Resort Life

[neil]

If I'm living that close to a mountain and working my current job I still wouldn't get out much more. At work while the mountain is open. I guess it's easier to double up on the weekends, but still.

 

[Warp Daddy]

just remember, alot of things look better on paper than reality....dont get caught up in the romance of it

This is SAGE advice ! We are retired and able to live most anywhere within reason but htere are way more important things than the temporary endorphin high of living the so- called resort life style . Frankly we did that for the six months i retired it ain't what its cracked up to be . Thing are seldom what they seem and many compromises are made in the name of wishfull thinking

The need to "vacate " , get the hell away from it all and reduce getting" peopled- out ' in our respective professions is GREATLY reduced when one enters retirement which if planned well is really more like adolescence with money and degrees of freedom . Jusy sayin things ain't always what they seem :

 

[dmc]

I quit my job and moved to Hunter... Then found another one...

Now I work out of my house and travel...

 

[snoseek]

If you move to a resort town and work 9-5 m-f you're definately doing it wrong, there is zero point to that.
However it can be done. The first thing you should realize is that when all your friends are shopping for new Volvos you will be shopping for used toyota corrolas. Also the odds of living in that quaint little village are not good, plan on renting a little shack or maybe a remote condo if you're lucky. Also plan on doing some driving because resort town prices aren't realistic.

To really make this happen it helps to have no children. Being mobile is key. Budgeting skills better be good. Social skills need to be there for a variety of reasons-it will be tough if you don't get out and meet people, this is maybe the hardest transition from suburbia from what I can see. The ability to move with the seasons will also help, think cape cod when ski season is off. Doing this will eliminate the finacially devastating shoulder seasons. Staying mobile will also help you meet more people.

If your making bank doing whatever in suburbia kiss it goodbye. Nobody really wants to hear about how qualified you are, unless they work directly for you-even then shut the f*ck up.Avoid jumping directly into any kind of management position unless it is truly rewarding financially.

This advice is targeted to the younger crowd obviously. If you already made your nest egg what the hell are you waiting for? Do it! I did this for many years, longer than most I think the better part of my adult life (I'm 37). It is rewarding for sure. That said I live in the city for now to save a bit of money, pay down any debt such as car, school, ect....and overall experience different culture. All bets would be off if I had to drive more than an hour i think. There aren't too many resort towns I would want to live in Colorado anyway, I like cheap shit, mexicans, culture, music ect.....


Honestly another good idea is figure out how to work 4 day weeks and take midweek days off. Rent a small place or share and don't take any pay sacrifices. Skiing 3 midweek days per week would be pretty satisfying for most.

 

[snoseek]

I quit my job and moved to Hunter... Then found another one...

Now I work out of my house and travel...

You have a great and fortunate setup. Flexibilty is pretty good I assume. Are long lunch breaks speant on the hill?

 

[jack97]

I would move closer to New Hartford CT in a heart beat..... if my company had a division close by.

 

[dmc]

You have a great and fortunate setup. Flexibilty is pretty good I assume. Are long lunch breaks speant on the hill?

Yes... Lunch breaks on the hill and conference calls from the lift...

 

[ERJ-145CA]

When my wife and I decided to buy a place I pushed for the area of Sussex County, NJ near Vernon. It's only an hour drive for me to work (I only have to do the drive one sometimes two days a week). So now I live 10 minutes from Mountain Creek and 15 from Hidden Valley. And because I usually have at least one weekday off, I'm usually off 3 or 4 days in a row, I hit the mountains while my son is in school and then ski with him when I'm off on a weekend.

I figured it was the closest I could come to living in ski country and still have a reasonable drive to Newark Airport. I like it a lot, living in the mountains (or what we call mountains in Jersey) and all the natural beauty and wildlife that goes with it is great. Plus it's a two hour drive to the Catskills and 1 1/2 hours to the Poconos. So there are about 15 ski areas within a 2 1/2 hour drive.

 

[riverc0il]

We recently had a thread on moving north to the mountains, this thread seems rather similar. Speaking strictly in terms of moving into a resort town, I think the idealist appeal is greater than reality. Most ski towns are small time. Places like Burlington and West Leb aren't really ski towns though skiing is nearby and those areas are quite different. You really need to readjust your perception of a career and look into taking employment that you might consider "below you" or whatever. There are plenty of professional jobs in the bigger resort towns, but there are also a lot of other professionals already established and still others that are thinking the same thing you are... so that is where being flexible with your "career" and changing professions based on need would come in handy. Wouldn't hurt to be in health care field.

DHS alluded to the grass is always greener. Its true. You move away from the city because you love the mountains and then you miss the city. As I have mentioned before, I have no regrets (not even in a "ski town" but pretty close to Lincoln) but I never thought I would miss the city as much as I do prior to moving.

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

I've always considered the lebanon/hanover/woodstock area to be desirable for just that reason.

Lived in that area for the better part of 7 years, prior to that I lived in Plymouth, NH and now live just south of the Hanover/Leb area. I like it and short of winning a couple million in the lottery and moving to Sugarloaf, I think I will stay hear probably for the rest of my life.

 

[Glenn]

One of the reasons we like going to SoVT is that it's a nice change of pace from our lives in CT. Currently, we have a good ballance. I often wonder if moving to VT would take some of the "excitement" out of it. Once we're living at our change of pace...is it really a change of pace? I think retiring up there would be cool though. I've posted a few times about my hobby farm/lots of land dream.

 

[maineskier69]

Years ago a freind ours ours had a Jimmy Buffett vision and decided it would be fun to live in Key West. He had plenty of fun (and lost a few brain cells) but had to juggle at least 2 jobs just to make ends meet. Working as a bartender he was a "night person" and hardley ever got to go out and have fun in the sun. He stuck it out for about 6 years and was finally able to save enough money to escape.
Bottom line he said Key West was much more fun to visit than to live there (others he worked with agreed).

