And I've been fluttering all over the damn place.

Since my lease on my apartment in New Orleans was almost up and I planned to move rather than renew it, last month I set off on an 1800-mile roadtrip to check out the various places I was considering moving to. I decided on Knoxville, TN, for several reasons. I've really been wanting to live somewhere mountainous, and Knoxville is certainly satisfying in that respect. Andrés and Amy had just moved there for grad school and plan to be there for at least two years. Geographically it's within a few hours' drive of lots of the places where I have friends — Atlanta, Clemson, Raleigh. There is a healthy aviation scene in Knoxville — there are at least three good flying clubs with great rates, and there's a large commercial airport and a smaller regional airport and lots of private grass strips all over. It's a small city, so I have access to all the stores and resources I want, without having to deal with city blocks and traffic and nowhere to park.

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When I moved to New Orleans last year, I knew I wouldn't be staying there long-term. I thought of it as a sort of foothold back onto the mainland — I'd stay there for a year and then move to somewhere that more closely matches my wishlist: Most importantly, I want to live near friends. Aside from that, I want to live in or near the mountains (New Orleans is basically the exact opposite of that), away from a city (roughly the level of rurality of Clemson), and somewhere in the generally southeast part of the country; ideally towards the more northerly parts of the southeast, like North Carolina or Virginia.

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