“Why not Nashville?”

Jan 1

There’s a lot of reasons we took the leap and moved to Middle Tennessee. In fact, our list is still growing. “Why Nashville?" is a common question we get and a fair one. We did come all the way from beautiful Hawaii, after all. Here are our top five initial reasons why we moved to Middle Tennessee….

1) Music City

I’m just going to say it--Nashville has the best live music scene in the country, bar none. If you’re visiting honky tonks on Broadway or waiting for your flight at BNA, there’s live music literally everywhere. This should be of no surprise since Music Row in Nashville is home to RCA, Columbia, Blackbird, Omnisound Studios, and other historically famous recording studios. While Nashville is home to country music, the CMA Fest, the Grand Ole Opry, and Dolly Parton herself, this is where musicians and singers of all genres come to perform, record, and get discovered. At any given time, you can catch live jazz, blues, a tribute band, you name it. The music is diverse. Of course, if country is what you’re looking for then you’ve come to the right place. For me and my husband, our love for live music will never get old. Eventually, it may become more of a daytime activity than a night time one for us, but that won’t be a problem because you can find it morning, noon, or night in Nashville.

2) I'm a little bit country and I'm a little bit rock n roll

I love the nightlife but I also wanted to live in the country. Middle Tennessee is the best of both worlds. A 45 minute drive gets us to all the Nashville action yet we get to enjoy all that a small town has to offer— top of the list being space. A little bit of breathing room does wonders for the soul! We and our neighbors aren’t living on top of one another, waiting in long lines at the grocery store, the bank, and in traffic. It may seem small but it’s a big reason we wanted to live outside the city. Coming from Hawaii, where land is sparse and people are plenty, we probably craved this more than the average Joe. Let’s just say, I’ll never have to hear my Kailua neighbor clip his toenails again, and for that reason alone, I am happy to be in the middle of Tennessee.

3) Cost of living

This one's a given. Necessities like groceries, gas, & utilities (water & electric) cost significantly less in Tennessee than in Hawaii, where everything is imported into the islands via ships and planes. For sake of comparison-in Hawaii, we were paying upwards of $300 a month in electricity. In Tennessee, we pay around $80 a month. On Oahu, vehicle registration fees are based on the weight of your vehicle so we were paying close to $400 a year for our Lexus EX. In our county in Middle Tennessee, vehicle registration fees aren’t based on weight and everyone pays the same amount in vehicle registration fees. For us, that’s 50 bucks a year. A lowered cost of living is an obvious plus to living on the mainland and one that shouldn’t be overlooked.

4) We wanted to travel with our dogs

If you have animals, you know how difficult it is to travel as a pet owner. Finding a trusted sitter doesn’t come cheap. Even when we did find dog sitters we loved and trusted back in Hawaii, it was a significant added expense onto every trip. Additionally, no matter how much fun I was having on vacation, I missed my dogs. I dreamt of one day being able to travel with them. Now that driving to our destination is often an option, we can pack up the pack and hit the road. Thankfully, there's a lot of pet friendly lodging on the mainland, even ones that are horse friendly! It makes sense why many families invest in RV's or fifth wheels. If driving isn't your thing and you don't have five dogs like we do, flying domestic with your dog or cat is a viable option, as there’s no quarantine and agriculture restrictions within the continental US.