I’m Ryan, she’s Kathi, and Elliot and Alexa are the two cuties. We are a pretty normal family doing a not-so-normal thing.

We’re leaving the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago where we’ve lived our entire lives to live somewhere else for a while.

Does that really warrant a blog with a name like “A New Vista?” – maybe not. Living in another place is tough for some families like us and virtually impossible for others.

BUT we believe the fact that a lot of people would love to do what we’re doing is reason enough to document and share our experience.

We’re not really sure what this blog will turn into, but our hope for now is to Inform and Inspire.

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Inform

Since we’ll be geographically disconnected from friends and family, this is one way we hope to keep you up to date on what we’re doing and experiencing during this season.  Lots of people are interested in the practical side of living in a different state. So are we! We’re not really sure how it’s all going to work, but we will certainly do our best to let you know.

Inspire

As we’ve told different people we’re planning on living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a year or two, we’ve received responses like…

“Good for you”

“I’d love to do that. Colorado is amazing”

“How are you gonna pull it off?

“So, is Kathi gonna get a job?”

But we’ve been surprised at how many people say they’d love to do something similar but could never pull it off. It’s a little sad to be honest, but we definitely understand why it’s so difficult. We’re hoping that sharing our experience might inspire others to try something different and maybe even a little “risky.”

It doesn’t necessarily have to be moving to a different place. It could be re-evaluating your life plan or actually thinking about it for the first time. It could be assessing if retiring at 65 is really the best case scenario. Maybe it’s simply assigning a renewed priority to spending more time doing the things you love or being with people you love. Maybe it’s something really cool you haven’t even thought of yet… 😉

Whatever it is, if we can inspire a few people and keep friends and family informed, this blog will be the MOST successful blog Kathi and I have ever co-authored!

If you just landed on this page and are wondering where to start, you can read one of our pillar posts here on Why We’re Going?