I’ve lived in Vancouver for 17 years (29, if you count time served in the suburbs). It’s a beautiful city, with a lot to offer. Today’s bright spring day is about as good of a demonstration of its benefits as is possible. It’s a city full of great people, doing interesting things, and as such has a long history of cultural and creative production.
All of that said, I’m leaving.
For personal reasons, I’m going to find myself without fixed address as of April 1st. After thinking it over for a little while, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to pull up roots and re-locate. I haven’t really felt at home in Vancouver over the last few months and the political situation in this province certainly doesn’t help matters. All in all, I’ll be happy to get away for a while.
I’m not sure where I will end up. I’m going to spend most of April visiting my family on Vancouver Island, and in May & June I’ll be traveling in Europe and the US to do some speaking and teaching. The plan is to give a new location serious consideration starting in July. I’ve begun to generate a short list of creative cities where I could easily live (with a dog) – if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.
In the meantime, please expect some sporadicity in posts as I bounce around.
(top photo by Nick Dobbing)
22 Comments
Congrats Jer. Sounds like a fantastic move and a chance to recharge. If I may, I'd suggest somewhere in South America or Copenhagen as starting points.
This is so sudden. How foreign are you looking to get? Portland, Boston, or Santa Cruz might be good places to look.
Congrats man, uprooting can be a very good thing to do once in a while. I did that a few years ago and wound up in Van. Enjoy it!
Cool man
I'm planning to do about the same, near the end of April though.
I'd suggest Montreal as a city to check out… it's definitely a hot bed for creativity, and a really awesome night life there too!
*jealous* where is on your list?
Where else in the world could you possibly want to live besides SF? Move here, I'd love to meet you. Cheers!
Good luck, Jer, relocation can give you time and focus to reinvent yourself. For Europe I'd suggest Berlin, Barcelona or Amsterdam.
After road tripping for two months through BC, Washington, Idaho, and Montana in 2008, my family and I settled in Bozeman, MT and are absolutely loving it.
Best of luck to you Jer! I'd second Marius' suggestions for european cities, plus Paris. If you happen to be in Germany somewhere along your tour give me a shout if you like. Can't decide for myself right now whether to pursue opportunities where I am currently or to move to a more cosmopolitan city. Chapeau!
Let me know if you come to Washington DC – I'd love to grab lunch and meet you. – Clay
Dublin, artists live tax free in Ireland and now that the Celtic Tiger has been hunted down, shot, and skinned (only to be found out the skin was actually made of polyester), it's a fun place to live again.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Also thanks for the suggestions – the list now contains some cities I hadn't previously been considering.
I'd really like to live somewhere that has a strong software art community, so SF, NYC, and London are definitely at the top of the list. That said, there are a lot of other intangibles that will go into making the decision…
Congratulations and good luck! Whenever you're close to Switzerland be sure to check in to Zürich. We would be happy to welcome you here.
Happy trails Jer.
Hi Jer, not sure what sort of place appeals to you but I'd be happy to arrange a tour of Newcastle and the surrounding area and perhaps have you meet up with some folks while you're at Thinking Digital? Of course, you should meet a fair folks while you are with us too.
Either way, best of luck wherever you decide to go!
Herb
Great stuff to hear Jer! You got plenty to share with the world. If you ever stop by Stockholm, Sweden there is room for you here.
Bon voyage!
Jake
I've also had itchy feet lately Jeremy – recent trips to NYC and HK have shown that Vancouver is very small. Best of luck. Steve emd
Have you looked into Malmo at all? In the south of Sweden. Some edgy companies that seem to be a fit with your interests/expertise. Also check out Malmo University's programs, especially those in K3. I imagine they would be quite interested in you.
Wow. Great move!
You should check out Berlin for sure. It´s THE place to be as a creative at the moment in Europe!
Give a shout if you are around.
Come to NYC, we have great food.
id vote berlin.de. rents are great. art community is international and bountiful. night life is excellent (but requires restraint for the compulsive). Art hack community is abound. Example:http://www.blinkenlights.net/stereoscope
You could always come back to Toronto. We can make London Tap House the go to place for creative coders.
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