[tkln]

Originally Posted by joe moving

we are making some progress finally... it'll be a bit of a drawn out process but it's happening

Moving to Vermont...

Yay! Congrats! Great blog...enjoy it!!!

[ShipOfFools42]

Originally Posted by swanstone1

Just do what your soul calls you to do and don't expect most of the population to understand. Happiness is within and why not have the most beautiful in surroundings?

The first part, I agree with, especially the part about not expecting most of the population to understand. My friends down here in the South don't understand why in the world I want to move to either Vermont, New Hampshire, or Alaska. They think it's completely nuts to want to live in a place that is freezing cold. They think I'm lying when I say that I enjoy shoveling snow, freezing cold wind, etc. But I'm not; that stuff literally brings joy to me. And yes, I have experienced real winter before, having lived in central MA for several years. I fell in love with northern New England while I was living up there, and now I'm trying to form a plan that will allow me to live comfortably in VT or NH. The two aren't interchangeable, no, but at least if I lived in NH, I would be right next to VT, within a short drive. So, I know I'm rambling, but I fully support the idea of going where you want to go, even if it means living without any luxuries. For some of us, beautiful places actually create enough happiness to make money less of a concern.

To a point, of course.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

They think it's completely nuts to want to live in a place that is freezing cold.

I'm with you. I'd rather live where it's cold. When I visit family in Miami, I can't wait to leave. Sometimes I convince them to meet me somewhere farther north so I don't have to go down there at all.

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

I fully support the idea of going where you want to go, even if it means living without any luxuries. For some of us, beautiful places actually create enough happiness to make money less of a concern.

This turns out to be true for me and for my spouse, too. We couldn't know that until we actually made it happen and lived it for several years.

[ShipOfFools42]

Having lived in Asheville for a little while now (once for three years and now I've been back for a year), I know what the phrase "poverty with a view" means. It describes the situation of most of my friends. And you know what? Every single one of us is happy. Every single one of us struggles from time to time, and everyone in the world goes through hard times, but everyone I know enjoys living here, and it's really a good life. It's a beautiful place, the mountains are awe-inspiring, there's tons to do, the people are friendly and mostly happy, farmers markets and organic farms galore, I mean, it's practically utopia if you can put up with low wages.

And the thing is, Vermont is just like that, except father north. And that's why I'm attracted to it: I hate the summer, and I love the snow and ice and wind. To me, the Appalachians (and the Green Mountains) are most beautiful when they are covered in snow. The landscape is so peaceful and beautiful. I am torn between three places, as I mentioned above, but I am determined to make it work in one of those three places. I choose my location first, and then find what work I can. Maybe I'm crazy, but it makes me happy, and that's what matters, right?

[tkln]

Just out of curiosity, how bad are the summers in Asheville?

[ShipOfFools42]

It gets up to the mid-90's fairly often, especially the past couple of years. An average day, it will be anywhere from 88-94 with the humidity at 65% and up. At least, that is my experience. I'm sure the weather websites will tell you some sort of average temperature, but from what I remember, that average temperature is understated when referring to the past few years. To be totally honest, I'm not sure how much better Vermont will be, but there is no way it is regularly in the high 80s, low 90s. If I remember correctly from MA, it was usually in the low to mid 80s or so with moderate humidity. I do remember it being much more humid than I remember, but certainly nothing like my hometown of Birmingham, AL.

So, that's a long-winded way of saying high 80's, low 90's is an average temp range. Getting up into the high 90's sometimes, and almost never below 85. And the humidity is always high.

So what are the summers like in VT? I know that when I lived in MA, it was way worse than I expected, but when I was in Michigan for a while staying with a buddy in Grand Rapids, it was very mild and pleasant. So it's tough to be totally sure. What do you locals think?

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

So what are the summers like in VT?

Hotter and more humid than one might expect. I live in Rutland, which is relatively low elevation and surrounded by hills, so it runs warmer than other parts of the state. Higher elevations stay somewhat cooler.

For big chunks of the summer, I hide in our air conditioned home. During the hot, sticky parts of summer 2010, I would sometimes head out just before sunset and go kayaking, as there's not too much exertion involved.

That said, I think Asheville has worse summers.

[tkln]

This year was pretty bad, I think all over the northeast. Our condo in Stowe is at a very high elevation and it's actually made of concrete, so between the two it generally stays pretty cool...this summer we were not too happy though...we don't have AC and there were several evenings where it was pretty hot. But it's still a lot cooler than NYC!

[vermonter16]

This is a great thread! I have been looking at moving back to Vermont since I left it in December 1985 at the age of 11! My husband and I have 38 acres in Glover that we purchased in 2004 with the goal of moving to Vermont in a beautiful large log home.... Umm....that has changed. We are still currently living in the DC metro area with a house that we can finally break even on but still dream of moving to Vermont....I think...with the things I read on this forum sometimes I wonder. I'm trying to leave an area of negativity....not looking to move to one.

Our situation now.... Looking to give a handcrafter (Brant Schreiber) a downpayment this year on a nice log cabin to be built next year. I am still nervous about everything... But figure that we only live once and if we wait forever to have everything in perfect order to fulfill our 'dream' than it will never happen. We are reevaluating what makes us happy.....we all need money....but I remember when we 'got by' with waaaaay less than what we are making now... And I do believe we were happier and that we appreciated everything a heck of a lot more.

[artist616]

funny post! i ve always wanted to move to vt also. and i hate the snow. it depends on where i suppose...altho a woman in barre told me a few months ago that RI got more snow than vt last year...hmmmm...in that case , i could do it.

to back track on this thread...yes you can get a condo for 30K but buyer beware of condo fees! i looked at one condo in vt last fall that had fees of $350 per month!! that also can go up and up and up...

in the end i decided to stay put for the time being. but i still dream of montpelier