My townhome in the city was broken into recently–while I was home! This made me appreciate the fact that the only break-ins I have in my RV at the park is the occasional fly.
While country living has its perks, it certainly has downsides as well. When I’ve had a bad day it’s hard to go to the corner grocery store and buy a tub of chunky chocolate peanut butter and cookie dough ice cream. (Wait is that bad?) When a friend is having a get-together it takes me an extra 10 minutes to get there. Though the internet is reliable here, it’s not as fast as my super duper high speed internet in the townhome—which usually means I am forced to read and write and walk more often.
Jeez, these don’t sound so bad once I write them out. Oh here’s something. I have less room for my stuff! Oh, wait, that has forced me to be more purposeful with what I own.
Ok, ok! here’s one, no coffee shops or good bars nearby. I’m less likely to meet random city folk. Though I have met some random country folk.
Writing this brings to mind a podcast I recently recorded for my show Controversial Conversations. My guest and I talked about “Is San Antonio truly A Good Place to live?” The conclusion was that it really depends on who you are and what you are wanting to get out of life.
What is amazing about the world we live in today is our ability to craft our own destinies. In previous generations there were less paths available to anyone—even the rich. Today if you are purposeful and thoughtful, you can craft a multitude of lives.
Living in the country was not for me five years ago. I love cities. I love walking to a coffee shop near my place and writing for 6 hours. I wrote my first novel almost entirely in a coffee shops. I still love that. However, I also have come to love writing to the sound of the tall grass rustling and the warbler warbling and the crickets cricketing.
I grew up in a city where houses were packed like sardines. They practically touched walls. Now at the RV park I’m a stone’s throw from my next door neighbors. I have tons of space and tons of quiet.
Living in an RV in the country may not be for me in six months or a year. That’s the beauty of this lifestyle. It’s flexible.
In my podcast we discussed a variety of places each of us had lived. My guest was Faris Varini, the president of the San Antonio Young Professionals organization and he really loves San Antonio. He has a job he loves. He lives in a cool downtown apartment with a vibrant community. He’s really living the best life in San Antonio for a young professional.
Any location you choose to live in has a vibe, a character all its own. We’ve all heard the cliche that New York City has an “energy” to it. It does. When you are walking down a random street in a river of 100 fellow travelers at one in the morning, you can’t help but be energized. In sleepier towns like San Antonio, we tend to get tired after the six O’Clock news or that late Spurs game that ends at 8:00pm.
Most of us decide where to live base on chance. Our family is there. It’s where we were born. Some of us may find they move to a location, because it is the epicenter of a particular field of productive work. Move to Silicon Valley or Hollywood for a certain kind of job.
I’ve learned to not be too focused on a sole goal when making a decision as important as where to live. For me, productive work is paramount. I have always gone wherever I can do the work that I want to do in the way that I want to do it. There’s more to living in a place than work of course. Who you work with is critical. What mentality is dominant in a city is relevant. Your own temperament should come into play too. Some people become burned out by the high energy of NYC, while others flourish there.
I imagine i’ll want that city life again sometime soon. But when that happens, I can always pull the stops from under the RV put the key in the ignition and mosey on down to the next city.