speed in every way possible.
So relax, mom. No need to worry. We will not be calling the Beehive State home.
She may need to dust off that anxiety in another 14 months though, because we are already planning our next vacation. Yes, it’s over a year away still, but it’s never too early to plan! We’ll be going to Yellowstone and the Black Hills the week before Labor Day, 2016. I am already looking forward to it.
And thinking again about the cheap housing in Rapid City…
Mark My Words 
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