Moving from California to Tennessee

Uprooting from the Big City to a Small Town.

By Brian Cary

May 31^st, 2023

When I knew changes were coming...

After almost 9 years after moving across the country from North Carolina to San Francisco, I finally said goodbye. It wasn't because I lost my job or disliked the city anymore. In fact, I fortunately have been employed for my entire 9-year career in SF, and was exploring more than ever thanks to my camper van.

Changes were coming because of the pandemic, and all that came with it. Lockdowns, no concerts, no gym. Besides the abundance of tech jobs in the area, the two things that kept me excited were the music acts that came through and the access to amazing nature trails.

Update: It is now May 2023 and I realized I never posted this story. Here is my updated notes:

These photos were taken when I was packing up and about to drive across the country to nashville, Tennessee. I spent a few days on the road - working from hotels in between long stretches of driving, staying in Santa Fe for a few days in order to eat some New Mexico chile peppers, van camping in Quartzsite, Arizona, and then bee-lining it to TN once I hit Amarillo, Texas.

Neighborhoods

The last neighborhood I lived in was the Marina. I had moved out of my studio apartment in Cow Hollow (just a few blocks away) in order to get out of my lease and get down to a single room's worth of stuff.

Before Cow Hollow (3 years) I lived in Russian Hill (1 year), North Beach (4 years), and the Mission (~2 years).

My favorite times

I haven't thought about the most memorable times, but let's give it a shot:

Music festivals at Golden Gate Park. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, Outsidelands - these were fun, huge events in a beautiful area.
All of the running races. Bay to Breakers, Rock'n'roll half marathon, Big Sur Half Marathon, JP Morgan Corporate Challenges (10k). The entire area is beautiful to run in.
Running across the Golden Gate Bridge. This is how I started running over the 20 mile mark. From the Mission I would run 12mi out and 12mi back - taking in all of the sights as I was first starting to learn the city.
Riding bikes all around, then getting a drink at a bar. I loved this combination.
All of the music shows I went to. I would go to 2-4 shows a week sometimes.
The fog and the fog horns. Karl the Fog was a fun character to keep up with on a daily basis. Hearing the bellowing of the fog horn from my apartment with a marine breeze blowing through an open window? So comfortable - especially with a blanket.
The food. Whether it was a food truck, a catered meal, or checking out a new restaurant - my taste buds were plenty satisfied.
Social circles. Run Club at Lululemon in the Marina. Skee-ball league. Rock climbing nights. Trivia nights. Disc golf crew. Little circles of people made the city feel like home.

On the road

I hit the road the night before Halloween in October 2020. Drove a few hours south and slept in my van at a truck stop before going through the canyon to SoCal. On Day 2, I got to the edge of California, and then finally - a new state. In Arizona I planned on camping at the famous Quartzsite BLM land which is a draw for vanlifers and RVers.

Fresh morning in Arizona

My van legs were under me now, and I was on a good trajectory. I took some photos before continuing onwards.

Route 66

I found myself somewhere on Route 66 for a couple days to take a break and work from a hotel. There were work tasks that depended on me, so I planned for some stops along the way.

Here I Onewheeled all around this little town. It was fun to visit, but definitely wouldn't want to live there.

Highways and the changing scenery

At this point, I'm sure I had listened to hours of music, audiobooks, and podcasts, and had drank enough of truck stop coffee to just want to get to another destination. In fact, right around this time I remember filling up a giant coffee cup with an additional shot of caffeine, a couple hazelnut creamers, and having that fuel my drive for the next section.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe was my only true planned stop where I had something to look forward to for a couple of days. Here I also Onewheeled around town - from my hotel to downtown and all around. I really enjoyed the food here - enchiladas with Christmas chile (green and red), and a hatch chile burger and fries.

My hotel was a nice little boutique hotel and the Presidential Election was taking place on my first night. The counting didn't stop for another few weeks, so I moved on to whatever was next.

Cadillac Ranch

This was a quirky installation just outside of Amarillo, Texas. It was fun to walk around and take photos - then I had to find a hotel room for the night.

Once again, I Onewheeled from my hotel room to a restaurant for dinner, then worked for a couple hours that night. I was writing automated Detox tests for my company's Android and iOS React Native apps - I remember it clear as day because I got it running for Android from this hotel room.

From Amarillo to Nashville (then to Franklin)

The next day I picked my brother up from the airport in Amarillo, and we drove the rest of the legs together. This included Oklahoma City and Little Rock, Arkansas before entering the state of Tennessee.

We made it to Nashville and walked around downtown before making the final 30 minute drive to Franklin where we had an apartment lease for the next 13 months already setup.

Post-notes

It's May 4, 2023 as of this writing. It was fun exploring the Nashville area and Middle Tennessee for almost a year, but every chance I got I found myself taking my van to the four corners of the state looking for the best camping and real estate opportunities.

Eventually, I settled on Northeast Tennessee for my next chapter in life. The mountains are in my backyard here, and I found a great house that fits my needs.