James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

[Norm]

With that, the July 31 day challenge is over.

I'd been using that thread as a medium to jump start my writing in some form. I think it was a success. In all I had maybe 2 posts in that thread that were, "Rode bike, check." The remainder were actual words with content, expressing some idea about what I/we did. Mostly the 31 days were done with other people. Of the 34 rides I did, only 3 were solo. Those of you who know my history know I don't really mind riding alone. But riding with people is more enjoyable. I rode with my wife 31 of the 34 times. Something like 17 of those 34 rides were in Vermont. It was a good month.

No, it was a great month.

If D said to me tomorrow, "Let's rent a place in Vermont for the next month," I would immediately do it. Granted, we're taking another trip in a few days so that makes no practical sense. We'll be away for the next 2 weekends and we have plans the 2 after that. Not only would it not make sense, it would be dumb. But I'm sure I would commit to it anyway. I love Vermont in the summer that much. I already miss it.

Part of me could see moving up there 1 day. Of course, winter is brutally cold and the mud seasons are really sloppy & long apparently.

Sadly, only 7/12 of the year is done and there's a reasonable chance we don't make it back again in 2022. But we all know there's always a chance that we go up on a lark. We did discuss dog-friendly places and a friend of ours has sent me her pet-friendly AirBnb list. So you never know. That said, it's always good to try different destinations.

 

[jmanic]

Part of me could see moving up there 1 day.

Why would you move up there for just one day?
Seems silly to me.

 

[Santapez]

While I love Vermont, where would you really move up there? While it's an awesome state, I can't think of a must-live part of the state. I'd want 10 houses littered all over the place.

With VRBO/Air-BnB the way it is, it's just worth trying to rent someone's ski chalet in the summer.

On the other hand, you should prove me wrong and get a place in VT large enough so friends or teammates can crash all summer.

 

[JDurk]

Part of me could see moving up there 1 day. Of course, winter is brutally cold and the mud seasons are really sloppy & long apparently.

This is our discussion and dilemma as well.

 

[MissJR]

I hear Brevard is nice. 😁

We can start an MTBNJ Brevard chapter of the team for ya.

 

[stb222]

With that, the July 31 day challenge is over.

I'd been using that thread as a medium to jump start my writing in some form. I think it was a success. In all I had maybe 2 posts in that thread that were, "Rode bike, check." The remainder were actual words with content, expressing some idea about what I/we did. Mostly the 31 days were done with other people. Of the 34 rides I did, only 3 were solo. Those of you who know my history know I don't really mind riding alone. But riding with people is more enjoyable. I rode with my wife 31 of the 34 times. Something like 17 of those 34 rides were in Vermont. It was a good month.

No, it was a great month.

If D said to me tomorrow, "Let's rent a place in Vermont for the next month," I would immediately do it. Granted, we're taking another trip in a few days so that makes no practical sense. We'll be away for the next 2 weekends and we have plans the 2 after that. Not only would it not make sense, it would be dumb. But I'm sure I would commit to it anyway. I love Vermont in the summer that much. I already miss it.

Part of me could see moving up there 1 day. Of course, winter is brutally cold and the mud seasons are really sloppy & long apparently.

Sadly, only 7/12 of the year is done and there's a reasonable chance we don't make it back again in 2022. But we all know there's always a chance that we go up on a lark. We did discuss dog-friendly places and a friend of ours has sent me her pet-friendly AirBnb list. So you never know. That said, it's always good to try different destinations.

The eternal question of would it be the same if your weren't just visiting and rode those trails all the time. However with the price of gas this year, you probably could have rented a place for the whole summer driving back and forth.

 

[clarkenstein]

Kate and I debate VT a lot as a place to go to once our youngest graduates high school (so we have some time, but it will be here before we know it).

We like to go out to eat - try new restaurants - and that’s one thing VT doesn’t have going for it. But also what makes it nice. There’s just not a ton of people to support tons of places, which is why we like it. Sort of a double edged sword.

We decided what we need is all the restaurants in NYC and NJ to open places in VT. But no one else can go up there.

I have been up there in mud season. How much that sucks really depends on what local roads you have. If you’re in an area where only the main roads are paved, then it can get a little rough.

That’s why I think in the long run I’ll just rent a place when I want to go up there and leave my Hillsborough abode as home base. That way I don’t have to maintain anything. And I can try new areas.

