Troy Heerwagen - Move to the Place of Your Dreams: A Relocation Handbook

MOVE

TO THE PLACE
OF YOUR
DREAMS

ARelocation Handbook

TROY HEERWAGEN

Copyright 2015 Troy Heerwagen.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproducedin any manner whatsoever without written permission except in thecase of brief quotations embodied in critical articles andreviews.

Edited by Jennifer Hager
Cover design by Mi Ae Lipe

FIRST EDITION

eBook Distributed by Smashwords

ISBN-13: 9781311454300

www.ARelocationHandbook.com

Tableof Contents

This book is dedicated to everyone who hasendeavored to make positive change in their lives, whether byrefusing to settle for mediocre, starting better habits, orrelocating.

I credit the hundreds of people who reachedout to us via our blog to spark this book idea. I appreciate theinput from the books mailing list subscribers who responded tosurveys, provided feedback, and proofread, particularly Young C.Fan.

My editor, Jennifer Hager, was a greatinfluence towards sharpening the content and invigorating thewriting in the book.

I couldnt have done this without my wife,Lesley. In our move from Texas to Seattle, we followed the sameprocess outlined in this book and our lives havent been the samesince.

I also thank my parentsfor having me,nurturing me, and supporting me over the years. My moving away wasprobably one of their least favorite things I ever did, probablyeven lower on the list than that time I pulled a chair out fromunder my teacher. But, if I hadnt relocated, I wouldnt be able tothank them in a book.

In 2007, my wife and I had just gottenmarried and decided we would like to live somewhere else. Gettingmarried wasnt enough of a changewe wanted a bigger one: todiscover a new area.

Lesley and I were both born in Texas. Wegrew up a few miles from each other and went to the same highschool. Some people chose to go to college out of state, but Ididnt have any interest in that. Id been taught by everyonearound me that Texas was possibly the best place in theworld to live. Why would I ever want to leave? So, I stayed instate for college, attending school in a nearby city.

Whenever I went back home to visit, Id seefriends still working at the same fast food counters they hadworked at during high school. I wondered: thirty years from now,will they still be working here? It seemed to me that people withtheir whole futures ahead of them were treating the future like thepast.

And I asked myself: thirty years from now,will I still be living nearby, going to these same fast foodplaces? And then the idea came to me that I could choose to livesomewhere else.

While Texas does have a lot going for it, mywife and I started to get tired of the smothering summer heat. Wealso felt that the suburban lifestyle we were used to wasnt goodfor our health or the planet.

We realized it was pretty unlikely that wejust happened to be born in the best possible location for us.There might be some other place more in tune with our interests andhow we wanted to live our lives. After all, there are millions ofother places in the world to live. Deep down, I wanted to stretchmyself and discover a place that was completely new to me.

Besides, if we didnt move now as a newlymarried couple, would we ever have a better time to leave? And ifwe never left, would we regret the missed opportunity? It seemedlike a good idea to get out more on our own and try livingsomewhere that fit us better.

After reading about numerous places acrossthe country and looking at statistics, we gathered that the PacificNorthwest might better suit us and the life we wanted. We visitedand fell in love with the area. The natural beauty and the vibranturban lifestyle offered by both Seattle and Portland were unlikeanything we had seen in Texas. Both looked like the places of ourdreams.

While we were drawn to the PacificNorthwest, it was hard to explain our reasons for relocating interms that everyone could understand. Some people felt Texass lowcost of living plus having family and friends nearby were more thanenough reasons to stay where we were.

We knew there would be downsides torelocating and that it would take effort, but we felt that it wouldbe worth it.

Over a period of several months, we workedhard to find jobs in either of the two cities, and eventuallyLesley landed a job in Seattle. We lined up movers and arranged agreat road trip across the country.

In February 2008, we were on our way.

To stay in touch with family and friends, wepublished a blog. We posted regularly about our move, the things wedid in Seattle, and how our lives were changing. Most of ourreaders were people we knew. But from time to time, others wednever met posted comments on our blog.

In the years after our move to Seattle, ouronline following grew. We received emails from Illinois andIndonesia. People even stopped us on the street in Seattle to tellus how our blog had helped them with their move.

I thought: if our simple blog is thishelpful to people moving to Seattle, then a book could be even morehelpful to more people moving to more places. The lessons welearned and the process we went through could be valuable to anyonefacing a relocation. Millions of people in the United Statesrelocate every year. If this book helps just a fraction of thosepeople to create a better life by relocating, it will be worthit.

In writing this book, I drew from my ownexperience, the lessons I had blogged about, and conversations withmany people who have moved. I assembled research from dozens ofwebsites, moving guidebooks, and migration studies.

The result is a comprehensive resource foranyone contemplating living in a different place. Whether you havejust moved or dont have a clue how to start, this book helps youconsider all aspects of relocating. It simplifies the movingprocess, providing you with step-by-step guidance and tools toensure that your move goes smoothly. It also suggests ways toadjust to your new home.

By relocating, we gained a richerperspective on the world, created some awesome memories, andestablished the lifestyle we wanted in a place that we love.

I hope that this book helps you achievewhatever it is that you seek in the place of your dreams.

This book is divided into four majorsections:

puts your move in a largercontext.

: Theres alot to think about when deciding whether or not to relocate and incomparing different locales. I help you identify whats importantto you to have in a location and how to find your right place.

: This partof the book walks you through the process of moving, step by step,with extensive information and numerous tips that make movingmanageable.

: Making the moveand settling in is much more than just having a home in a differentplace. The most challenging (and exciting) part of relocation isadjusting to a new area, putting down roots, and creating a newlife. These chapters help you achieve these successful outcomes inyour new place.

I share my personal relocation experiencethroughout the book. The book references a number of exercises tohelp you organize your thoughts, feelings, questions, preferences,and plans. These worksheets are available online at www.ARelocationHandbook.com .

I recommend that you read the book oncethrough and bookmark key sections as you go so that you can referto them later. Each person approaches moving differently, and theremay be sections in the book that dont apply to you. You may wantto take shortcuts on your journey or proceed through the movingprocess in a different order than the way things have beenpresented.

As you go forward with your relocation, youmight find it helpful to schedule a time each week to reviewrelevant parts of the book and get pointers for the step yourecurrently working on.