I realize that there may be no definitive answer to my question here, but maybe people could shed some light on things. I’m just kicking this around in my head, and need a few more cleats upside my noggin.
I take a yearly vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, and while many people consider it to be the exclusive playground of the rich and elitist, I love it (and I’m neither).
For the first seven years of my life, I lived in the Heartland. For the next 11, I lived in dreary upstate NY. For the next 26, I lived in urban Boston. (Hey, at least I’m getting closer!) But do I want to live the rest of my life here? I don’t think so. And before I know it, I may be too old to move to someplace cool. (Hip-wise, not temperature-wise). I feel that at heart I belong in a bathing suit and sandals, 24/7. Tracking beach sand around my floors is a problem that I am eagerly willing to take on.
So after my last trip to MV, I got to thinking – Why am I still in Boston? If I could make my life just like it is when I’m on vacation, life would be ideal. Of course, it would not be like that, as I’d have to get a job, and summer doesn’t last forever.
The pros of moving:
Location, location, location. I’d be living at a resort all year. When I want to go on vacation, I can just go down the street.
The cons of moving:
It may be hard to get a job. Minimum-wage summertime jobs abound, but I’d have to work three just to make ends meet for the rest of the year. And that would be all summer. It would defeat the purpose.
I want to rent, not own. Prices are very high on the island, but I saw a few ads for places under $1000/month. Unfortunately, some of those look like “situations”, not apartments.
I’d have to get a car. But maybe not if I live and work in the same town. There is public transportation, but it sucks.
Summer only lasts a few months. Fall is probably nice, and I like Christmas there. Spring is nice as well. But residents have said that winters are bordom producing, wrist-slitting-alcoholic days of dreary nothingness. Much unlike Boston.
I don’t know if I could hack small-town life. I really don’t want everyone knowing my business. And apparently that’s the hobby everyone takes up after the tourists leave.
The isolation can be killer. The only way off island is by ferry, and then I’d need a car to get anywhere important. Except I can take a bus to Boston. Total time: About 4 hours.
There’s probably more, but at this point I welcome your input.