 

[JDurk]

Kate and I debate VT a lot as a place to go to once our youngest graduates high school (so we have some time, but it will be here before we know it).

We like to go out to eat - try new restaurants - and that’s one thing VT doesn’t have going for it. But also what makes it nice. There’s just not a ton of people to support tons of places, which is why we like it. Sort of a double edged sword.

We decided what we need is all the restaurants in NYC and NJ to open places in VT. But no one else can go up there.

I have been up there in mud season. How much that sucks really depends on what local roads you have. If you’re in an area where only the main roads are paved, then it can get a little rough.

That’s why I think in the long run I’ll just rent a place when I want to go up there and leave my Hillsborough abode as home base. That way I don’t have to maintain anything. And I can try new areas.

Sounds a lot like the same concerns my wife and I have. We are D.I.N.K.s so the school issues don't matter to us. We've also visited a few areas in ADK and really like the Lake Placid area. In-laws are in FL, my parents and immediate family are in the adjacent town here in NJ. We're planning to keep a home base in SJ and have the other be a long term get away. I say this now, but we can't stand the heat, so that helps with which direction to look.

 

[clarkenstein]

Sounds a lot like the same concerns my wife and I have. We are D.I.N.K.s so the school issues don't matter to us. We've also visited a few areas in ADK and really like the Lake Placid area. In-laws are in FL, my parents and immediate family are in the adjacent town. We're planning to keep a home base here in SJ and have the other be a long term get away. I say this now, but I can't stand the heat, so that helps with which direction to look.

We are not fans of heat too. I’d take a freezing winter and a nice summer over a room temperature warm winter and absurdly hot summer any day.

 

[The Kalmyk]

I think anyone of us would consider California if there wasn’t a cost penalty to moving there. It matches NJ living with much more.

It would be NoCal bay area for me. The riding landscape is greener than the south and temps/weather is micronized.

 

[jmanic]

We like to go out to eat - try new restaurants - and that’s one thing VT doesn’t have going for it.

Have you checked Burlington?
I haven’t done a hard target search, but my impression is there are lots of options there, and VT basically invented the localvore movement.
Bonus is they also have music and cultural offerings.

 

[stb222]

Have you checked Burlington?
I haven’t done a hard target search, but my impression is there are lots of options there, and VT basically invented the localvore movement.
Bonus is they also have music and cultural offerings.

I have been there in the late spring and there are options but it basically a new hope/lambertville vibe and number of offerings

 

[2Julianas]

Once our townhouse is finished and we are no longer carrying a second rent/homeless shelter cost we fully intend to spend months in various places. A month in VT over the winter holidays would be nice, then again in Sept/Oct, a month in CO late spring and again mid-summer, maybe even a month in NOLA in Feb. As long as we can drive there, and take our dog/bikes/skis its on the table. That was a lot of the impetus for us to downsize from the big house we sold.

 

[mattybfat]

Yeah we are kinda in same groove as having to small locations. Simular to pixy's deal except NJ is not one of them. ADK is a very likely one and along with a Az/UT as a second. One problem is my teens are not teens anymore and not sure they'll ever leave, who could blame them. Somewhere I have to convince my very Italian wife that the cord needs to be cut because left to her I will be supporting them to my pine box.

 

[pixychick]

I am glad to hear many are considering options. When we first started looking, I was blinded by looking to find one ideal retirement location. Downsizing to 2 locations while we are still young enough to manage them both seems best right now. I can certainly see traveling as an option too. Traveling can help you figure out what you do not want too.

 

[Steve Vai]

Have you checked Burlington?
I haven’t done a hard target search, but my impression is there are lots of options there, and VT basically invented the localvore movement.
Bonus is they also have music and cultural offerings.

I was in Burlington for sort of 2 days. It has a cool vibe, Stowe is close. The Islands are cool.

Despite VT being pretty hip, it's remarkably hard to find vegetarian options. Spoiled with our area for that.

 

[Norm]

A lot of good thoughts there, and I imagine we (and all of you) have run through all the possible combinations of answers. At the end of the day, I think it becomes a math problem.

Simon isn't going to college for another 6 years. So we're here that long which means we're not moving out of NJ before that. Is a second house an option? Sure, but I don't think it's financially practical at all. We just wouldn't spend enough time there to warrant it. Steve makes a good point, and it was the basis of my original thought process on the Vermont thing. Where do you move? Rutland is a great stop for a long weekend, winter or summer, because it's got biking (SVT, Pine Hill, Killington, Rochester) as well as skiing (Stratton, Killington, Sugarbush) all inside an hour. But who wants to live in Rutland?

