Salt Lake City… Or San Francisco…

My best friend chose San Francisco.

And I chose Salt Lake City.

At the time, I honestly felt like it was the place I needed to be.

But what followed were the ten bumpiest years of my life. Had I known this, I would gladly have volunteered to help NASA land a manned spacecraft on Venus, upside down, without any radio communications or even a spacesuit, while juggling seven rabid dogs and a moose with one hand tied behind my back, giving birth to a hedgehog and fighting off Darth Vader with a toothpick.

Really. It’s been a rough ride. Slight exaggeration obviously. I mean who wants to volunteer for NASA?

But I am who I am. And I like who I am.

So I don’t regret having gone through what I did, nor do I regret where I am now. I don’t regret anything or anyone in my life. Without my experiences, without the people I know, good and bad, I’m not me. And as I just said, I like me.

But…

I’ve always wondered where my life would be if I’d gone to San Francisco instead of coming to Utah.

Always.

And if you’ve been reading my blog lately, you’d know that I have vouchers to fly United Airlines.

Three of them.

Now, I already know two cities in this world that I’m madly in love with: Paris and New York City. I have a feeling San Francisco might be joining that very short list.

And the reason THAT’S significant is this:

I’m seriously considering and researching a move to one of those three cities.

Whoa… That sentence is gonna get me a LOT of phone calls!

So although I can’t address everything and everyone with this post, lemme at least say this.

I’m really not sure at this point. It may never even happen. There are so many factors for me to consider, but two of them stand out above the rest; I have two boys here and a growing business that I’d have to practically build from scratch anywhere else.

So yes, this is a huge decision that I’m not taking lightly at all.

But there’s no question that I’m really flirting with all three options.

Well ok. Not Paris. I’d love to live there, but only as a bazillionaire or if I can expand my studio that far. So not very likely either way. At least not right now. Unbelievable city, can’t wait to go back, but hang in there Paris, I’m not getting to you just yet. Maybe someday.

So that leaves me with two options:

San Francisco or New York City. Vastly different cities.

I’ve been to New York a couple of times already. Loved it both times. No. ADORED it. I’m gonna go there again this year before the wedding season hits. Oh and New York makes a lot of career sense too. That’s a big bonus.

But I’ve never been to San Francisco. And so, after ten years of wondering, in the very near future I’ll be going there to begin finding out if moving there might be a good idea.

I’m not expecting my tourist experience to tell me everything I need to know about actually living in the city, but I’m hoping it’ll give me a feel for whether the place suits me.

Soon after that, I’ll be going to New York for my third time to do the same.

And then, after as much research and thought as I can muster for both cities, I’m going to have to ask myself the biggest question of all.

Why move anywhere in the first place?

That’s the one that’s got me stumped right now. Because I like it here. I have a house here with tons of space. I have friends here. Great neighbors. Both my kids are here. My business is doing great.

So why move at all?

I don’t know…

But I do know this:

I don’t want to continue wondering why not.