About a year ago, Kevin and I decided to trade in our snow blower and life in the Philly suburbs in exchange for the sun and sand of South Carolina!
We've now officially been in our new home for 7 months. After all of the stress of packing up the old house, living as nomads for a couple of months (read more about those adventures here), and getting unpacked in our new house, I finally feel completely settled in and "at home".
Moving south and getting out of the cold weather has been a dream of ours for a long time. Now that we've finally made it happen, is it everything we imagined it would be? Keep reading to find out!
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Living in the Low Country!
Moving to a new place (especially one you've never spent a lot of time in before) always has pro's and con's. And our move to Bluffton has been no exception to that. Here's a breakdown of what I love and don't love about the new place.
The Weather
I mean honestly, there isn't much to complain about when it comes to weather here. Compared to the other places we've lived, this is paradise. And yes, I know that July and August will be extremely hot and humid. I also know that we have a greater chance for hurricanes. But Philly was hot and humid in the summer, and the air was always completely stagnant. We lived in a concrete jungle that just sucked in and held the heat. And Philly has had some crazy weather over the last few years including tornadoes and hurricanes.
It definitely doesn't suck to be able to go to the beach all year round!
Pro's: No snow! For the first time in my life, I didn't see snow this past winter and it was glorious. The sun here is warm, and we have more sunny days than not here in the winter. We were on the beach in January, and I spent many afternoons in shorts and t-shirts sitting out in the sun while working this past winter.
Con's: Uh.... can't think of any! We did have frost on the grass a couple of days this winter.
The House
It is no secret that I never really cared for our house in Pennsylvania. It was old. Something was always broken. And it required a lot of maintenance. Building a new house isn't without its headaches. We finally crossed the last item off our 30 day inspection punch list a couple of weeks ago. But the luxury of having everything new is amazing!
I may not have a hill to weed, but we do have to be careful of some different creatures in the yard here - alligators, snakes and armadillos!
Pro's: We absolutely love everything about our new house. I even created my own zen/exercise room, which I love. Oh, and there is no hill to weed!
Con's: I had to weed our flower beds all winter. I guess that's a con.
The Community
When we moved from Toledo, OH to the Philly area, I was thrilled. I always felt like deep down I was a big city girl. I loved working and being in the city when we first moved there. And I loved the location of Philly and the fact that we could easily get to places like NYC and so many other big cities along the east coast. I knew that moving to a town like Bluffton, SC was going to be a big change.
We absolutely love our neighborhood. And the sunsets here aren't too bad either!
Pro's: This community has turned out to be amazing. Everyone is so friendly. We absolutely love our neighborhood and our neighbors. The pace of life is just slower here, which we love. And while we no longer have easy access to the "big city" like we did before, we are really enjoying spending time in Savannah, which is such a great city to visit. We can also be in Charleston in about 2 hours. And, we're looking forward to exploring some other cities in the south that we never had easy access to before.
Con's: Of course we miss our friends (although I don't miss my old neighbors at all) and the network of people we had in Philly. You can't live somewhere for almost 23 years and not feel a void. But, it's been much easier than I thought to build a new community here. A big part of that has been our neighborhood. We are also slowly getting involved with things in the community.
The Arts/Culture/Music Scene
One of things I thought I might miss the most about Philly, was the rich arts/culture/music scene and the easy access to it. We just don't have that here. While it is getting better with a new arena/venue that just opened in Savannah, a lot of the big artists still skip this area. In order to see some of our favorite bands, we have to travel now to places like Charleston or Atlanta. But it turns out that I don't miss it nearly as much as I thought I would.
Pro's: While we might not have easy access to some of the bigger artists we were used to seeing, the local music scene here is really, really good. We have a couple of small venues right in Old Town Bluffton that bring in really great indie artists from all over the country. We've discovered some great new music already. You can also find live local music any night of the week in the area and it's free! We've not only saved a lot of money on concert tickets, but we've learned to appreciate other activities like riding our bikes, going to the beach or just hanging at the pool.
Con's: I'm not going to lie.. from time to time I see an artist announce a tour and get a little jealous when I see a Philly stop and no stop anywhere around here. And not seeing live music several times a week every week has definitely hindered my ability to even have things to write about on this blog. But so far, I really don't miss it at all.
Overall, this move has been one of the best decisions I think we've ever made. Physically, I am so much healthier (I am currently down 10 lbs and on my way to being back in a size that I haven't worn in at least 10 years). I'm constantly outside walking or riding my bike. It's so easy to be active here. Mentally, the move here has been life changing. Not suffering through a cold and gloomy winter made a huge difference for me.
At least a couple of times a week when we are sitting by the pool, hanging out on our lanai, or driving to check out a new place, Kevin and I look at each other and literally say out loud "We live here!" It honestly feels like we are on vacation every day. We have zero regrets. Hopefully our friends and family will come visit us soon so we can share this magical place with them!
Have you made a move recently? Are you happy with your decision? I'd love to hear about your experience! Share it with us by commenting below or contacting us at tips2livebywriter@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you!
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