As I mentioned in my last post, I recently moved to Raleigh, NC. I wanted to take the time to write a whole separate post for y'all (see what I did there? - already adopting the culture heavily) about the ins and outs of why I chose Raleigh. 

Let me break down for you guys how this all came about, three or four years ago, the desire to spread my wings and leave the nest that is my home state of Michigan came to me and never left. So I did a lot of research, I was looking for cities that weren't the traditional landing spots, i.e. NYC, L.A., Seattle, Chicago, Boston, etc., that weren't going to bankrupt me upon moving there, that had seasons minus winter, had lots of young people, and that had a public policy industry and preferably a thriving tech industry as well. While searching for cities that met all these criteria (to be fair, this list has grown over the last three or four years), I looked through a lot of lists and fell in love with the idea of Charlotte. I made a weekend trip down two or almost three years ago and absolutely fell in love and still am, to be honest. I was convinced I was going to move to Charlotte for the longest time. 

As you may remember, I was recently living with my parents in order to save money for this move and also because I quit my job to pursue this web development bootcamp. I moved back in with the 'rents in July of last year and originally my plan was to move down south in October or November of last year, but shortly after moving back in with my parents, the bootcamp opportunity came up. At the time, it did not seem like a good idea to move without a job and while paying for my new educational opportunity, so I delayed the move until January of 2018. 

Fast forward to December, and my parents are already starting to put out the vibe and hinting that they would like me to fly the coop very soon. So, I had to start making moves. Originally, I was going to move to Wisconsin with my boyfriend temporarily until the end of this summer to work in his dad's greenhouse and do sales in order to make real money quickly to cushion myself, but my boyfriend didn't want me to be miserable and wanted me to follow-through on my dream of moving down south.  

While my boyfriend and I are discussing other options, we remember that his best friend lives in Raleigh, NC. So I start messaging him and things just fall together from there. He has an open room in his house, he's so excited about the idea of having me down there, and my boyfriend feels better about us being separated because his best friend is there to help me should I need it. 

There is an eternal conflict here in North Carolina,  Charlotte vs. Raleigh, in regards to which city is better. So, my boyfriend's best friend, he ended talked me into Raleigh instead, considering it is the capital city of North Carolina. Meaning it's the political hub of the state and Raleigh isn't called the Research Triangle for no reason, it's also a hub for research and tech which is great for my future web developer opportunities as well. After that, I was sold. So arrangements were made a few days before we were supposed to move Brian back to Wisconsin. 

Alas, that's how I ended up choosing Raleigh, it ended up being a sort of a convoluted way of getting here, but it's 100% real. I'd love to answer any of your questions or give any advice, so reach out to me on social media or in the comments below. I'm so happy to share this journey with you and if it helps even just one person, I'm happy. 

Let me know if you have any questions or future post suggestions down below, I'd love to hear from you! xo