Sarah WallockPublished November 2022
I didn’t want to move to Colorado. It felt so mainstream.
Many people who love the outdoors (cough, cough, Californians) seem to pack up their cars with their Patagonia jackets and Burton snowboards, take a virtual tour of an apartment, sign a lease and drive out to Colorado to begin again. Why are they doing this? Why am I one of them?
I tried to avoid it… Honestly. I moved back to California in late 2021 after living in New York and New Zealand. I considered Washington and Oregon at the time, but my path led me back to the Golden State. And I wasn’t mad about it.
As soon as we figured Mammoth Lakes wasn’t for us, Nick and I spent hours researching where we could land in the US. The top criteria ultimately came down to a place we could snowboard and get to an international airport with ease. Although a few ski towns fit this description, I wasn’t wanting to live in remote and isolated places anymore. Access to nature is so important, but to build a sustainable life, we were looking for a little city.
Read on to discover why we moved to Colorado. And why everyone else is moving here too.
Nature is the Top Priority
Nuff said. Nature lovers seem to flock to Colorado due to the epic access to the outdoors. Of course, you can find nature in all 50 states, but the access to world-class snowboarding and hiking here is unparalleled. There are 26 ski resorts in Colorado, 11 national forests, and 4 national parks. This is truly the place to be! Of course, access to nature is the top reason why we moved to Colorado.
Cities Bring Opportunity
We were on the fence about moving to a small city after our stints in Queenstown, New Zealand (population of 15,000) and Mammoth Lakes, California (population of 8,000). There were things we LOVED about both places, think: no traffic, no time spent in the car, walkable and bikeable, insane backcountry hiking access, and awesome snowboarding. And things we didn’t like as much: very few job opportunities, tourism-based economies, small town mindset, limited social circles, and difficult to travel to/from. In both places, I found myself hungry for more.
Moving to a bigger area would be a toss-up. Boulder seemed to have everything. No place is perfect, but on paper, Boulder hit all the marks: limited car time, incredible hiking and snowboarding, lots of economic growth, more diverse than our previous locales, and generally vibrant and eventful. When we visited, something just felt right.
Access to an International Airport
Travel is so important! I love having the ability to drive in under an hour from my house and step onto a plane and soon after, be flung into a different culture in another sliver of the world. What an absolute privilege to take advantage of this facet of life. Not only do international airports help you go places, but they bring people in. Airports connect you to the world! As time goes on and I become more settled here, I hope to travel more frequently and continue to learn about other cultures and hike new mountains.
The Indescribable Good Energy!
I’m a big researcher… Love to research!
But there’s nothing like visiting a place for the first time and people-watching and hiking and driving around and exploring, to inform your feelings about a place. On paper, Boulder was nearly perfect. But in person, it was even better. Granted, there are some parts of it that will take getting used to, but for now, it’s as good as it gets.
After moving around quite a bit, the access to the outdoors and city resources are the main reasons why we moved to Colorado.
Have you and Nick finally settled on a place to stay?
If so I must come out to see you.