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I've been living in Taiwan for the past six months, but am moving back to the states. I'm a personal trainer, and it's not too difficult for me to choose a general area I want to live. But...I have no idea!
Here's what I love: Snowboarding, the beach, mountains (the outdoors in general), nightlife (like clubbing)... I'd like to live somewhere liberal and multicultural.
I don't know if a place with all of these ideals of mine exists!
Most ski towns have a more relaxed nightlife, so I'm not sure what I think, but I love love LOVE snowboarding, so it's priority.
Here's what I'm considering:
Park City, Utah (pros: good snowboarding, close to Salt Lake nightlife, great atmosphere cons: too familiar, I grew up near here)
Boulder, Colorado
Santa Cruz, California
Lake Tahoe area
Montana (Bozeman, Missoula)
Colorado ski towns like Breckenridge or Aspen
Honolulu, Hawaii (no snowboarding, I know, but I lived in Hawaii for a while and loved it, so I'd have to just visit my fam in Utah in winter)
None of the above have it all, but they have at least some of the things I'm looking for.
Anyone have any suggestions?? I'd really appreciate any more info/advice.
To me, the best possible answer is pretty much anywhere in the Los Angeles area. Snowboarding... check! Beach? Check! Mountains? Check! Nightlife? Check! Liberal and multicultural? Absolutely, check and check!
I just moved to South Beach in Miami about three months ago from West Hollywood in Los Angeles and I can't WAIT to get back!
I've been living in Taiwan for the past six months, but am moving back to the states. I'm a personal trainer, and it's not too difficult for me to choose a general area I want to live. But...I have no idea!
Here's what I love: Snowboarding, the beach, mountains (the outdoors in general), nightlife (like clubbing)... I'd like to live somewhere liberal and multicultural.
I don't know if a place with all of these ideals of mine exists!
Most ski towns have a more relaxed nightlife, so I'm not sure what I think, but I love love LOVE snowboarding, so it's priority.
Here's what I'm considering:
Park City, Utah (pros: good snowboarding, close to Salt Lake nightlife, great atmosphere cons: too familiar, I grew up near here)
Boulder, Colorado
Santa Cruz, California
Lake Tahoe area
Montana (Bozeman, Missoula)
Colorado ski towns like Breckenridge or Aspen
Honolulu, Hawaii (no snowboarding, I know, but I lived in Hawaii for a while and loved it, so I'd have to just visit my fam in Utah in winter)
None of the above have it all, but they have at least some of the things I'm looking for.
Anyone have any suggestions?? I'd really appreciate any more info/advice.
I grew up in Santa Cruz and I've lived in Lake Tahoe...If you can afford it you'd probably dig either of those locales...although from the Pacific to the Sierra is about 3.5-4 hours minimum drive. That being said a suprising number of people make long day trips from Santa Cruz to go skiing at Tahoe--Sugar Bowl or Kirkwood or probably the closest ski areas and both are great places to board.
There's a lot to do although the nightlife doesn't compare to bigger cities--though from Santa Cruz, the Bay Area and SF are a short drive away.
The places with the closest proximity to both skiable mountains and beaches would be cities around LA--where you've got both the ski areas in the San Bernadino and San Gabriel mountains and the beaches along the coast. Not sure if you're interested in the colder coastline of the Pacific NW--but up here in Portland it's an 1 hour to the beach or an hour to the mountain (Mt. Hood)...Seattle and Vancouver BC have even closer access to ski mountains and are directly on the Sound, although to get to real beaches, you're travelling a little further.
Richmond is a less than obvious option for an outdoors person to consider... one of the best urban single track mountain bike trail systems in the country is right within City limits. The James River, left largely wild and untamed runs directly through the City, offering options for kayaking, canoeing, and tubing in Class III-V rapids, swimming, and fishing. Virginia Beach is about 2 hours away though waves aren't as consistent/big there as I'd like still goes off with the right conditions. Cape Hatteras which arguably has the best waves on the East Coast is about 4.5 hours away. The mountains and several ski resorts are about 2-3 hours to the west of the City. You aren't going to find the best waves or best mountains out here but all are very accessible.
There are a lot of places that have both recreational options nearby. However, you will most likely be faced with a couple of hours travel time for one or the other unless you pick a spot in between the mountain and the beach, but then nightlife may not be as good in the middle. New England has both options, most of California has both options, I'm sure there are other locations, too.
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