1/x In 2018 my wife and I decided we were going to leave Boston MA and move to a city that has more of what we both love. My partner and I had spent 5 years there growing Storage Squad but we decided to take our small company of 5 fully remote.

2/x So we made a list of the 20% of activities that brought us 80% of our joy. Cycling, craft beer, local restaurants, hiking, live music, college sports, yoga, church, entrepeneurship, family activities, fishing, hiking, golf.

3x We spent January 2018 visiting towns. Raleigh, Asheville, Columbia SC, Charlotte, Bloomington IN, Athens GA. We wanted to buy a brand new 4 bedroom house within 10 minutes of downtown for under $300k. A major airport within 1.5 hours. And over 55 degrees on average in January.

4/x We fell in love with Athens GA and moved on July 3rd 2018. But something was missing. We didn’t know anyone within 5 hours. Turns out the community makes the place and we felt a little empty inside.

5/x So we got serious about building some deeper friendships. We introduced ourselves to people at church, in the office I rented, at the park. We got their numbers and invited them and their families over for play dates or out for a dinner. It was uncomfortable and it was WORK.

6/x I sent cold emails to as many people as I could find online who taught entrepreneurship at University of Georgia. Offering to stop by the classrooms and tell my story or mentor their students. Many of them took me up on it.

7/x I started to notice that there was a different mindset in Athens than there was in Boston. The same drive and level of accomplishment among many people but without the competitiveness. People were more interested in learning about me and letting new people in their lives.

8/x Soon our friend group got larger and we had MORE friends. We were hosting dinners and getting invited to birthday parties, events, or just out for dinner or drinks multiple times a week. I met a lot of business owners and dads that I hit it off with.

9/x We love our new city and are very happy we had the courage to make a change. It has been an incredibly rewarding and freeing thing to accomplish. If you’re considering something similar I say DO IT! Onward and upward!