We learned early in our military life that enjoying where you live is a choice. If you choose not to, you do nothing but make yourself and people around you miserable! Being military, we don't always get a choice of where "home" is and even though each place we've lived was vastly different than the previous base, we can honestly say that we've thoroughly enjoyed every place we've lived! And it all stems from these 7 things (in no particular order) that we start doing from the time we move to a new place and continue doing until the day we say goodbye:
1 - Attend Community Events
As soon as we get to a new place, we start looking for fun community events. One of the first things we did at our base in New Mexico was attend the Cherry Festival. It was so fun to get a feel of the community we were joining and it was a good excuse to get out and explore our new home without aimlessly driving around (though that's not always a bad idea ;)
Before we even moved into our house here in Alaska, we attended a free SUP board lesson event at the lake and it was so much fun! It got us out and about and acquainted with our new home a little bit more. If you need help finding events in your area, the Facebook events page is a good place to start looking!
2 - Explore Nature or Hiking Trails
Nature is just good for the soul. Enjoying the outdoors and making that connection with your home will always ground you. We have fond memories of the times we spent in nature parks or in the mountains or on little hikes every place we’ve lived.
3 - Try a New Activity
When you feel like you’re in a rut, it’s always a good time to get out of your comfort zone and try a new activity. Never been fishing before? See if a friend can take you! Or maybe you've always wanted to try a yoga class. Or maybe a paint and sip class being offered has caught your eye. You may find a new hobby and something that will get you appreciating your city/town. But really...I need to get to one of those paint and sip classes one of these days...
4 - Seek Out Unique Adventures
This can be as big or little as you make it, but from our experience, every place has something unique it offers. From day trips to weekend trips, there’s always an adventure to be had that you can’t do anywhere else. In Vegas, someone told us about driving down old Route 66 and hanging out in Oatman, AZ. We had to go check out the wild burrows that basically run the town!
We also went camping in Lake Havasu a few times (Go around President's Day for an awesome firework extravaganza!)...But we also loved going down to the strip from time to time and checking out the Bellagio gardens when they changed it out for the season.
In New Mexico, we attended the Hatch Chile Festival a few times! You don't know chiles unless they've come from Hatch, NM! The smell of roasting chiles in the air as soon as you come off the highway was an experience in and of itself!
We also loved the Hot Air Balloon festivals! We took a weekend one October to attend the big one in Albuquerque. But we always went to the one in our little town that took place a few weeks before. One year we made sure to wake up early and go to the Invitational at White Sands National Park! That was an unforgettable experience.
We also loved visiting all the Native American history sites and a few horse races in Ruidoso, NM, the world's richest quarter horse race!
And Alaska has no shortage of unique opportunities. We've gone gold panning, dog sledding, stayed up to the see the midnight sun and northern lights (in opposite seasons of course), and we've made sure to attend the Ice Sculpture competitions each year, just to name a few. And our trips around Alaska aren't slowing down! We love frequenting Denali National Park. We aren't finished exploring the Kenai Peninsula, and we've done some pretty epic things around Anchorage. We thrive on finding those unique, off-the-beaten path adventures, so if you need help finding some near you, let us know! Seriously, we're always compiling bucket lists for different places around the world in case we find ourselves hanging around at some point ;) 5- Take Time to Play Tourist
No matter how much time you think you have in a place there’s always those things that you want to do ‘someday’ that you never end up getting to. I already mentioned how we liked exploring the Strip sometimes when we lived in Vegas. And we were actually a little mad at ourselves that we waited until our last week in New Mexico to go to the Tularosa Basin History Museum, because it ended up being really cool! We had some visitors a few weeks ago and took the opportunity to take the Chena Riverboat Cruise. We felt like we were playing tourists in our own town, but it was so fun and so worth it! Even with all our bucket lists we make, we always seem to run out of time to do everything we want to do. So, our advice? Make ‘someday’ today! Get out and do it!
6-Support Local Small Businesses
Nothing ties you to your community like supporting small business. That mom & pop restaurant that you drive past everyday might have the best breakfast you’ve ever had! We'll never forget the BBQ place that was a little bit of a drive from our town in New Mexico. The owner was so down to earth and definitely knew his way around a smoker! Of course, we made it one of our last meals before we moved!
We also loved buying produce at the u-pick farms around our town in New Mexico. Cherry season and peach season were our favorites. You will never convince me that peaches from New Mexico aren't superior than anywhere else ;) In Alaska, we love the farmer's market every Saturday in the summer. And the sweet tamale lady in North Pole that sells homemade tamales out of her shack every weekend throughout the year...you can't find better! Our favorite thing about supporting small business is that you can pretty much guarantee that other locals will be there, ready to chat about other hidden gems in the area. 7-Keep a Positive Attitude
We get it. Sometimes this is easier said than done. But no matter where you live, even (especially) if it’s not somewhere you would put on your dream list, you can always find positive things about it. Keeping a positive attitude about the place you currently live will help you and those around you to fully enjoy and embrace it and you may just find yourself sad to leave whenever that day comes. (We always do)
So, what do you think? Did any of these items spark new ideas for you? Do you have something that helps you that isn't on the list? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget to pin so you can find us later! We'd love to have you join us on Instagram to come with us on our day-to-day adventures! We hope this inspired you get out and enjoy where YOU live!
0 Comments
|
AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|