Moving to Colorado – What You Should Know

It’s been almost twelve years since we packed up all our worldly possessions, loaded our preschooler and baby in the car, and moved from California to Colorado.

In the most ridiculously California move ever, the day we were to load the moving van, our street was shut down to film a TV show.

However, after a series of trials, including a baby with a fever and an unexpected extra night the four of us spent on a friend’s living room floor, we were off. And while it may sound like hyperbole, I’m telling you the honest truth when I say there isn’t a single day since that I’ve wanted to live anywhere else (okay, there was that one January when I started researching homes in Hawaii, but the sun re-emerged and I came to my senses.)

While I don’t regret our move for a second, it was hard for us. Both our families are on the West Coast. We hadn’t lived anywhere else. It took us a while to feel like we really got settled here in our new state, but there were a few things that helped.

Tips for Moving to Colorado:

If you’re new to Colorado – welcome! Nice to have you. Here are a few tips for making this your new home.

1.) Find a community

This is especially important for people who move here with children, I think. You can read Yelp reviews and find recommendations online, but there’s nothing like talking to someone about their kid’s pediatrician, or getting a hairdresser referral from someone with a great cut, or even discovering your favorite brewery by trying one out with someone who’s been there. Community is the best way to combat the loneliness of a new city. Find a church or other religious institution, join a moms’ group, go to your HOA meetings – anything you can do to get out and join people around you is going to be a huge help.

A few short months after we arrived here, our daughter was hospitalized with breathing troubles. I don’t know what we would have done without the friends we’d made. They brought us meals, fed our dog, helped get our older child to school, and generally kept us sane.

2.) Go exploring

One of the most fun parts of coming to a new area is finding exciting places to go! Set aside a day every so often to try a new hiking spot, or visit a museum, or try a new park. You may even set out with a destination in mind…only to stop somewhere along the way and find a completely different spot that your family loves!

3.) Know what to do in weather emergencies

I moved from a place with very few thunderstorms and no tornadoes…though if you need to know what to do in an earthquake, I’m your girl. But after moving here, I heard a weatherman say that nothing sent him scurrying for shelter like lightning. I figured I’d better take him seriously. Last year, Colorado was the third deadliest state for lightning strikes – find warning signs and advice for what to do during a storm here.

Our state is also the proud home to the tornado capital of the United States. Know what to do if you face a tornado warning as well.

Finally, if you move here from a warmer state that doesn’t get snow, it’s helpful to set aside time to practice driving in it before you head on a longer excursion. Try driving around your neighborhood or in a parking lot, and consider a winter weather driving school if you have very little experience driving in ice and snow.

Moving to a new state can be daunting. You have to say goodbye to friends and possibly family that you’ve lived close to. You have to find new doctors and new schools – you even have to figure out where everything is in a new grocery store. You need to make new friends…and if you have kids, you’ll need to find them new buddies as well. But it can also be an exciting opportunity for you and your family to try new things and visit new places. Welcome home, neighbor.

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