Why Colorado?
No I didn’t take an astrocartography class and learn Colorado is on my heart line… In fact during a reading I did on the actual drive of our move out to Denver one of my teachers mentioned Colorado isn’t even on my map in that way. But, I wanted to go.
To be completely honest it came to me as a ping. As I crossed the threshold into our South Philly row home back in 2017 I felt a voice saying, “Move to Denver”. I had visited a few times, and enjoyed myself fine, but was never itching to move there. It was somewhat familiar to me, and relatively easy to manage as a more modern city… plus we both had family out there. We had been getting more into hiking and camping, and as always skiing. It made sense. So we jumped.
We visited our families and did some neighborhood sleuthing. We met up with friends who had also relocated and decided where we wanted to be. It wasn’t easy to say goodbye- neither of us wanted to leave Philly- but we knew we needed something else. While we will always identify as Philadelphians (go birds), moving out to Colorado allowed us to travel. To experience a different pace of life- borderline midwestern, and quasi slow… Where people care more about what you do for fun and up in the mountains than what you do for money. Where people care about others- and it shows in the politics, in the communities and neighborhoods. Where I feel safe, not just at night, but to take risks, to be myself. To pursue a different kind of lifestyle that isn’t always perfect, but definitely feels good.
While it’s dry, and borderline too hot in the summer, it’s sunny 300 days a year. There’s a culture of embracing the weather, not finding reasons to complain about it. And maybe most importantly.. it’s a completely different drop off point for road trips and other travel. There are four national parks in Colorado alone, and nextdoor neighbor Utah is so diverse geologically and geographically from elite mountains for skiing and hiking, to mars like structures down south-all just a short drive away. Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico all so close as well. There’s so much to see, and so many places to go, and Colorado makes for a great home base.
Values change. Mindsets shift. We are so fortunate to be able to pursue this life here in Colorado that so well matches the people we are striving to be, with the lives we get to enjoy here.
