(this is a response to a friend who asked me what possessed me to stay in Maine so long.)
You posed an interesting question. And it’s one I’ve been kind of wrestling with for the past year or so. Up until early last year, I had no intentions of leaving Maine. Mostly for comfort reasons. Maine is what I’m used to. It’s where the people I know are. It’s where my family is. Where I’ve always been.
And after last summer I felt like I had no one left in Maine. No reason to stay. So I started looking for other places to be. Didn’t get much further than NH/VT when I realized I couldn’t financially move until I was forced to, or until I’d fattened my savings account again (which had severely dwindled from my being unemployed). And even thinking now, if I do move, I think I’ll still stick to the northern part of the eastern seaboard. Here are the reasons I love New England (not just Maine).
Weather. We have all four seasons, and the nature is gorgeous as a result. Not to mention our weather drives away the super poisonous reptiles you find down south, and our worst ‘natural disaster’ is a blizzard. Which we usually lose 1-2 old people in because they’re too old to find firewood or don’t have enough blankets or something. I’ll take a blizzard over Hurricanes or Tsunamis.
Nature. The huge fields, tons of parks, lakes, waterfalls, gardens, beaches and mountains.
Location. This is one of the few places in the US where you can drive under 2 hours to do anything from hiking a huge mountain to deep sea fishing to skiing (snow or water) to white water rafting. There is a lot to do, and that’s one of my biggest pet peeves of those that’re all like “Maine sucks! There’s nothing to do!” because that’s just not the case. What they really mean to say is “there aren’t enough bars and clubs for me to go get drunk at and grind with skanky chicks.” I will agree that there aren’t nearly enough 24 hour diners, but that could always be remidied. We’re also only 3.5 hours from Boston and 5 from Canada. Or at least I am.
People. The friends and family I do have around the area are people I really care about and would miss terribly. So even if I do move, it could never be too far away. There are still good, even great people in this world. Some of them live in Maine.
Family. Meaning, this is a great place to (someday) raise one. I’m not ready now, but when I do get that ‘bug,’ the schools are decent, the crime is low and the neighborhoods are safer than a lot of places.
Money. The jobs don’t all have the most desirable pay, but they often end up being jobs you enjoy anyhow. A friend told me, “if you like your job, it probably doesn’t pay well, and if it pays well you probably won’t like it. And if it’s likeable and it pays well, it’s probably illegal.” But the cost of living is lower and yet the quality doesn’t really suffer as a result.
Ocean. I
love the ocean. I love the smell of it (love driving through portland) and I love being near it and walking through it. And I’m less than an hour from it
So I guess that’s why I’m still here. I may move some day, but I imagine it won’t be that much farther south.
I like it up here.