I left San Francisco Bay on January 22nd – three weeks after my wife Julia moved to Auckland – New Zealand. This is where I will eventually end up as well. Right now I am committed to a project in New York – New Jersey area where I will be staying until the end of the moth. My work might extend my stay or relocate me to another city after that.
Last few days in Bay Area I spent saying good byes to all of my friends. It is not easy to leave that place. We both love it enormously – however it has increasingly difficult to become home owner. Sure you can find cheaper homes out of Marin County or San Francisco but we did not want to commute 2 to 4 hours a day from close by counties. Last year was another strong year for real estate in Marin County. This is a great place to live if your combined family income is over $200,000 and you are able to put down at least 30% – 40 % to buy your house. The median price for single-family homes gained 13.1% to $960,000, while the average home price rose 15.6% to $1,231,538 (source).
Bay Area is beautiful starting with San Francisco and close enough to many national parks. There 100’s of hiking or biking routes and there are 1000’s of bike enthusiasts. SF Bay is one of the top places in world to sail – from spring to fall there is a predictable wind reaching 15 – 25 knots. This is due to warm air over the land and cold front coming from the Pacific Ocean. On top of that the bay is spectacular. Lake Tahoe is only 3.5 to 4 hours away and it is absolutely magnificent all year long. The skiing there is really great with awesome slopes that are both ski and board friendly.
Yosemite national park is again only 4 hours drive. If you ever around this place you have to go to Yosemite. It will take your breath away and this park provides enough hiking routes to keep you busy for days. You can be just a recreational hiker – or someone who is trekking few moths a year, and I will guarantee this place will satisfy your nature thirst.
Monterey is only 2.5 – 3 hours away. A golf person knows that Pebble Beach is right there – but it is also great place to go diving, fishing and dining. Santa Cruz beach is close by…there are just too many things to list here and my point is that I will miss all that.
On the other hand Auckland – New Zealand, great sailing, nature, hikes, kayaking, great real estate and not crowded. There are not two many traffic jams and it is very low crime. New Zealand has great schools and universal health care. Being that our families are far away we would never be able to have children in Bay Area. Julia left on December 28 2005, and we will be separated for quite a while but I have a opportunity to make some money before I move and we would really like to purchase a house sometimes soon.
That is why I am now staying in Elizabeth New Jersey. Living in Marriott will not be very entertaining but hopefully I will get together with some of Julia’s friends. Hi Nicky and Dan and everyone else. Additionally, I will have to look after our kitty that has new home in upper state New York where she is staying with Julia’s Aunt Meg and Uncle Bill. These two brave souls have undertaken the task and we are very thankful for that. It is not going to be easy task but seems like Spider (the cat) is slowly acclimatizing to her new environment. Viva la evolution. Today was overall very nice day. We did not have too much work so 3 of us went down to New York. We did couple of those tourist things such as visiting the Empire State building, Carnegie Deli and the Times Square. I will be posting pictures as well.
Well so far so good and I will try to keep up with this blog. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.
Martin
I love your photo gallery! I love you too!
Julia