Going "Home"

As of March 17, I'm leaving REDACTED, by my choice after just over a year. I'll be packing up the family & we're going to be moving (back) to Lawrence, KS.

I'm not leaving because I'm cashing out big time (on the contrary, I owe REDACTED for leaving before the two year mark). I'm leaving the job & Seattle itself because we're unhappy here. Let's define unhappy as "upset enough to cause 10 months of severe chest & stomach pain", deep depression & packing 20+ lbs back on despite no change in diet/exercise.

I'm not holding it against them; the REDACTED services are great & I'll be continuing to use them. But the corporate world & big city life are not for me.

Let's talk about Seattle...

Reasons To Live In Seattle

• The area surrounding the city is classic PNW. Pretty, between the mountains & enormous conifers everywhere
• Big city, so lots of choices & lots of different places to be, if you can spare the time or can live right where you want to be
• Bicycle-friendly - Lots of trails & places to ride

Reasons Not To Live In Seattle

• Gray - It mists more than it actually rains (say goodbye to thunderstorms) & only expect to see the sun for a couple months of the year
• Big - If you live outside the city proper, expect an hour+ commute for pretty much everything. I-5 is a shitshow & the terrible drivers don't make it any better
• Rude - If you're used to big cities, maybe it's fine, but I found people everywhere to be pretty rude/cold

Why Move?

What's in Lawrence, you say? (or maybe you didn't...) Isn't the whole Midwest just "fly over" states?

It's the exception to the Kansas rule, a liberal little college town. Conveniently, it's a short drive to Kansas City (less time than it takes us to drive to downtown Seattle), but retains an indie spirit. The longest possible commute in the city is 15 minutes. There's an excellent selection of restaurants, great coffeeshops/bars & awesome music. It doesn't completely shutdown at 6pm (thanks for nothing, Lynnwood). And it's centrally located, both to our family as well as the continental US, meaning driving or flights to anywhere are easy.

This may not sound exciting to you, but it does sound like home to me.