Moving to Colorado from Asheville Nc Where to Look? (Denver: ski resort, insurance)

[Danmac]

Hello there all;

I've been a traveler for most of my young adult life, but now in my mid 30's looking to find a town to settle down in and meet some nice women and make some great life long friends.

I'm a 35y/o male Nurse/Massage working as a Massage Therapist and would like to live near resort towns if possible, a place that will get it's fair share of snow. What towns would those be and are they worth living in w/ regards to meeting people? What's the skinny on best places in Col. Thanks again for any assistance. I'm trying to find a town that will give me everything I'm looking for (see list below).

1. Near Resorts
2. Singles
3. Snow Snow Snow Oh & Snow!
4. Thriving Medical & Massage job market
5. Lastly some nice friendly people!

[POhdNcrzy]

Just awful curious because my career interests are very closely aligned with yours...Danmac, are you an RN? If so, why aren't you working as a nurse? (Pay is great, job stability is great, etc. etc.)

Also, how is it being a male MT and has the recession negatively impacted your massage business?

[CosmicWizard]

When I was doing bodywork as an income source from '76 thru '96 my income usually went UP during recessions. Go figure.

[swcolorado]

In most resort towns (mine included) you can't swing a cat without hitting a massage therapist! They are a dime a dozen here and most of them are working a very limited schedule because there are so many of them.

[CosmicWizard]

swcolorado wrote:

In most resort towns (mine included) you can't swing a cat without hitting a massage therapist! They are a dime a dozen here and most of them are working a very limited schedule because there are so many of them.

I should have addded to my post preceding yours, that I was doing bodywork ( never did massage therapy, but rather polarity energy balancing bodywork ) before everybody, and their aunts, uncles, and second cousins started doing it. I can well imagine that there are far fewer clients per bodyworker today, and that making a living from it is far more challenging...especially in the resort towns or the new-age meccas. But then again, it's all about the marketing. If you got a handle on that, you can make a very good living!

[80skeys]

You have a portable job, I think almost anywhere in Colorado is good for massage therapy, there's a lot of people involved in sports and recreation and there's a lot of tourists and these are the two groups of people who are probably the most likely customers.

Most colorado towns, especially in the mountains and near resorts, are real small, so you'll find that you will quickly get to know the town and the people in it. This may not be ideal for a single person looking to meet partners. If that's the case then you could consider living near the Denver area. This would put you an hour or two from the nearest resorts.

On the other hand, the resort towns see a lot of tourists, vacationers and timeshare traffic, so there may be quite an opportunity to meet different people.

If you live anywhere in the mountains then you'll definitely have snow, snow and more snow. So pretty much anywhere west of the front range (Denver) and east of the western slope (Grand Junction.)

Whatever you end up doing, you're making a good move coming to Colorado, so good luck.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

When I was doing bodywork as an income source from '76 thru '96 my income usually went UP during recessions. Go figure.

I know. It's counter-intuitive but it's true. People cancel the big trips, but take a quick, affordable pampering at the massage parlor as a reward or treat.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Danmac

Hello there all;

I've been a traveler for most of my young adult life, but now in my mid 30's looking to find a town to settle down in and meet some nice women and make some great life long friends.

I'm a 35y/o male Nurse/Massage working as a Massage Therapist and would like to live near resort towns if possible, a place that will get it's fair share of snow. What towns would those be and are they worth living in w/ regards to meeting people? What's the skinny on best places in Col. Thanks again for any assistance. I'm trying to find a town that will give me everything I'm looking for (see list below).

1. Near Resorts
2. Singles
3. Snow Snow Snow Oh & Snow!
4. Thriving Medical & Massage job market
5. Lastly some nice friendly people!

Vail is great for what you want but massage therapists are a dime a dozen like in any ski resort. Mostly you'll have to commit yourself 100% to finding clients and business.

Also in Vail there are plenty of rich cougar tourists 35+ looking for a quick roll in the hay or an affair, provided you are good at working the bar scene. For 35 yrs old and below forget it.

[Danmac]

Originally Posted by POhdNcrzy

Just awful curious because my career interests are very closely aligned with yours...Danmac, are you an RN? If so, why aren't you working as a nurse? (Pay is great, job stability is great, etc. etc.)

Also, how is it being a male MT and has the recession negatively impacted your massage business?

I've been in medicine almost 16yrs I've held certs & Licenses as EMT, Paramedic, LPN, and RN. I worked as a Nurse pain specialist in South Florida for about 6yrs, realized in medicine even Doctors don't really have total control over their patients it's the insurance companies and the Hospitals you work at that actually dictate care. I have a kinda of "Forrest Gump" type life story where things have always gone well for me, in business and finances.

I felt a pull to Massage because millions and millions of patients every year are leaving Western Medicine or at the very least adding Alternative Medicine to their treatment regiments. Here in Asheville I've heard most Therapist complain of a huge downturn in business from economy, but I've seen a huge increase in business as I offer affordable massage to the public at $30 for an hour swedish. My private practice did so well in it's trial run here I felt my model would work better in a bigger city.

[Danmac]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

When I was doing bodywork as an income source from '76 thru '96 my income usually went UP during recessions. Go figure.

Isn't that the oddest thing I've seen the same exact thing. I think the reasoning for that is folks begin to have alot more free time on their hands and begin to reset their priorities and start to focus on their health again.