Wow, it’s already been almost four months since we moved to Charleston and we couldn’t love it anymore! Although it’s been a bit of time since we left California, some people still don’t know that we’ve moved or even for those that do know, they might have missed why we moved which we covered in this post. To be honest, even family and friends were a bit skeptical when we told them we were moving across the country. But both our families and friends that have already had the opportunity to come stay with us could see why we did and said that it made complete sense. While the natural beauty of the Lowcountry and the gorgeous architecture quickly caught our eye when we visited, we really fell in love with the more relaxed lifestyle we knew it would bring to our lives. Naturally, we miss a few things about the city (mostly family and friends), but overall, we are loving all the changes that this move has brought. To be honest, there has not been a single moment where I thought we made the wrong decision. For the first time in my adult life, I actually feel settled and can foresee our future here. It really is exciting, as I never felt that way in San Francisco. Owning our first home has been so rewarding in that it’s completely ours. I can’t wait to share more on what we’re doing with it! We actually decided to renovate the whole thing at once instead of doing it in two phases. We’ve spent the past four months working on the plans with our designer and architect and now that things are finalized, we’ll be moving out into a rental in the next month when we begin! I also thought it would be fun to share a bit on what’s made us feel the most settled and “at home” over the past four months…

Before moving out here, we only knew a few people. We wanted to make sure to set aside time for meeting new friends and being really open to getting together with new people. Luckily, Charleston is one of the friendliest places I’ve ever been and everybody has been so welcoming and kind. It’s been so nice to feel like we now have a little family here, with friends we get together and see weekly and lots more that we are still getting to know and love. I’ve been surprised by the amount of people I’ve met who moved to Charleston under similar circumstances to Thomas and me- they visited, fell in love, own their own businesses and picked up and moved. This is an area filled with creatives- artists, photographers, designers and more, so we’ve met many couples that we have a lot in common with, which makes it easy to bond quickly.

The food in Charleston is incredible. For the size of the city, there’s a remarkable amount of high quality places for food and drinks. Although we’ve become accustomed to eating at home a lot more, especially during the week, it’s so nice to have fantastic places to dine out. We go out at least 1-2x a week with friends to grab a drink or dinner.

Maybe it’s the programming we had from 5 years living in San Francisco, but there are still times here where we step out of our house expecting the weather to be much colder than it is. In the morning, we’ll bundle up in Patagonia gear to get coffee, only to walk out into 70 degree weather at 8am. No complaints here!

Easier Lifestyle- Big city living is not easy. Transportation and parking were always something we had to factor in almost everywhere we went in SF. Not to mention just the logistics of getting from one place to another. Some people thrive on the energy and liveliness a city holds, but I feel like it just ate me alive. Charleston and the surrounding area has a rapidly growing population which has brought some bottlenecks but nothing like we had been used to. The slightly slower pace of life has honestly been the best change for us.

Finally, figuring out some workout options. Aside from missing Mexican food (which we do miss greatly!), the thing we’ve struggled with the most since moving was finding a new workout routine. In SF, Barry’s Bootcamp, Soulcycle and Equinox were just a short walk from our place. And while the convenience is impossible to replace, we feel like we are finally getting in the swing of things again. We have an Orangetheory 15 minutes from us, which we are trying to do three times a week. We are doing the Kayla Itsines Sweat App workouts at the local park or at home and we are even doing 30 minute workout videos on Daily Burn. It feels good to be moving again and I already feel stronger even after a few weeks of sticking to it.