For many, 2020 will be remembered as a year spent at home.
Others went a different way. They packed their bags and moved to places that many only dream of.
This is how they perceive their decision a year later in their own words.
From Boston to Napa Valley, California
Name: Ian O’Reilly
Profession: Sommelier
Before the pandemic, I was employed as a beverage manager in Boston. The restaurant I worked at closed in March 2020 and I was fired as a result. As I thought about my career, I realized that I no longer wanted to work in restaurants. The hours and the lifestyle had taken their toll. I began looking into the possibility of moving to Napa Valley, California to do some farming in the wine business.
My girlfriend – who is also an advanced sommelier – and I moved to Napa town with our two dogs in September 2020. I didn’t have a job and quickly realized that the job market was extremely restricted as a result of the pandemic.
Ian O’Reilly moved to Napa Valley without a job; Today he holds two positions in the wine industry.
Courtesy Ian O’Reilly
At that point, I was hired to host online wine tastings at Virtual With Us. For the first time in my life, I was working entirely from home. I was connected to several other sommeliers from around the country who had lost their restaurant jobs. Given the caliber of the people on the team, I was thrilled to be accepted.
Last April, I took a job as a logistics manager at a start-up wine company in Sonoma, but continued to host online events. The marriage of the two really brought my wine experience closer to one another. Today I manage a stock of fine and rare wines during the day, but I can talk about them as a virtual sommelier.
I work fewer hours and have a lot more fun. Plus, the cost of living in Napa is roughly half what it is in downtown Boston.
At this point, I have no intention of leaving. I am a permanent resident of holidayland.
From New York City to Greece
Name: Peter Despotopoulos
Profession: Marketing Manager
In New York I was Vice President and Managing Partner of a custom mill workshop. I decided to move because I was really unhappy there. I always felt drained and exhausted. I hated my job and my work.
Most of all, I felt that the cost of living did not match the quality of life. I drowned in debt because everything I enjoyed was expensive – Knicks games, good food, concerts. The pandemic exposed New York City as this really expensive, densely populated area with no natural beauty and limited opportunities for simple pleasures.
The cost of living in Greece is much cheaper than in New York.
Peter Despotopoulos
Marketing manager, Moro
In New York, I rented a one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a new luxury 60-unit building in the Long Island City / Astoria area. I am now renting a two-bedroom apartment in a modern six-unit building in an affluent part of Athens called Voula – an area known as the “Athens Riviera”. I have a pool and the beach is a short walk away.
The cost of living in Greece is much cheaper than in New York. There I had about $ 4,500 in fixed costs a month, including $ 2,500 for rent and $ 680 for a car lease. That’s without the cell phone bill, health insurance, and gasoline bills that my company paid for. My apartment in Athens costs 1,300 euros a month and my fixed costs have been cut in half. The worst thing about Greece is the price of gas – it’s roughly double what it is in New York.
Peter Despotopoulos (sixth from right, back) said he goes to the beach in the morning and starts to work in the afternoon.
Courtesy of Peter Despotopoulos
The work is less stressful than it used to be. I work remotely as the marketing director for a US home decor website called Moro. Due to the seven hour time difference, my work day starts at 3 p.m. and usually ends around 10 p.m. Greece is a late culture – everyone eats and goes out late – so I don’t mind the hours. I enjoy the beach before work and Athens’ great food and nightlife scene afterwards.
I still love going to nice restaurants and have replaced Knick’s game with going to the stadium on the weekends to see my favorite football team, Panathinaikos. At the weekend I go to beautiful Mediterranean islands that are only 30 minutes by plane or two to three hours by ferry.
Peter Despotopoulos said he traded the New York Knicks games for soccer games at Athens’ Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium.
Courtesy of Peter Despotopoulos
Almost a year later, I think I made a good decision. If you are making good money in Greece this place is paradise. Being of Greek descent, speaking the language and coming here in the summer gives me a good idea of what to expect.
Don’t get me wrong, some days are difficult being away from friends and family. Changes like this take time and patience to adapt.
From southern England to Costa Rica and Mexico
Name: Alister Gray
Profession: Executive Coach and founder of Mindful Talent
In October 2020, my wife and I made the quick decision to leave the UK with our 5 year old daughter Rumi and travel while the madness of the world takes care of itself. At that time we lived in a small town called Twyford. It was a short drive into central London which was perfect for our business.
A stay in Bali gave Alister Gray the confidence to conduct his business coaching for executives from Costa Rica and Mexico.
Courtesy Alister Gray
In 2018, when our daughter was 18 months old, I had tried running coaching sessions and workshops for leaders in Bali, Indonesia for nine months. This gave us confidence that we could work from anywhere in the world provided we had a good WiFi signal.
We were in the process of applying for U.S. visas to move to California when the pandemic broke out. We decided that we would not let our ambitions to leave the UK hold back and instead saw it as the perfect opportunity to travel to a country we had long admired – Costa Rica.
In January we flew from London to Costa Rica. We found a dream home overlooking the Pacific Ocean in a place called Nosara. We woke up every morning to a family of howler monkeys less than 10 meters from our terrace.
We spent six months in Costa Rica and we really enjoyed it, but our daughter’s school never quite worked out. So we moved to Quintana Roo, Mexico, to a little place called Puerto Aventuras. While visiting friends in April, we fell in love with the way of life there. We were greeted by a beautiful community of friends – a mix of Mexicans, Argentinians, Dominicans, Americans and Canadians.
Costa Rica was relatively expensive. Our costs have decreased by 40-50% from then on. Our spending in Mexico is similar to the UK. For example, our 1,200 square foot three bedroom apartment costs roughly the same as our UK two bedroom semi-detached house
After leaving Costa Rica (here), Alister Gray said his family lived a more active lifestyle in Mexico, which is where they want to stay because they “love it so much”.
Courtesy Alister Gray
With weekly help from maids, cooks and nannies, our quality of life could be increased. We also have the beach, tennis courts, running and biking trails, and a golf course nearby.
Moving was one of the best decisions we ever made. We have given our daughter and ourselves a freedom that we would not have experienced if we had stayed in the UK
From Las Vegas to the nomadic lifestyle
Name: Bryan Conzone
Profession: Owner of the data analysis and marketing company TRFK
We were living in Las Vegas when the pandemic started. I worked remotely for many years, but my wife Jenn was a nurse. When schools closed and there was no childcare for our then five year old son and five month old daughter, she had to quit her job.
The lease on our house expired in June and we’d considered moving to Texas for a long time. We decided to visit Dallas and Austin for a month each. We came across a company called Landing that rents furnished apartments for 30 days or more.
In the end, we liked this concept so much that it quickly led to a discussion about: Why should we stop in Texas? Why not take this opportunity to explore the entire US?
Bryan Conzone said the apartments he rented cost between $ 1,800 and $ 3,600 a month, including utilities, which is more than his Las Vegas townhouse but less expensive than his rent in Orange Country, California, where he was eight years lived long before Vegas.
Courtesy Bryan Conzone
After Dallas and Austin we stayed in Las Vegas; Seattle; Salt Lake City; San Francisco; Orange County, California; Portland, Oregon; and Scottsdale, Arizona.
When we left Vegas, we put our things in storage. We were just out and about with the essentials, such as clothes, computers, teaching materials and toys. It is amazing that we have not failed to go without 95% of our belongings for over a year.
Next we’d like to explore Denver, Chicago, New York City, Boston and then make our way down the east coast to Orlando.
A year ago, I would never have thought that we could travel around the US so freely and explore so many places. It has really changed life and completely changed the way we look at life for the foreseeable future.
Editor’s note: Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
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