I would love to go into this pretending that I’m going to be giving you some good tips and advice when it comes to moving across the country for school, but if we’re honest, I’m not even sure I can give advice just yet. Things still surprise me every day when it comes to this foreign land that is Massachusetts, so instead, I’ll tell you about some of the things I noticed, and maybe they’ll help a bit, probably not though.
To preface all of this, I moved from Portland, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts last year for school, and thanks to Covid, have moved numerous times since then. Moving from the west coast to the east coast was well worth it, but here a few surprises from along the way. Here are some fun and random things I noticed.
- Everybody laughed at me when I asked to go on a hike
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I am fully aware that Portland is known for the nature surrounding it, but seriously? When I asked about hikes in the area, someone told me there was a trail along the water… here in the city. Of course, I know that I’d have to drive a bit to reach a trail, but I figured that wouldn’t stop people. These people are really missing out though, hiking is great.
- What are seasons?
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Living partially in California, where seasons simply don’t exist, and then living in Portland, where it mostly just transitions from sun to nine months of rain, the idea of all four seasons is foreign to me. What is Fall? What is Spring?
- Public transportation
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This is unheard of on the west coast. Not actually, but it is far less impressive and far less used. The idea of a subway system is a dream and it’s a lot harder to get around without a car in a lot of major west coast cities. I’d add here too, that I LOVE how close together everything is on the east coast. You can travel just a few hours and be in an entirely different state. On the other hand, you can drive eight hours in California, and you will still be in California.
- Style
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This might be more specific to living in Portland, but Portlander’s definitely have more of a lumberjack meets hipster kind of look going for them. Lots of tattoos, flannels, and Birkenstocks. East Coast style doesn’t give off a van-life vibe like the northwest, although someone from Portland would not be caught dead in Vineyard Vines.
- Coffee
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For starters, Dunkin Donuts is for the most part, not a thing on the west coast. They’ve got the classic Pete’s Coffee and Starbucks, then The Coffee Bean down south, and Dutch Bros up north.
- Food
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Ever since moving to Boston, I’ve missed good Mexican food. The east coast really needs to step it up in that area. I will say though, that the east coast wins when it comes to the best pizza and Italian food, so I guess it balances out.
Despite my nitpicking, I really love both coasts and discovering all of these differences has been really fun for me over the last year. Moving across the country isn’t scary, it’s fun, and you’ll also notice weird and unimportant things, such as everything I just listed above.