Wow, how time flies! For those of you who have been wondering where the heck I’ve been, well…we moved to Charlotte, NC! About 5 weeks ago, we made the decision to move to Charlotte, NC, and I took a short hiatus from blogging to get settled in, job hunt, and make some money driving for Lyft and Uber! Now, for those of you who have been following along, you will notice there is a big gap in my writing. My latest location specific post was on Colorado, which was in June and well…now it is December! Don’t you worry! There are MANY more posts coming, highlighting our visits to New England for the summer, the Triangle area of North Carolina, Asheville, NC, and our new home, Charlotte, NC! There will also be more summary posts as well as some compilations of our favorite things around the country.

You might be wondering….Why Charlotte, NC?

I’ve gotten this question a lot lately, and I’d like to help answer that. Was Charlotte our most favorite location? No, not exactly, but it will all make sense in a moment! For us, Charlotte checked off a lot of boxes for us, and had a lot of what we were looking for.

Proximity to Family

Number one most important thing for us was to be close(r) to family. Charlotte might be a lot further from my mom in Massachusetts, but it is closer to many family members in Florida. Now we are about half-way between our families. Even though we LOVED the west coast and Colorado, they were just too far for us.

Cost of Living

This was a very important deciding factor for us. NC is significantly lower than Connecticut, and many other places we visited, which helps with house hunting. Not only are the prices of homes lower, the taxes are also a lot lower, as well as price of gas and other expenses. One of the best things I found here, was the blog Charlotte on the Cheap, which lists a lot of free and affordable activities in and around the city! That is where we found the FREE Bootcamp at STAX, taught by former New England Patriots player, Randy Moss! 

A Place to Stay Active

Since we are active people, we like being close (enough) to hiking and biking areas, driving distance to a beach, and many other workout options. Charlotte has all of this! We have been pleased to see many options of gyms, lakes for water activities, biking and hiking trails, the option to rent B-Cycle bikes downtown to get around, and so much more.

Fun Things to Do

Tiago and I get bored pretty easily, so we are always looking for new things to do. Thankfully there is no shortage of that here! There are many different neighborhoods with all kinds of bars, restaurants, and breweries. There are also other fun activities like the National Whitewater Center, museums, shooting ranges, and event venues. Since we moved here, we have been pretty busy with life, and haven’t ventured out much, but we are looking forward to it all! 

More on why we love Charlotte

Does Charlotte have the majestic mountains of Denver, CO? No, but in a 2 hour ride, we are right in the mountains of Asheville AND lots of great beer! Are we right on the coastline? No, but in a 3 hours drive, we have many options for some great beaches!

One thing we love about Charlotte is that we are about 20 mins from a major airport, which makes travel much easier. We are also within 4 hours of Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Atlanta, Smoky Mountains, Raleigh, Charleston, Savannah, Richmond, VA….and the list goes on! So many options!

What have I been up to?

Now that we have settled into our temporary living situation (we are renting up to a year while we decide on where to buy a home), I have been quite busy! In order to make some money, I have been driving for Lyft and Uber. PS, if you are thinking of becoming a driver, feel free to use my promo codes for Lyft and Uber! It has given me a great opportunity to get to know the area, get out of the house, meet people, and get great suggestions.

I have also been applying for some part time group exercise positions at the Y and some other clubs. In order to get ready for auditions and interviews, I have been working out quite a bit as well to get BACK into shape for teaching. Man it has been a while! Just when you think you are in good shape from running….think again! In January, I will be starting to work at the Morrison Family YMCA and Life Time Fitness. SO EXCITED!

What is next?

I really feel like everything’s falling into place the way it is supposed to. While I am sad our travel adventure is essentially over, I am so so happy to have our own place, our own kitchen to cook in, and all of the comforts of HOME! While our apartment is only temporary, it has everything we need and want! Proximity to a million stores, a gym and a pool! What more can you ask for!? One thing I cannot wait to start doing is house hunting! We have a few areas in and around Charlotte that we are looking at, and I can’t wait to make our dream of being home owners a reality!

What suggestions do you have for Charlotte? I can’t wait to write more about Charlotte soon!