We Moved to the California Countryside; Found Perfect Place to Get Old

When I moved to San Francisco almost 13 years ago, I never imagined how much it would help my career — and, unexpectedly, lead me to fall in love with the country outside of it.

I have always lived in cities, from Viña del Mar, Chile, where I was born, to Los Angeles, where I grew up. However, my marketing career didn’t really take off until I moved to San Francisco, the epicenter of the startup boom.

There, I had everything I wanted: I was surrounded by potential clients, I dined at fancy restaurants, I made great friends, and I had no shortage of access to top music venues, cafés, bars, and wine-country weekends.

I fell in love with San Francisco, which was like a huge playground for adults with no kids. It’s also where I met and married the love of my life.

But in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the US, I had my first child and San Francisco (like many other big cities) seemed to empty out. That’s when my husband and I decided we’d like to move closer to my parents in Los Angeles and buy a house with acreage.

It felt right after living in a small apartment in the city for so long — we wanted distance from other people, and the freedom to grow our own food, and live a calmer life.

We set our sights on a place in the Southern California countryside when we realized how much further our money could go there.

By 2021, we’d closed on a house, packed our bags, and headed just outside of Los Angeles.

Living in a smaller city in the California countryside has been filled with pleasant surprises

Our new home is only about an hour from major cities, like Los Angeles and San Diego, but it’s still the most remote place I’ve lived.

The city is also quite small, with a population of about 100,000 people — a stark contrast to the 800,000 in San Francisco and millions in Los Angeles.

I didn’t know what to expect when we moved, but I’ve found myself pleasantly surprised.

Life seems to move slower and there’s far less noise and light pollution. At night, our sky lights up with stars. Instead of traffic being spread all over, like in other cities we’ve lied in, it’s mostly just confined to a few busy streets.

On top of getting much more house and yard than we could afford in a bigger city, we’ve found a lot of our everyday expenses, like groceries and gas, are about 20% cheaper here.

Our city’s small-town feel is refreshing and it’s also been easy to build community. Strangers smile at us often, and locals have been welcoming and genuinely friendly. We’ve even become friends with all of our neighbors.

I still get culture shock when I bump into acquaintances at the farmers market, or when the store clerk talks to us like we’re old pals.

The biggest gossip topics around here are which fancy new apartment buildings might be built and the newest batch of coyotes.

My daughter also loves her school, which feels like a tight-knit community of families — many of whom also moved away from big cities.

There are a few downsides of our new life, but they haven’t outweighed the perks

Sure there’s drawbacks. At times, living in a more remote area can also feel isolating.

We’re far from friends, fun malls, and trendy gyms. Sometimes I miss going to fancy farmers markets and trying a new restaurant every week.

Going into a nearby bigger city takes planning and effort — especially if you have kids — and at least an hourlong drive.

We also have more limited shopping and grocery-store options, and scheduling doctor visits can be tricky when everyone goes to the same four clinics.

However, what we’ve lost in big-city perks, we have gained back in nature with easy access to horses, hiking trails, farms, and petting zoos. We may be far from a Whole Foods, but we’re close to neighbors who sell homemade bread, organic cheese, jam and goat milk.

Our area is less diverse than the cities we left behind, but I’ve still found community here among people who share my values and interests.

And all that we have here — space, time, fresh air, calm, community — has completely changed how I live and what I now prioritize. This move has felt like a reset to to my nervous system.

All in all, moving has been the best decision I’ve ever made

I never imagined I would live in the country and love it — city friends are still skeptical when they come visit.

However, seeing what’s possible when you venture out of your comfort zone has even inspired some of them to move to more remote areas, too.

Still, I’d never change the path that brought me here. San Francisco and Los Angeles are great cities with incredible energy — especially if you’re early in your career — but at this stage of my life, the things that make me happy are in this cozy countryside.

The area feels very well-suited for aging. It’s a place where slowing down isn’t seen as “failing”; and being close to San Diego, with its world-class medical institutions, has made it easy to imagine staying here for the rest of our lives.