Surprise! I’m Moving!
Turns out that Wilmington trip was not just a vacation after all.
Remember when I went to Wilmington a couple of months ago and came back talking nonstop about how much I loved it there?
Well. Surprise. I’m moving.
What most people did not know while I was posting beach photos, coffee shops, and little glimpses of coastal North Carolina is that I was not just there for a visit. I was quietly looking at places to live.
And now, after thinking about this move for years, it is finally happening.
At the end of June, Pancakes and I will officially be packing up the car and making the drive from Texas to Wilmington. We are splitting it into three days with stops in Memphis and Asheville for overnights along the way, which sounds charming in theory until you remember I am very much Team Airplane and do not enjoy long drives. Unfortunately, neither my car nor my dog can be checked into a Delta carry-on compartment, so road trip it is.
Honestly, Wilmington has felt like a future chapter of my life for a long time now. Ever since Shelby and Nicolle first started talking about moving there years ago, I was intrigued. Then they actually moved there, and every visit after that slowly pulled me in more. I loved the slower pace. I loved how coastal it felt without feeling overly touristy or spring break coded. I loved that it somehow manages to feel laid back while still having enough going on that you do not feel disconnected from the world.
I also think North Carolina as a whole just fits me in a way I cannot fully explain. I have done the big city chapter. I have done the mountain chapter. And now I think it might finally be time for the beach chapter.
What is funny is that this move almost happened much sooner.
A lot of you know that in August of 2023, my mom underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. There were complications afterward, and what followed was a very long and difficult recovery process that completely changed all of our lives for a while. At the time, Shelby and I both lived out of state, so we spent months alternating flights back and forth to Texas every week, trying to help however we could.
Then, in November of 2023, Pancakes and I drove from Colorado to Texas because I thought I would stay for a few months and help my parents through the hardest part.
At least that was the plan.
I remember thinking I would come down, help stabilize things a bit, and then eventually return to my normal life. But slowly, it became obvious that this was going to be a much longer road than any of us had originally expected.
In February of 2024, I flew back to Colorado, packed up my stuff, moved almost everything I owned into storage, and came back to Texas, thinking maybe I would stay through the end of the year.
And somehow now here we are in 2026.