 

[SIKSKIER]

I have countless friends that have made the move to the Franconia area from the city.They love it.I'm not ready to live there year round.Hell,I start Jonesin to get out after a week.It's been my second home for more than 30 years and for me it's my mini vaca EVERY weekend.I so look forward to heading there every Friday and that would certainly change if I lived there full time.Besides,the ex already made that move.:evil:

 

[drjeff]

Years ago a freind ours ours had a Jimmy Buffett vision and decided it would be fun to live in Key West. He had plenty of fun (and lost a few brain cells) but had to juggle at least 2 jobs just to make ends meet. Working as a bartender he was a "night person" and hardley ever got to go out and have fun in the sun. He stuck it out for about 6 years and was finally able to save enough money to escape.
Bottom line he said Key West was much more fun to visit than to live there (others he worked with agreed).

Tons of truth in that. Personally I think that so many folks from populated urban/suburban areas can get caught up in the "resort lifestyle" during the usually high vistor traffic times that they'll often visit a resort. The difference though, especially on the social side of things and often the service/business side of things too, from what many a resort area offers during a busy visitor time vs. the slow time can often be a HUGE issue for people used to a busier, faster paced lifestyle.

I know personally, that my beloved Mount Snow area of Southern VT is two completely different experiences between a peak business time, when maybe 50-75% of the almost 240 units in my condo complex are occupied vs. the "off season" (which is maybe 8 - 9 months of the year) when maybe 10 to 15% of the units are occupied. Not too big of a change for me, but then again, my home town in CT has only 8,000 people in it, and I live in a relatively rural area to begin with where I'm used to a 30 to 45 minute drive to get to many shopping + dining opportunities that people that live in a higher populated area are accustomed to having within a 5 to 10 minute drive.

 

[hammer]

I grew up on the Jersey Shore (not Seaside Heights!) and as a child I remember the place being interesting from Memorial Day to Labor Day and then dead the rest of the year. It's more built up now but I still think of it as too small-townish.

I might feel differently once I'm retired (if I ever can), but for now I'd rather live in an area that is accessible to recreational activities but has a good amount of the day-to-day amenities as well. Just wish that this type of area didn't have the crowds and commuter headaches but that's not realistic...

 

[deadheadskier]

Lived in that area for the better part of 7 years, prior to that I lived in Plymouth, NH and now live just south of the Hanover/Leb area. I like it and short of winning a couple million in the lottery and moving to Sugarloaf, I think I will stay hear probably for the rest of my life.

now there's a place I could NEVER live full time. Love the mountain, but there is ZERO culture to be had within two hours of Sugarloaf. I just find the mountain towns of Maine to be way to far from things to do other than recreation. VT and NH have 'civilization' in a lot closer proximity.

different strokes as they say...

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Years ago a freind ours ours had a Jimmy Buffett vision and decided it would be fun to live in Key West. He had plenty of fun (and lost a few brain cells) but had to juggle at least 2 jobs just to make ends meet. Working as a bartender he was a "night person" and hardley ever got to go out and have fun in the sun. He stuck it out for about 6 years and was finally able to save enough money to escape.
Bottom line he said Key West was much more fun to visit than to live there (others he worked with agreed).

That’s a good story. Even though it didn’t turn out the way your friend hoped at least he gave it a shot and now he knows.

All of us have dreams like your friend, only a few of us actually try to live out those dreams. The reasons for not are usually very practical (employment) and/or unselfish (what is best for one’s family). Even so I like knowing that there are people like your friend who just say freak it, I’m doing it.

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

now there's a place I could NEVER live full time. Love the mountain, but there is ZERO culture to be had within two hours of Sugarloaf. I just find the mountain towns of Maine to be way to far from things to do other than recreation. VT and NH have 'civilization' in a lot closer proximity.

different strokes as they say...

I hear you. However I am from rural Maine, and as friends of mine from high school have discussed we have a totally different view of what is close and far. We were always use to traveling long distances to get from our rural upbringing to traveling to find other more city type things to do. Heck we would travel 6 hours to play even further northern Maine schools in basketball, baseball, and hockey, we would take field trips by bus in middleschool to Quebec City. 4 hours is nothing for me. In college I had to travel 4.5 hours to get home regularly, now I travel 5 hours to see my folks. I guess what I am saying is 4 hours of travel seems like nothing to me, my wife on the other hand....ugh, she hates visiting my parents in Maine becuase of the distance. Oh and compared to where I lived in Maine, Rangeley has plenty of culture. Plus I don't need culture, as long as I can fish in the summers and ride in the winters I am happy. Plus Portland and Boston aren't that far away. :wink::wink:

 

[Geoff]

I think it's all about what you're used to. I've basically lived my entire life in the 'burbs. I've been at KMart for the last 15 months and it's kind of painful. I have a travel component to my job and it's not a heck of a lot of fun to have to drive 2+ hours to get to a real airport where tickets don't cost $1000. The grocery store, bank, ... are all a pretty long drive down the hill in Rutland and it's at the end of the logistics line so things like produce are pretty crappy. When the lifts stop spinning, it's like a neutron bomb hit the place. Mid-May, you can drive down the Access Road and not see one human.

I'm about to doa split season thing once my cottage is finished in about 4 weeks. Ocean for 6-ish months. Ski resort for 6-ish months.

 

[Angus]

there is ZERO culture to be had within two hours of Sugarloaf.

You have clearly never spent time in Waterville!

Actually, Farmington doesn't look like a bad little college town.