{"id":50527,"date":"2026-05-16T14:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/after-3-years-of-living-out-west-i-moved-to-north-carolina-it-was-the-best-decision-i-couldve-made-for-myself\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:01:10","slug":"after-3-years-of-living-out-west-i-moved-to-north-carolina-it-was-the-best-decision-i-couldve-made-for-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/after-3-years-of-living-out-west-i-moved-to-north-carolina-it-was-the-best-decision-i-couldve-made-for-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"After 3 years of living out West, I moved to North Carolina. It was the best decision I could&#8217;ve made for myself."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69fdf657c9dd4cb81cda883f?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Mikala sits in a field of yellow flowers with her dog.\"\/><figcaption>After years of living in big cities out West, I moved to Asheville, North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Mikala Lugen<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>After spending a few years living in big Western cities, I moved back East to be closer to family.<\/li>\n<li>Now, I live in Asheville, North Carolina, and my quality of life has really improved.<\/li>\n<li>Life in Asheville has made family, affordability, and everyday ease feel more accessible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As a small-town girl from Forestville, New York, moving to Denver for my dream job after college felt electric. I enjoyed skiing (when I could justify the three-hour drive to my favorite slopes), hiking, and seeing many shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater.<\/p>\n<p>But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the city&#039;s shine quickly wore off. Hiking trails became more crowded, live music all but disappeared, and suddenly, I felt very alone on the other side of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Visiting my family back East wasn&#039;t easy without expensive flights or long days on the road, and I started to feel closed in, with no way to reset or reconnect.<\/p>\n<p>After sticking things out in Denver for a few more months, I moved to Salt Lake City for work. At first, it felt like an upgrade: world-class skiing was just 30 minutes away, rugged desert trails were within reach, and there was a stunning mountain backdrop.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, though, I realized what mattered most to me was being close to my family.<\/p>\n<p>So, after three years of living out West, I decided I was ready for a change and settled in Asheville, North Carolina \u2014 a city that still gives me proximity to nature but has made family, affordability, and everyday ease feel more accessible.<\/p>\n<h2>Since moving, my quality of life has really improved<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69fdf6cbe1443b8dc48e3366?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Mikala hikes with her dog in the mountains on a fall day.\"\/><figcaption>Living in Asheville means I still get to spend time in nature.<\/p>\n<p>Mikala Lugen<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Now that I&#039;m back on the East Coast, I don&#039;t feel as cut off from my loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>When I was living out West, the flights were so expensive that I only ended up seeing my family once a year for Christmas. Now, however, I can somewhat easily drive up to New York multiple times a year for birthdays, graduations, and other gatherings.<\/p>\n<p>Being closer to my family hasn&#039;t been the only perk of moving here, either. I&#039;ve also found that the pace of life feels much more natural. There&#039;s a collective ease here in the way people pause to chat, hold doors, and make everyday interactions feel more personal and less rushed.<\/p>\n<p>Southern hospitality feels present in everyday interactions, especially when I go over to a friend&#039;s house to sip tea on their porch.<\/p>\n<p>The landscape seems to shape this rhythm, too. I can step onto a hiking trail or into a river within 15 minutes of leaving my house, and enjoy four distinct seasons \u2014 including mild winters \u2014 without the extremes of high-altitude living.<\/p>\n<h2>Now, my life feels much more balanced<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69fdf765e1443b8dc48e3369?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A man and women pose with mountains in the background.\"\/><figcaption>My partner and I are saving to buy a house.<\/p>\n<p>Mikala Lugen<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the end of the day, I don&#039;t think Asheville is &quot;better&quot; than the other places I&#039;ve lived. The Rockies and Appalachians both offer breathtaking landscapes, endless opportunities to get outside, and ways of living that aren&#039;t found in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n<p>However, moving to North Carolina has allowed me to better align my life with the things that are most important to me.<\/p>\n<p>And a bonus? I&#039;m finally able to save for my future in a way that felt impossible when I was living in bigger cities.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I&#039;m paying less than $2,000 a month for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom rental with a fenced-in backyard. Meanwhile, comparable options I saw in Denver and Salt Lake City could run at least $3,000.<\/p>\n<p>This breathing room has allowed my partner and me to save money toward buying land and a home.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, moving to North Carolina shifted more than just my address \u2014 it changed my relationship to affordability, time, family, and what &quot;living well&quot; actually means.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After years of living in big cities out West, I moved to Asheville, North Carolina. Mikala Lugen After spending a few years living in big Western cities, I moved back East to be closer to family. Now, I live in Asheville, North Carolina, and my quality of life has really improved. Life in Asheville has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-50527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}