Do you live where you want to?

[Tobin S.]

If not, what's keeping you there?

I've been all over America and a good portion of Canada. Even though I envy some aspects of other countries, I've never really wanted to live anywhere but the U.S. But there are areas of this country that I like better than where I currently live in Dayton, Ohio.

Being a trucker is a big influence that shapes my view of where a cool place to live would be. I'm not a long haul driver. I prefer to be home every day. I loathe the winter here in Ohio and any other northern state. Snow and ice are my enemies and I cannot defeat them, but they can sure as hell defeat me and any other driver who might be in the way should my truck jack-knife. The best I can hope to do is co-exist with the winter weather.

So, for that reason I think some place like San Antonio, Texas would be a good place to live. Or maybe El Paso, TX, or Las Cruces, NM or Phoenix AZ. I've also entertained thoughts of moving to the small border towns of Corpus Christi, TX and Laredo, TX. I've been to all of those places during every season and I'll take that heat over a northern winter.

If I weren't a trucker, I think I'd like to live in one of the larger cities in the Pacific northwest. But I've been driving trucks for 13 years now and I may be getting a little long in the tooth to be voluntarily making a career change. Good jobs still appear to be in short supply, too.

What's keeping me here? For a long time it's been the people I know here, mainly my family. I also have a good job here, too, by trucking standards, and that is difficult to give up even when it's January. Changes are occurring, however, and it's possible that one day soon I'll be writing to you guys about my adventures in Texas. I hear they could use a some liberals down that way. For now I have plans to move up the road about 30 miles to the town where my employer is located. We'll see how it goes.