Jul 20

Goodbye California   Posted by sharps, tagged with ca california cary nc relocation

After almost six years in Northern California; early next week, me, my wife, two kids and two cats will be relocating to Cary, North Carolina. The decision was a tough one to make. It takes a lot to draw anyone away from the perfect climate, stunning natural beauty and the friends we've made here in the Bay Area - the insane property prices and less than stellar school system finally did it though.

We've been researching the move out of the Bay Area for about a year - we looked at a couple of options - including moving back to the UK (but everyone we know in the UK managed to talk us out of that) and relocating to Austin. We finally decided on North Carolina for a number of reasons - firstly it gets us a little closer to the UK; second it has really good public school system and last but not least the size and quality of the property we can afford (compared to the Bay Area) was absolutely jaw dropping.

So about month ago we took a little vacation to North Carolina; 15 viewings later;  we  bought a little fixer-upper in the leafy burbs of Cary and if everything goes according to plan we'll get the keys next Wednesday.

Making a move of this magnitude shouldn't be underestimated. When we moved from the UK to the US, we had the help of relocation company; this time we're on our own. Fortunately my wife seems to have everything under control and has managed to handle the logistics while keeping two kids (out of school) under control. It also really helps having some friends in North Carolina to help out - so a big thanks to the Grays and the Adams.

Anyway - I'll be off-line for the next week or so; hopefully when I return I'll be able to report an uneventful move.

It will be interesting to see how we get on with the "thick air" in North Carolina - apparently, if we can survive August we should be OK