Exploring a New City

Sometimes I take a look around me and wonder what the hell we're doing here. I mean, we only took two short trips to Charlotte before making a final decision. We tried to plan these trips out as best we could, but after our visits we realized that the only way to really get a feel for a new city is to just take the plunge and move.

The trips we took were great, and I'm glad we didn't make the move sight unseen, but to be honest we didn't really know what we were doing. I made a ton of detailed itineraries (because I am a crazy person) but there were a few times when we just threw them out the window and drove wherever we felt like.


Sometimes we looked at apartments;

sometimes we looked at houses;

sometimes we drove through the downtown area (which, in Charlotte, is actually called Uptown, but please don't ask why because I still haven't figured it out);

and sometimes we just got really, really lost.

When we returned from our first visit in May we were feeling a bit unsure about whether Charlotte was the right place for us. The city is beautiful, the people are friendly, the costs are insanely affordable. But there were cons. The city is growing rapidly which means traffic can be a nightmare and the neighborhoods we were researching weren't really walkable which would be a HUGE adjustment from  our lifestyle in New York.

We decided to take a second trip in July to really make a final decision. We visited so many apartment complexes during our first visit, but nothing really wowed us. This time, we ended up finding a place that was just perfect for us. We could actually see ourselves living there. Seeing that apartment really sealed the deal for us and when we returned we started seriously discussions the logistics of moving to Charlotte.

As I've said before, the process took many months. From research to execution it was about six months. Six months of planning, traveling, more planning, packing, moving and finally... Arriving.