Home Is Where the WiFi Is
Palo Alto is home to HP, Stanford, Venture Capital, numerous tech startups, and in 2016, my husband and I decided to make it ours as well.
With both of us beginning our careers and working in the tech industry, we couldn’t ask for more. The Silicon Valley lives and breathes technology and innovation. Sitting down for my morning coffee on University Avenue, I regularly hear entrepreneurs pitching their latest idea or invention to a potential investor, and near our apartment it is not uncommon to bump into Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg.
In the Silicon Valley there is no shortage of motivated and successful individuals to inspire anyone to strive for success.
And Then 2020 Happened
Beginning early March, little by little changes were made to limit the spread of the Novel Coronavirus, until on March 17th, 2020, the Bay Area issued a (at the time) temporary Shelter in Place order. What was originally going to be a few weeks of confinement, were prolonged into months as the entire State of California and the rest of the world learned more about COVID-19 and tried to limit its destruction.
The amazing apartment we had found in 2016, conveniently situated in the city center near all of the restaurants and public transport at a bargain price for Palo Alto, became our expensive and limiting cage as work from home went from temporary to indefinite.
As the weeks pass by the streets and the surrounding apartments have emptied. In their place are moving vans that go more often than they come with each passing day.
Our home in the Silicon Valley has gone from the land of opportunity to a state of purgatory where everyone is holding their breath and waiting for the day we can all head back into the office.
The Drop that Spilled the Bucket
With most tech companies announcing we will be working from home until July 2021, the high cost of living, and limited access to the outdoors (and breathable air in California) it was clear that staying was no longer an option.
On top of all this there was a leak coming from our upstairs neighbor that our landlord had not repaired over the past four months. And so as my husband and I stared at our apartment’s lease renewal sitting on the table before us with the ambient noise of dripping water in the background, we decided it was time to move…but where?
Many of my colleagues have been taking advantage of work from home to purchase larger homes out of state, and are now moving away to greener pastures. However, we know that we do not want to permanently leave California and the Bay Area, and that once we can safely go back to the office, there is no other place we would rather live and work.
Our “New Normal”
With a permanent move out of the picture we have decided to temporarily pull up our stakes and explore the US and its gorgeous National Parks(albeit socially distanced).
They say that each state is like its own country, and well, with international travel currently out of the question, we will take this opportunity to live in other parts of the United States for 2–8 weeks at a time. So buckle up, because these two Zoombies, are about to go on an adventure, and you are invited to join us (virtually of course)!
November 2020, and our first stop is Panguitch, Utah!
