Why We Left New York and Moved To Tennessee

Maybe military life uprooted you, or your career changed, or you’re simply a free spirit. Whatever the reason, chances are you’ve moved at least once in your life. Just down the road, to a different city, or across the country.

When my husband and I first got married, we agreed that we couldn’t see ourselves living far from our immediate family. We did move a few times, but we were always within a couple hours from “home”. But as our babies were born and our life experiences grew, things quickly started to change.

We realized that our dreams of having land and a homestead, while also having the freedoms that we wanted in regards to homeschooling, firearms, taxes, etc. were not at all realistic where we were.

After briefly considering a couple other states, Tennessee ended up winning our hearts. It checked so many of the boxes on our list. Here are just a few of them:

Homeschooling Laws

NY has tons of laws in place regarding homeschooling. In TN there are far fewer reporting and testing requirements. Being able to homeschool our children is extremely important to us, and the simpler that can be, the better.

Four Seasons

While we loved the idea of heading south, we didn’t want to be somewhere where the climate was perpetual summer/brown. Tennessee has gorgeous, hot summers, incredible fall foliage, a bit of snow and cold in the winter, and then flower-filled springs. Granted, we also get tornadoes occasionally, but the longer growing season and more days of sunshine do help balance it out.

Government/Taxes

Tennessee has no income tax, and property taxes are more affordable. Case in point: we paid more taxes on our small house on a quarter acre in NY than we do now on 6+ acres and a house here in TN. This, added to many other political aspects of the state, was a big deal, because it made our dreams more cost-effective.

Far more important than taxes or the weather could ever be, though, was simply the freedom to raise our family the way we want, in an atmosphere of like-minded people. We want our children to grow up loving God, their country, their neighbors, and all of God’s wonderful creation. We’ve already met several families here who are trying their best to do the same. Maybe there’s something in this beautiful southern dirt and mountain air that grounds you.

The homesteading life might not be at all what you’re after. But even so, I would like to encourage you: if you have big dreams, please pursue them. You only get one chance at raising your babies, and you only have one life to live. Stop waiting for everything to be perfect, and for the little details to “fall into place”. The timing will never be ideal.

If your dream is so huge that it does include moving, or relocating to a different state entirely, I can guarantee you’re going to leave some loose ends. You’ll leave projects on your home unfinished. You may need to let some friendships go. You’ll miss birthdays, weddings, and other special events. People will ask “Why?” a thousand times.

I can say from experience, moving to Tennessee has been one of the hardest things we’ve ever done. But so far it has been absolutely worth it. Sometimes you just need to be brave, give up the good, and go for the great. And after you take a leap of faith, that’s when things start to fall into place.