[Ziasforever]

I am wondering is there an advantage to living in VT versus NM? We get lots of sunshine but you get lots of wind and sand too.

Having lived in the Southwest most of my life, what would living in VT be like? A lot of NE expats live down here but on the forum it seems to be the same enthusiasm for love of the state. Please extrapolate?

[b2386]

Co?????

[tkln]

I don't know about others, but sand is not something I see a lot of in VT.

[joe moving]

colorado

[Sherylcatmom]

I think places are better or not depending on what you want and need. I can't know what your life would be like in Vermont. I can only tell you that for my spouse and me, while I'm sure we could be happy in the US SW, the topography and culture of Vermont/Northern New England suits us better than that of the SW.

We considered moving to northern NM or SW Colorado. We made a couple of extended trips and loved it there. We found the SW utterly beautiful and the people of a sort we'd be happy to live among. (Of course, we feel that way about Vermont, too.) We realized, though, that we prefer Vermont's intense seasons, vivid colors, and small rolling hills. It just feel more like home to us than the arid landscape and wide open spaces of the SW. The wry New England culture feels more like us, too.

It's not just because we're from the eastern part of the country. When we were in the SW, we visited several friends who were native Northeasterners who sensed the SW was home to them and years after their move this remains true. Heck, I'm a 2nd generation Miami Beach native and Vermont feels more like home to me than Florida ever did.

Originally Posted by Ziasforever

I am wondering is there an advantage to living in VT versus NM? We get lots of sunshine but you get lots of wind and sand too.

Having lived in the Southwest most of my life, what would living in VT be like? A lot of NE expats live down here but on the forum it seems to be the same enthusiasm for love of the state. Please extrapolate?

[VermontLori]

One major difference I think would be the weather: Vermont is generally damp and generally cloudy. You definitely need to take Vitamin D if you live in Vermont, and I use a light box year-round for SAD (seasonal affective disorder, aka the winter blues). Oh, and there's an extra season here between winter and spring called Mud Season!

[Ziasforever]

Originally Posted by tkln

I don't know about others, but sand is not something I see a lot of in VT.

What I meant to write was NM gets lots of grit and sand and wind. Not Vermont. My apologies. Complete miswording.

[Ziasforever]

Originally Posted by b2386

Co?????

I meant NM not CO. You got me! For some reason, I had Colorado on the brain last night. I post more there because there's more to post about than in NM.

[Ziasforever]

Originally Posted by VermontLori

One major difference I think would be the weather: Vermont is generally damp and generally cloudy. You definitely need to take Vitamin D if you live in Vermont, and I use a light box year-round for SAD (seasonal affective disorder, aka the winter blues). Oh, and there's an extra season here between winter and spring called Mud Season!

Yeah, we have that season as well here but up in the high country. The trade-off to damp and cloudy is skin cancer and UV rays. Sunblock is ok but I don't think it really totally works as much time as I spend outside.

[arctichomesteader]

CO is less free than VT. Until recently catching rainwater at all was banned there, now, only with permits and lots of nonsense. Trapping is almost banned by CO and there's more and more issues with out of control populations and dangerous wildlife losing its fear of humans (only cages allowed which just don't work with many animals, the vote came down to Denver versus the rest of the state, so consider Denver controls that state and the rural residents get screwed over). The mountains here are a bit more easily accessible than the Rocky Mts. I suppose there's other factors too. You don't have the wide open spaces up here you do in the West, our mountains and hills make things smaller, some parts of the state are more developed than others, but you can't get quite as remote in VT as in CO, you're usually not that far from civilization, even if that civilization may only be a store that's just a gas station and a few farmhouses...