#once you there you don't often leave

[abigailspinach]

Kellee Speakman, a native Californian, started dreaming about life in Texas in 2022.

The 50-year-old elementary school teacher and self-identified conservative was frustrated with California's COVID-19 policies and intrigued by Texans proudly flaunting their "freedoms," Speakman told Business Insider earlier this year.

So, in January 2022, Speakman and her family packed up and left Temecula, California, for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

But it only took four months for Speakman to start planning her return to California, citing Texas' higher-than-expected cost of living and politics.

--

Jeffrey VonderHaar, an owner of a medical equipment business, told BI earlier this year that he was planning to move from Calabasas, California, to a neighborhood outside Houston.

After 26 years in California, VonderHaar said he was leaving because the regulations, taxes, and high cost of goods made it increasingly difficult to run his business and manage daily living expenses.

"In California, there are so many rules and regulations that change constantly," he told BI in February. "The taxes are never-ending."

He said he found Texas to be significantly more business-friendly. While he intends to keep his business in California, where he doesn't foresee much expansion, he is looking to grow his operations in Texas.

By moving to Texas, he and his family were also able to purchase a larger home on four acres of land for $1.275 million.

---

Abby Raisz, Senior Research Manager at the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, told CBS News in November that job opportunities partly drive the influx of Texas transplants to California.

As companies move back to in-person work, Raisz said that many employees who worked remotely during the pandemic are returning to California. There has also been a rise in new tech jobs.

"It's not just workers returning," Raisz said.

"It's new jobs being created in some of these burgeoning industries like AI," she added. "The Bay Area remains this epicenter of innovation when it comes to tech."

--

The Californian boomerang

The wider group of movers to California between 2022 and 2023 also includes some individuals returning back to the state.

BI spoke with several Californians who had moved away, only to regret their decision or discover that they were better suited for life in California.

Dannielle Price, 47, moved from Riverside, California, to Texas for the second time earlier this year.

She moved to Henderson, Texas, with her daughters in 2021, hoping to buy a home. However, due to her children's struggles to adjust and the harsh summer heat, they returned to California just months after settling in Texas.

After facing challenges in finding suitable housing in California, Price decided to give Texas another chance this year, bringing her children and co-parent, Eiman Monam, 45, with her.

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Despite settling into an apartment in Tyler, the family still feels that Texas isn't the right fit for them.

"We are definitely not planning to stay in Texas. We just want to get back home to California once our lease is up in May," Price said. "We'd rather deal with the high cost of living and have the convenience. It's home."

[icewindandboringhorror]

On average, what is the total MONTHLY amount that you spend on dining out*?

*(This doesn't only count going out to restaurants, but also stuff like picking up fast food to bring home, getting a coffee on the way to work, getting a premade sandwich from a grocery store deli during lunch, buying a quick snack from a convenience store or food cart whilst walking somewhere, ordering a pizza or any other food to be delivered to your home, etc.)

*(If you often dine out in groups/as a household: calculate and divide the costs so that you get a Per Person average. This is for YOU individually, NOT the total household/group costs)

(I'm sure polls similar to this have been made before (very common topic), I just haven't personally seen one that I can remember, so, I was curious to do my own! I was discussing this with a group of people today and it was very interesting to see how widely the number varied between individuals. :0c )

(Reblog for bigger sample size if you can, and feel free to explain your answer in tags if there's anything extra to add!)

[hedgehog-moss]

These days Poldine gets to go out for a little walk every day at apéritif time, because she's a good llama who doesn't bother my guests (too much) (she does ask for baby carrots and kisses) and she always returns to her pasture without a fuss. It's become a nice little summer evening ritual.

And it happened several times that Pampérigouste didn't see me open the gate for her daughter, and, when she realised Poldine was out, became genuinely puzzled as to how her prim and proper kid found a way out that she hadn't.

