Before I bought my house in downtown Whitefish and become a real estate broker in the Flathead Valley, I lived in California and dreamed of a lifestyle combining my workday with all my favorite activities that I rarely had the chance to do. My adventure equipment (skis, fishing pole, tent, stove, hammock, my floppy Patagonia hat with the yellow humpy stuck in it that I wear when I hike) gathered dust in a closet that could have aptly been labeled ‘Someday’.
Before Montana, adventures took extreme planning and an entire weekend from beginning to end fighting traffic for the chance to escape the despondence of digital inundation, to achieve a magical moment of relaxation in a ‘real’ ‘natural’ setting, recalibrating my mind and returning to something close to ‘normal’ before hurtling back to my life.
Like waking up from a dream, it was back to the grind on Monday until I could escape again. Someday soon I’d tell myself, I’d take another day away. And as the closet closed, the equipment, looking as forlorn as my spirit, was once again cast into darkness and left to gather dust until “Someday” presented another opportunity to search for forgotten harmony in my heart with another adventure. And, like Joe in the beginning of Joe vs The Volcano (yeah, I went there) my soul suffered under the weight of the complexities and idiosyncrasies of city life until I finally left one day, with my kayak on my Jeep and my adventure equipment in the back, and bought my house in downtown Whitefish, Montana.
In Montana everyday we combine the two things that keep us positive and youthful spiritually, mentally and physically- We work and play in a perfect balance all year long because of the proximity to limitless outdoor recreational opportunities, four beautiful seasons and a tight-knit community of empathetic, adventure seeking bad-asses. During a workday, depending on the season I can always find time for fly-fishing, downhill or cross country skiing, kayaking or embarking on a pleasant solitary stroll under a canopy of pine needles next to a rippling river while having a casual conversation with my dog about life and what, if anything, is troubling him, our conversation occasionally interrupted, of course, to greet ducks as they gracefully land on the water.
Clear out your Someday closet, pack the car with your adventure gear and move yourself, your family and your business to Montana already! A burgeoning sector of our buyers are escaping cities across the country to telecommute from this idyllic wonderland for passionate souls fortunate enough to find this, “the last best place.”
Live Big. Play Big. Relax Big. Save Big.