yeah, moving to Portland in '97 was one of the best decisions of my life (from worst city of the world Houston which was tough after Austin and even Dallas which i also hate). i had always wanted to live in/near the mountains (my parents although both native Texans lived 2 years in Colorado just before i was born but my dad never found a "real" job). then because of a serious of events in 2000/2001 (grad school) i made another move and my final 2 choices were Boulder CO and Munich... i decided "now or never" for Munich and have been having a great time!

Texas has nice people and much of my family is there, but i could no longer live there - no mountains, no outdoors and there are not enough sporty/liberal/environmental type people for me... (i realize this MORE now that i have been gone so back and then return to visit) --- i mean have been in munich now 2 1/2 years and i do not own a car and i do everything i want by bike and train - i think that is just awesome!

P.S. i am working on a new project and temporarily (Oct-Dec) working 3 days a week in Stuttgart. it's a nice little city with some pretty hills RIGHT in town although a little too car-dominated for me (i returned today and was pleased to see all the Munich cyclists). i ride the fast-train 2 hours monday morning there and then 2hrs Wednesday evening back. it's ok although i hate living out of a hotel and miss my friends and girlfriend and my bike 2 1/2 days a week.

i'm still not decided but my next destination (hopefully long-term) will probably be either Munich, Switzerland, Colorado, Oregon, northern California or B.C.

good luck and just do it. don't waste money on all the materialism and live some adventure (after college i was on track to be a typical in-debt American but then sold my expensive car and moved to a not-so-expensive apartment and a little over a yr later i moved across country without debt which allowed me to not worry as much - then paid off my student loan 2 years later! and i've been free since!)