Pampelune would be allowed to go out too, but most of the time she's content to stay in the pasture with Pirlouit; it's only Pampe who (once she realises her daughter can't possibly have escaped on her own and I must have facilitated it) is like

[fearandhatred]

C by fearandhatred (6k words, 1/1 chapters)

Crowley's time with Jesus dredges up an old wooden box of memories 3000 years past—a flood, a reckoning, and lives lost. And in the box are two other things, one of which is a braided lock of her own hair, straw-like from dried-up rainwater, and hacked off violently and unevenly at the edges.

*don cheadle voice* boom, you looking for this?

it is finally here... the mesopotamia–golgotha fic! this is intended as a sequel to my golgotha fic, via dolorosa. also if you see the very tiny stitches of colour on his clothes and on the C in this drawing... they're surprise tools that will help us later :)

please go check out the wonderful art my beloved @knifeforkspooncup made for me!! i have probably racked up five hours of screen time just looking at it if we're being honest here. thank you loml <3

also this idea came my way because of this post and the lovely (life ruining) additions by @idliketobeatree and @eybefioro. this fic is for u two <3 (i also eventually realised that my original post was factually incorrect but hey it birthed this fic so! happy accidents!)

[poetrysmackdown]

I'm hater but I just don't believe How to Be A Dog is that good, I hope jakey dies.

yeah no feel free to sow your hater oats. that's what this competition is for

[crimeronan]

it's amazing how even in my school-related stress dreams 11 years after dropping out, i'm still a massive bitch.

last night i saw a video about how some kiddos these days have electronic hall passes that time how long you shit & i was like "oh, that's For Sure showing up in a nightmare tonight."

and indeed i did dream about being back in high school.

except in the dream i was at a table in my school library opening huge packages of candle-making and soap-making supplies, and the staff were like, "uhm, your lunch period is over in ten minutes," and i was like, "yup. i'm in the middle of something right now, tho. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" and then when the bell rang, the rest of the dream became about an increasing number of administrators and school cops coming down to try to pry me away from my candle-making hobby while i sat my ass firmly in my chair and went, "put your hands on me. i fucking dare you."

......which is.

more or less. exactly what being in high school was. actually like for me.

[bluepallilworld]

teehee

Happy birthday @shinechermont !

Here our girls hanging out because I thought it'd be fun uwu

Rose

thanks @ari-cuno for organizing that collab gift thingie!!!

[pokemon-ninjago-world]

Screw it. Jay in a suit.

[musical-chick-13]

Look, I am the LAST person to say that we should All Avoid Sex or shame people for having it or uphold it as some Mystical Special Sacred Thing That Changes You On An Atomic Level Forever, but y'all have got to stop a) acting like sex is the only way for anyone to truly have fun or "experience being human" or whatever, b) acting like having a Super Active Sex Life At All Times is a cornerstone of personal emotional maturity, and c) acting like sex is a literal need you are entitled to that you will die without, a la food/water/shelter/medical care.

[neverendingford]

.

[death-rebirth-senshi]

Ashley: You don't believe in god? 🤨

Me: Aw, how sweet

Suvi: Just a constant reminder of the divine intelligence behind all creation

Me: Hello, human resources!?

[icewindandboringhorror]

Apparently I can meet my goal of roughly 400,000 words in 6 months if I just somehow write at least 2,200 words a day ghbjh... Almost 2,500 today... huzzah...

[spiderchao]

Game idea:

Sonic the Hedgehog meets Animal Crossing

[the-voice-of-night-vale]

social anxiety can be really funny in retrospect bc it will have you saying shit like 'is it weird to call a doctor's office and schedule an appointment?"with 100% sincerity and panicking about it as if that's not the silliest thing in the world

[hua-fei-hua]

when i was in my second year of high school i sat next to this guy in history whom i didn’t rlly get along w/until i saw him writing love letters to his girlfriend and offered to fold them into hearts for him. i wonder what he’s up to.

[randomraytrash]

Okay, started and finished reading Bungou Stray Dogs today (both anime and manga) and you are telling me that the most sane one is an impaled speaking head???

What the heck? I absolutely adore the chaos, tho