To(o Many) Choices

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite voices (mentor’s?) discuss time. How to view it, how to release control of it and how to play with it.

When they said something: 

“Having unlimited choices can feel scarier to our minds than being limited to just a few.”

For most of our lives our paths are plotted out in front of us. Based on our parents’ choices for most of it and then we get to start choosing our own. Often at this point we’re faced with a few options based on access, money, desires.

For most people, it can feel like we only have 1-3 choices at any given time. 

But what happens when you have too many choices?

Perhaps unlimited choices?

That in fact can be scarier for your minds to handle.

You see, when it’s just 1-3 choices your mind only needs to work through those options. There’s only so many outcomes available to you.

But limitless options?

That’s the phase I’m currently in. We’ve built a life and business where we can truly work from anywhere and many other people are on the same path since the world was forced to a few years ago. Many people now understand it’s a viable option not just a pipe dream to have more choice in where you spend most of your time.

Which almost makes the options, well, endless!

On the surface most people would say that it’s amazing! So many options!!

But yes, but how to choose? Where to start?

That’s what we’re currently exploring.

As I sit here in the countryside of Cornwall, England writing this I’m marveling at the sounds I hear all around. The vibrancy of the green everywhere – the flowers, the ferns, the farmland, the rolling hills…it’s a breath of much needed fresh air.

After having spent the last two and a half years in cities (Lisbon and Barcelona) it’s a confirmation of what feels best to us on a daily basis. 

We aren’t anti-city but for us living in them doesn’t really feel like living. We come alive in nature. We love the vibrancy and everything a city can offer but only for a short term.

I love smelling the earth, hearing the birds and having space to dream. 

Isn’t it funny how each of us has their own version of paradise?

We are planning on moving back to America this fall but to where? We couldn’t tell you today.

Here’s what we do know:

We want to build a home base where we can build a community around us. One that we can plant roots – at least for a while – and where we can bring dreams to life. 

Not only are we looking for a place to call home but we also want to bring brick and mortar (and more) to life in the next five or so years. So it also brings a dynamic beyond just “home”.

So, we’re taking the summer while we roadtrip through the U.K. and Ireland to dig deep into what feels right for us.

Here’s our short list:

• Green – it needs to be full of flowers, grass, vibrant colors everywhere. This doesn’t need to be year round but a good portion of it.
• Water must be close. I love the sound of it and the wildlife it brings. This could be ocean or rivers.
• Walkability and accessibility. We love road trips but for daily life we don’t believe in being in cars or traffic for most of it. We want ease and love walking. It allows for so much more opportunity to really see the spaces, places and people around you.
• Warmth and sun – if there’s one thing we’ve come to know is how much we love the sun. That doesn’t mean the Florida/Barcelona/LA sun. It can mean cold sun. We would move to Denmark (we love it so much!) if there wasn’t only 6 hours of daylight in the winter.
• Diversity – in food, culture and 
• Relatively flat but near mountains and exploration. After spending trips in the mountains in Switzerland, Norway and beyond we know we love the mountains but don’t want to live in them. 
• Proximity to other culture – one thing we’ve adored in Europe is the fact that within a short drive there are wildly different cultures, history, architecture and food. While in the states yes we have the general same culture we know there is so much diversity in a state or two over. We know the east coast has this specifically and does it well.

So where does that leave us?

We’re not sure!

If you handed us a map we could draw giant circles around areas we think we may end up.

Our solution however is to spend the fall and potentially spring road tripping the east coast and potentially west coast to explore different areas that on paper look right.

One thing we’ve come to know: on paper and real life are two different things.

Along the way we plan on sharing exactly how we’re deciding what’s right for us, what’s not and the wild adventures that will be in between.

We’re answering: if you could move anywhere – where would you choose?