Back to Chicago

Nearly four years ago, we sold our Chicago condo, piled into a van, and started driving around the country. Then we pretended to be London residents, moved to wine country, then moved to Wisconsin and made a bunch of wonderful friends.

Now we’re headed back to Chicago. And we’re excited to return.

Chicago is different than how we left it. Rahm has been mayor while we’ve been gone. The Supreme Court decided the city needed more lax gun regulation. And the city’s getting a new museum.

We’re different too, and we’re trying to create an intentionally different experience. The big thing is we’re not returning to Lincoln Park — we’ll be living in South Loop instead. Why? Walk-to-work convenience. No more cramming on the rush-hour trains — the commute will be a stroll along Grant Park instead. We’ll also have easy access to both the Blue and Orange lines — so we can get to both O’Hare and Midway easily. Grant Park will be nearby too, along with the lakefront bike trail. Walk-to-work, easy airport access, cycling adjacent … and we’ll still have our car if we want to escape to the dunes.

But no boat … for now. Even though we could, as I’ve pointed out to Lisa, walk to Monroe Harbor. We’re staying with our simplified lifestyle, we’re going to keep cooking.

We’re moving in April … right after we get back from a spring trip to Mexico. We’ll miss our new friends and our favorite bar.

Perfection may not be possible, but we’re taking another step towards it, we hope.