I moved from the Boston area to upstate New York 11 years ago. My life has improved in many ways, but there are things I miss.

I moved from the Boston area to the Hudson Valley in New York.

Lindsey Danis

Growing up outside Boston, I loved the city's arts and culture scene.Spending weekends in bookstores and thrift shops, hunting for unique vintage clothes, made me feel cosmopolitan — worlds away from my homogenous suburb. As a queer kid, that was a lifeline.In fact, I loved this energy so much that I eventually decided to move to big cities like New York and San Francisco, before settling closer to the heart of Boston.However, the older I got, the more I started to see things differently. Between the high cost of living and Boston's aggressive drivers, I found myself becoming increasingly anxious and burned out by my life there.So, 11 years ago, my partner and I decided to move to a smaller city in New York's Hudson Valley, near where I went to college, for a lower cost of living and peace of mind.And although there are things I miss about living in the Boston area, my life has improved in a number of ways since I moved to upstate New York.I love the lower cost of living and our proximity to nature

I'm able to spend much more time relaxing and recreating outside.

Lindsey Danis