Why We Moved Out Of California

You’re moving to Iowa? Ohio? Is it flat there?
These were some of the responses from a handful of our friends when we told them that we were moving out of California to Boise, Idaho. Clearly, many of them have not visited, haha!

It took about two years for my husband to finally convince me we should move and try it out after visiting two summers for vacation. Once he suggested the idea, it seemed as though the universe pushed us into it. Isn’t that how big decisions usually go? You decide on something and then you see signs all around you? Driving to work, an Idaho license plate. Our local pizza joint, Giant Banner for BSU on the wall when you walk in. We started to feel like we were going nuts because it was happening everywhere. These signs actually left us feeling very reaffirmed that this was a sign from God and we felt good about the decision.

It’s funny because I use to have this same confusion about Idaho. Where was it on the map again? How do I not know this? Oh yeah, potatoes and Napolean Dynamite, that’s Idaho! Never in a million years would I think of moving out of state, let alone to Idaho yet here we are and loving it!

Aside from that, there were, of course, some major factors of why and how we came to the conclusion to pack up our entire lives, and move across the country and take a chance on our dreams.

Here are the reasons we decided to call Boise, Idaho home.

We needed Change

I personally was feeling like I just needed a change in general. I was feeling pretty stagnant in most areas of my life and just kinda was sick of seeing the same things every day. We had recently moved back to my home town and while I will always love it and miss it, I was just getting bored with the environment. I knew every nook and cranny of that town, it felt like I was on auto-pilot. Moving to Arizona, Utah, Texas, Flordia or Charleston, South Carolina were all places I was willing to move to.

Corey was also ready for an adventure and a little “life shake-up”. He was ready to go the first time we made the visit to Idaho. He didn’t like my suggestions.

California is Expensive

Like really expensive. We could no longer afford to live in San Diego the way that we wanted to live- you know the basics like a garage and little backyard for our dogs and not a tiny 60-year-old apartment. And what was the point if we couldn’t live close to the beach anyhow? I was over thinking about how long it would take us to save for a down payment for a home. Besides, 90% of the SD real estate market is overpriced. And buying in in Temecula because again– commuting. And we really had no desire to move anywhere else. We did play around with the idea of moving to LA or the OC for about 2.5 seconds. Short-lived indeed.

Commuting and Traffic

Do I really need to explain this to anyone? If you’re not familiar with Southern California, it’s basically traffic city. My commute was 20-30 minutes in the morning going against traffic and I beat the rush generally, but my commute home was around 1 hour to 1.5 hours the same distance. Corey was closer to 2 hours. And we weren’t really traveling THAT far for work. We were really doing the “standard” commute that so many people do. It was really starting to impact our life and when we thought about how we would make all that work with kids, our minds basically exploded. NO thanks.

Chasing our Dreams

This ties into needing change but is also pretty much the MOST important factor in our decision to move. For both Corey and myself, we were really coming to a crossroads in our lives and needed to make solid decisions and be fully conscious that we were not getting any younger and it was time to act. Now or never type deal. After all, your dreams aren’t realized just by thinking about them, you must take ACTION!

For myself, it was really time to move on and level up in my field, even though I liked my job. Aside from growing this community, it’s not self-sufficient yet, (Big goals in 2020!) I needed to move on as there really wasn’t that much growth happening for me. Or I just needed to buckle down and take on side clients while working my regular 9-5, which let’s face it is really freaking daunting when you add a commute to that equation, and oh yeah, just doing regular life. Those were my choices. I didn’t really like them to be honest.

Corey was really at a place where he was working ungodly hours, six days a week, and the stress on him was starting to affect his health. There was no way that he could keep going at the rate he was going. His dream has always been to have his own retail wood flooring store and installation services. A wood flooring empire if you will. He did do this at a certain point in SD but had to give it all up– I won’t go into details, but let’s just say I’m the only biz partner he will ever have again.

His dreams were certainly not going to be realized if we were going to put all of our money into buying a home. We couldn’t foreseeably open a business and buy a home without taking out a loan for capital for a business, and there was no way to put in sweat equity first with him working 6 days a week.

Our hands were tied, we couldn’t do both, even though we needed to.

Starting a Family

Aside from not knowing what is really going to happen fertility wise, we also knew that our lives were just so chaotic, expensive, and crazy that adding to our family felt stressful and impossible the way it was.

More time and money to travel

Who doesn’t want this? But really, we have had to turn down so many opportunities to travel and make memories with family over the years that it hurts. While we have been blessed to vacation at least once a year, that’s all that we really had. One week. This was especially frustrating because I had 3 weeks a year, Corey only had one. I felt guilty about going on vacations without him and spending money that could be going towards our down payment fund. And while I realize that many people only get one vacation a year, or are completely happy with that arrangement, we are not. We like to travel and enjoy experiences together. The entire goal here is to allow the money we earn to buy us time freedom.

The Great Outdoors

Growing up in Southern California you always say or hear, “You’re only ever an hour away from the beach or the mountains.” Well, that’s just not true, re-read the part about commuting and traffic. While we did make it out to go hiking, and to the beach as often as we could. We loved the idea that Boise and the Treasure Valley has so much to offer in terms of outdoor activities. There are so many different types of hiking trails, water sports, yay for floating down rivers! Lakes to fish and paddle board on, tons of close by State and National Parks, and lots of close by mountain resorts to enjoy in the winter! We’re going to be people who ski! It was always a toss up if the local mountains would have enough snow during the winter months, so we just couldn’t bring ourselves to invest in the gear for the sport, and oh yeah, see the time/money/traffic problem.

Support System

What’s funny about my initial thoughts on moving to Idaho and feeling like it was some far off magical land (which it kinda is in the best way) is that I do have family here. My parents actually moved up here a year before we did. While this was not a factor at all for myself in moving here, it was for my husband, which I love and respect. But for me, it was important we were making a move based on all other factors, it could not solely be on family alone. But of course, it is nice to have a support system nearby when you’re starting over.

This move has really allowed us to start from scratch. Within 30 days Corey’s business, Wondergem Flooring Co. was already in business and profiting. He is starting from the ground up and is solo, but not for long. A retail location is in the works hopefully within the next year or so. We are in the home buying process- I will share details when I feel things are a little bit more set in stone. As far as my career, I recently finished working remotely for my employer and helped with the transition until they found my replacement. I have been interviewing with some exciting prospects, and of course, I will continue on here growing this community!

So that is that! Lot’s of reasons why we moved from California to Idaho. We felt that given the pain points we were experiencing, our lifestyle and goals, Idaho was the best choice for us. It is so beautiful and we’re excited to explore and experience everything it has to offer.

Have you ever moved out of state? Moved to change your life and or lifestyle? I want to hear all about it below! It’s such a scary thing, so share your thoughts on moving and any tips you have, I want to hear them!

To follow along and see more of our lives unfold in Idaho, follow me on Instagram, @cristinwondergem