My son and I moved out here to Wisconsin for several reasons. The top three being that Southern California was too expensive, Disney didn’t pay a living wage, and he wanted to start his own business and it was too expensive to do so in California. I had a friend who had moved out here and she was always going on about how cheap it was out here and that we should move out here, too. It was all a joke until it was’t a joke anymore. I’m still not sure just how she managed to convince me to move out here of all places. I’m thinking it was all the Hallmark movies I watched that romanticized “small” town living. The plan had originally been to finish out the year at Disney then come out to visit this place and scope out apartments before actually making the move out, but life happened and plans changed and suddenly we were taking a blind leap of faith at moving out sight unseen.
We had an ETD set for the end of October and everything was done to that timeline. Everything seemed to fall into place so I didn’t doubt the Universe’s plan and just went with it all. I don’t do well with change and the unknown so I did my best to wear blinders and not think too far ahead. It seemed to work and my anxiety levels stayed relatively low for everything leading up to the move. The day we were set to leave had me stressed and on edge, but we still managed to leave at a decent time that Saturday afternoon. So with the U-Haul packed to the rim with every last thing we owned we kissed my mom good-bye and set out for the open road.
We were both excited about what was waiting for us. We were in good spirits if not a little sad about leaving our home and everything we had come to know and love from the past decade of living in Southern California and Orange County. We had no defined path set out, but more a general route we had planned to take as we traveled across America to our new home. So we hoped on the 10 and headed due East. I was pulling my car behind the trailer and it made me feel a bit like a trucker with our cargo behind us. Gauging our place in traffic was something that took a few hours to get used to, but after awhile it made our adventure feel even more special. People would look over at us and wonder where we were going, and where we had come from.
My parents and brothers had picked up and moved several times not only across America but across the globe, but my son and I had only made the one big move from northern Cali to southern Cali all those years ago. This move across multiple states felt like moving across the globe to us. If we had known what living in Wisconsin was going to be like we would have realized just how true that sentiment would end up feeling. 90% of the stores we shopped, the restaurants we ate at and all the gas stations and convenience stores we went to almost daily don’t exist out here. We had to create all knew eating and shopping habits here. Not something we were expecting.
At first we did our best to “go with the flow” and adapt to all the changes, but soon enough I was starting to miss all the familiar haunts from back home. Mainly all the places we were used to eating at that didn’t exist out here. I could deal with going to different gas stations, but I was seriously missing our 7-11s. I was starting to crave a Coke Slurpee like a junkie missing her high. Then there was all the restauraunts and food chains that didn’t exist out here that we loved and missed. Not only could I not find a good take out sushi place to save my life, but their Chinese food was even different here. I mean how does chow mein completely change from one style to another?? It didn’t make sense and just annoyed me. My pizza chain wasn’t here nor were places that specialized in teriyaki chicken bowls (something I ate almost daily back home). The big chain stores were here so that was one saving grace and of course I made sure there was at least one Starbucks here. Couldn’t live without a Starbies in my life. That’s where I draw the line.
Lack of familiar food places aside we slowly got acclimated to our surroundings and developed new habits as needed. After a very rough beginning for both of us at our first jobs here, we both managed to land jobs working for the same company and customer account out by the local airport. My son was with that company for about a year and a half before he found a better company and position that suited him far better. I moved into a different role about six months in and have been there for about year and a half now, too (I started at the company about six months behind him). It’s not the most exciting job, but the people are decent and the stress is relatively low.
The first apartment we were in didn’t turn out to be the heighest quality so when our year lease was up we moved across town to a much higher quality place for the same amount of rent. It’s bigger, MUCH warmer and has better amenities, plus a garage (which currently houses our unpacked boxes instead of my car). I’d say our biggest complaint at this time would be the stupid below freezing temps you get out here during their winters, and their shitty roads that just tear a car’s suspension up. My car managed to hold up the first year here but come last year on Valentines evening it gave out. I spent the majority of 2020 getting one repair after another on my beloved car. By November she seemed to be finally fixed and running reliably. Let’s hope that holds out for the rest of this year.
As for my son’s dream of starting his own business I’m happy to report that by our first February out here he had officially started and registered his company. Last April he finally went “live” and started pulling in actual customers. So now he is concentrating on getting a loan or financial backer of some kind so he can buy the hardware needed to take his company to the next level so he can accept the bigger customers he can’t take on right now. All his mentors agree that his company is set to be a huge success if he can only get the money he needs to move it forward to its next stage. Unfortunatey we just have no idea when that will happen and he’s stuck where he’s at until further notice.
So that’s it. That’s how we ended up living in Wisconsin and where we are at in life today. Well, a simplified account. I may go into more depth about the actual drive out here in another post. We still hope to move back home to Orange County one day hopefully not too far in the distant future, but for now we are toying with the thought that Las Vegas may end up being our next destination in life. Again, another place I would never guess we would live in on purpose. His job is opening a new warehouse location there and will be moving employees there in both a temporary and permanent capacity. I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of living in a desert, but after living in below freezing temperatures I’m pretty sure I’d rather be sweating my ass off and bitching about heat instead. If everyone has sweat stains on their clothes then I don’t have to be self conscious about mine. Besides, at least there I won’t have to constantly worry about the cold trying to break my car. I’m starting to wonder if my baby girl will ever forgive me for moving her here.
Thoughts From An Exhausted Woman 