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This told essay is based on Wendy’s conversations with Kurt Meyer, a 65-year-old production manager and a 59-year-old tool maker. He moved from Mission Viejo, California to Washington, Iowa in 2016. 2022. They stayed for about 20 months before returning to Mission Viejo in December 2023.
wendy: I’m a native Californian born in Los Angeles. My parents are from Iowa and moved me there when I was in high school. There I met her first husband and we had two children.
When I got divorced, I moved back to California and met Kurt.
cart: I was born in Germany. In 2001, my company sent me to Long Beach for work. That’s how I met Wendy.
Wendy: We have been married for 22 years this year.
We were planning on retiring and spending 50% of our time here in California and the other 50% in Germany. But Kurt loved California so much that she sold her German home in 2019. The goal was to stay here in California.
We lived in Mission Viejo, Orange County. Our life was great. We had a great job. My daughter and grandchildren were here. We had a good group of friends and a great church.
The weather was perfect. I run a half marathon and could train year round on the beach. On Sunday, Kurt and I took a walk in the water. Everything was in the right place for us.
cart: The only thing we didn’t like was the traffic jams.
Started considering relocation in 2021
Wendy: My daughter, husband, and two children traveled to Iowa to visit family. When she returned, they announced they were moving there. She was a native Iowan and wanted a better lifestyle for her children.
My son eventually moved to Iowa as well. He retired from the Air Force and returned to the Air Force.
We had no intention of moving. none. We even talked about never living in Iowa.
But then I saw their moving truck leave. I still feel like crying.
I contacted the real estate agent within a week. Preparations for relocation began in October 2021.
cart: I was nervous.
Wendy: I was the same. There are as many people in Orange County as there are in the entire state of Iowa. Only about 3 million people.
But my cup is always only half full. During the pandemic, I started missing Iowa, where I raised my children. I missed the farmers market, the four seasons, and that simple lifestyle.
So we bought a house in Iowa. We got a utility trailer and hauled all the stuff across the country ourselves.
The town we chose was a very small town. It’s called Washington, Iowa and is located about 30 minutes south of Iowa City.
Before we left, we told ourselves we would give it another year. After a year, Kurt and I sat down and made a list of pros and cons.
Our plan was to retire once we arrived in Iowa. That’s what we told ourselves. And we tried. But we didn’t really want to retire.
cart: That’s boring.
Wendy: I think we were both so wrapped up in the process of leaving and starting over that we never really thought about what would happen after those processes were complete.
Retirement life proved too boring, so my husband took a job in the engineering department at the University of Iowa Hospital. She was the best at her job.
We built this beautiful ranch style home on a half acre lot. I found a wonderful church. I worked part time.
We loved how much space there was in Iowa.
cart: There was plenty of space.
Wendy: I also felt very patriotic there. People wore their patriotism in public and I loved it. I loved seeing the farmers in the fields.
It should have been perfect, right?
cart: But it wasn’t to our liking.
We knew Iowa wasn’t right for us.
Wendy: I didn’t feel like, “Oh my god, I love this!”
People have a perception that Iowa is much more affordable. And so were we. it’s not. Some things are more affordable, like home prices.
However, due to Iowa’s highly variable weather, utility bills were not as affordable. I was surprised by the change in weather. Seasons overlap quickly. I don’t even remember autumn.
cart: And our property taxes were twice as high as in California.
Wendy: Gasoline is cheap, but you have to drive far. It took us 40 minutes to drive to Costco.
Mission Viejo had concerts you could go to every summer. That doesn’t happen in Iowa. I like speed walking and racing, but there were very few races there.
cart: And even though we moved a half-hour drive from where Wendy’s daughter and her family lived, we didn’t see them much.
Wendy: They are busy with their own lives.
In fact, I kept saying to myself, “Why can’t I like this more? What is it?” And then one day I remember saying to Kurt, “You know what? “We don’t want you to feel stuck here.”
cart: I felt very uncomfortable.
Wendy: I didn’t realize I felt the same way until one day I received a text from my boss at my previous job in California saying that returning was always an option. This made me realize that we have a serious opportunity to get our jobs back. I couldn’t turn my back on how I felt in that moment.
And I swear, just as quickly as I said I was going to Iowa, I decided to go home. In total, we stayed in Iowa for 20 months.
California feels like home
Wendy: We moved back to our previous location in Mission Viejo, literally less than two miles from our old location.
I really wonder how he was able to recover so quickly. I started a part-time job this week. we are very blessed.
I miss my children. But we do Zoom with them. And they come to visit. I also go there and play with them.
We are young at heart. We weren’t ready to retire. We are very active, much more so than other people. We still have a lot of life left in us, and we are truly grateful for all that California has to offer.
Kurt’s favorite saying is “Every day is paradise.” We never take vacations, so why do we?
cart: After this experience, I began to see California with new eyes.
Wendy: We think we’ll stay here in California forever.
cart: Until the bitter end.
Correction: March 18, 2024 — An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated when Wendy and Kurt Meyer moved. They moved to Iowa in early 2022 instead of late 2021 and returned to California in December 2023 instead of December 2022.