If you do the math, consider renting a place for 2 months right now. I'm just going to pick 9/1-10/31 and say within an hour of East Burke. This late in the game we can find a place for less than $5000 in Barre, which is just about an hour away. This is with no research & planning at all. You can certainly do much better than that if you book in January I am sure. Take that $5k over the next 6 years and you're looking at $30k between now and Simon going to college.

Aside from the obvious advantage of being able to choose different destinations, the math says: why on earth would you buy a place?

This is where the conversation almost always ends up. When you think about renting a place for $5000, it's a lot. When you consider buying one for $300k or more, suddenly $5k seems totally reasonable.

We met up with Thatcher Simpson in the Moose Haven area on Saturday. Thatcher is the guy who built Nassau and has since moved up to Vermont. He said he likes it but the food sucks. He likes going back to NJ for the food and the beach. Food is a consideration, to an extent. There is Burlington but we're not moving to Vermont then picking the most populous place to live. Seems kinda silly, no? Additionally, I have to assume the theater scene is a bit thinner than here. Totally uneducated guess, admittedly.

STB asks, "The eternal question of would it be the same if your weren't just visiting and rode those trails all the time. However with the price of gas this year, you probably could have rented a place for the whole summer driving back and forth." I think it would be the same. We "worked" from Vermont last week - D worked more than me - but it was easy to do your time, then pop out and ride from the house. This would sort of be key to this setup. Being able to ride from the place you're staying is beyond convenient. And honestly work is far, far less annoying when you know you can ride to Moose Haven in about an hour from where you're sitting.

I think like Alex, in the end we'll just randomly rent places all over the place, very possibly with them on occasion. I would love to start now, but I think August is a little insane for us. I mentioned being tied up the next 4 weekends, but not why. The next 2 are in Canada, then we have Cranks, then we are helping at a Ringwood trail build. Then it's Labor Day, where we have bounced around the idea of going to Stratton to hit the DH park. Sinuosity has finished up the jump line and they're working on 2 more trails. I wouldn't say it's a destination yet. But in a few years it may be worth checking out.

No pics so you get 3 years ago today, on top of Whiteface.

 

[2Julianas]

I think like Alex, in the end we'll just randomly rent places all over the place, very possibly with them on occasion.

Yay

Then it's Labor Day, where we have bounced around the idea of going to Stratton to hit the DH park. Sinuosity has finished up the jump line and they're working on 2 more trails.

Tell me more…

 

[JimN]

Aside from the obvious advantage of being able to choose different destinations, the math says: why on earth would you buy a place?

This is where the conversation almost always ends up. When you think about renting a place for $5000, it's a lot. When you consider buying one for $300k or more, suddenly $5k seems totally reasonable.

The general theory has always been that you can sell your place for more than you paid for it. Obviously that turned out not to be true for some people, and now probably isn't a great time to buy (unless you are planning to hold long term), but it might be soon. If I thought we'd be in NJ forever, I'd consider buying or going in on a place in either VT or near New Paltz. But I'm with you that renting makes more sense. I'm hoping to airbnb hop at some point, traveling around and not spending more than a month or two in any one place for a few years.

 

[Norm]

The general theory has always been that you can sell your place for more than you paid for it. Obviously that turned out not to be true for some people, and now probably isn't a great time to buy (unless you are planning to hold long term), but it might be soon. If I thought we'd be in NJ forever, I'd consider buying or going in on a place in either VT or near New Paltz. But I'm with you that renting makes more sense. I'm hoping to airbnb hop at some point, traveling around and not spending more than a month or two in any one place for a few years.

I think any time you buy, you need to be prepared to stay there 10 years, or longer. While I love Vermont, we're not there just yet. When we bought this house we knew it would be a while, and in the 9 years here, we've purchased a new septic system (45), a well (5?), new front steps and sidewalks (25), another well (5), and a roof (17). The cost of maintaining a house is astronomical. The cost of maintaining 2 is worse.

Also, this conversation will never happen if you just hop around:

Me: What do you want to do this weekend?
Wife: We need to go up north because the grass is 2' tall according to the neighbor
Me: Why did we buy that place again?
Wife: This was your stupid idea.