It's different depending on where you go in the SE. If you want mountains, East Tennessee or Western North Carolina are pretty rad with lots of outdoor activities and public land. Asheville NC has a bit of a PNW vibe going on (not something very prevalent in the South). The winters are quite mild but if you ski or board you'll be disappointed. If you want beach the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama are hard to beat. I'm from the PNW and moved to Charleston SC a couple of years ago from WA, it was really hard to leave but I'm 20 minutes from the beach and 3 hours from the mountains. The food is great, people friendly, and cost of living a little lower.

I know its more populated out east, but I would love to know if it feels crowded, or if cities are just closer together.

Public access to the ocean is a must-have.

The quake might happen, and being gone is good then.

Storage...

I hear ya. I don’t think that I could ever leave this northwest crisp air. The more that I travel, the more that I realize that I want to explore more of the PNW. I’d prefer you try Chelan, Yakima wine country, or the San Juan’s over traveling out of the region.

We were in Crans Montana in the French Swiss Alps and then we did a short trip to the Matterhorn in Zermott, which is the German side. It was very lovely and so we’re the people.

You should get out and about. There is nothing like experience. I've lived all over and found good (and bad) everywhere.

SE USA can be very nice but likely to be something of a cultural shock.

I remain a big fan of NW New Mexico and SW Colorado.

We also enjoyed the Texas Hill Country.

The Coastal Range of Northern California was special when I spent time there some years ago. No idea what it is like today.

I think Maine is fairly comparable. I just moved to WA and that’s the only other place I like as much.

I’ve lived here the majority of my life, I’ve moved out of state a few times but I keep coming back

Go to Key West

This is honestly what I needed to hear, for some reason I feel like if I move away from Washington it’s going to disappear or something

PNW is hard to leave ☹️

Yeah a lot of the comments are starting to sway me in favor of Canada

Tahoe is beautiful 😁

Where in Switzerland have you been! I’d love to visit but don’t know where to start!

For sure!

For the record, I haven’t been to every square inch of Alaska, but it’s worth considering.

Yeah the world is a huge place, that’s what scary 😅

Banff is on the list of places we were considering, I love it there, are there any trails or locations there that could possibly turn a tourist into a local, I’d love to check them out !

I almost went to college In Utah, I love it there, but it seems so far from everything else

I really want to explore, I’m just nervous to venture beyond what I know I guess 😅

I’ve honestly never experienced the south east at all, is there anywhere over there you’d point someone in the direction of to get a good idea of what it’s all about

I agree with your suggestion of visiting, however, I would caution to stay away from Utah - the Great Salt Lake is drying up and releasing toxins (heavy metals) in the form of dust. The Colorado river basin is also drying up and water in general is going to become an issue out there in the near future and the state government isn't doing anything about it as they care more about business than people. Outside of that, your list looks good, I would possibly add Oregon to it as well.

That's actually a really good 8dea to say it's not actually a living space.. he could say it's an office with an attached kitchen.

Ingress and egress there's only one way out.... That's actually my biggest concern about the entire apartment he has built.