The whole year we traveled, we made only mental notes about places that seemed nice enough to settle down in. It wasn’t until our trip was complete that we put energy into the question: What next? Our initial list of would-be homes was 17 cities long. We narrowed it down by putting together a full-blown mission statement and rating system including such elements as food, arts, job opportunity, funkiness and excitement. We also factored in gut-feelings. The great little city that won, of course, is Portland, Maine.

Why Portland? It’s a vibrant city full of history and terrific old architecture that’s somewhere in the middle of being restored. It’s friendly, arty and green, but there’s refreshing old-style grittiness too. The neighborhoods have a gratifying sense of community with a wealth of character and characters. On Valentine’s Day there are pink hearts pasted all over town, on Halloween there are masks and floats that parade the nighttime streets, and on the first Friday of every month there’s free admittance to local art museums and galleries. Portland’s got a peppy nightlife and more than its fair share of bang-up restaurants. It sits on the coast of Maine—the salty air is undeniably exhilarating. All of this and it’s manageable to boot; you don’t need to dial an area code to call the other side of town and you don’t listen to traffic reports on the radio to hear what your commute will be like. That’s why Portland.

Arriving in Portland, we had no job leads and didn’t know a soul. We opted to not sign for an apartment until we both secured jobs, and the timeline was tight: in one month, area campgrounds closed for the season. I suppose the undertaking was a shade stressful at times, but the excitement and enthusiasm of the situation almost always won out. Holly may disagree. It was a month chock-full of warm, sunny autumn days and it’s tough to have a bad day when you’re living in picturesque woods on the edge of the water. As it turns out, the orchestration of tasks played out narrowly and we pulled out—apartment lease and LL Bean seasonal job contracts in hand—the morning the campground shut down. Phew!

We’ve moved into a charming little early-1900s apartment building on Portland’s West End. City living is what it’s all about! Need some groceries? Walk two blocks. Feel like pad thai for dinner? It’s three blocks away. Want to toss one back at a friendly tavern? There are a couple less than four blocks down the street. The waterfront is five. Yesiree, it looks like Tundra is going to rest well after the many miles we put on her. The cats are less than excited though: the single tree stretching up to our third floor window seems to insult their sensibilities. They keep giving us that “go butt a stump” expression. Not to worry, boys, things are gonna turn out wonderful here.

In conclusion to our travels, we’d like to give special thanks to: