Moving Cross Country With a Kid, Dog & Two Cats

Ever visit a place and feel like you belong there? Not just your physical self but your soul belongs there. I have travelled to beautiful destinations in the past 20 years, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, London, Toronto, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, even Antarctica. But, there is one destination that keeps calling my soul: Laguna Beach in Southern California.

I visited family nearby in 2001, but I didn't feel it then. I visited years later on a business trip. A business colleague suggested I stay at this magical place overlooking the Pacific ocean called The Inn at Laguna Beach. The sounds of the ocean crashing on the rocks, the long walks on the beach below, the best sunset I've ever seen from the pavilion outside Las Brisas, and the whale and dolphin safari in nearby Dana Point. Each time I would travel for work, I would stay nearby at the Inn at Laguna Beach, or try places in Dana Point and Newport Beach but there was something so strong and luring about Laguna Beach that a couple of years ago I decided I would answer this call and move to Laguna Beach.

Only moving cross-country isn't so easy. I'm a single Mom by choice (sort of) of a 6-year daughter. I own two companies, one of which is a search marketing software company that evolved from a search marketing agency. I have a dog and two cats. I'm a homeowner. I've lived in Columbus, Ohio for 25 years since moving into the area for the Russian program at The Ohio State University. Despite having close family that lives on the East Coast, I don't feel like I belong there.

I began doing research on my mission to move cross-country to Laguna Beach. I was advised by close friends & colleagues to get my kid into Irvine schools, about 30 minutes from Laguna Beach. Summer 2015 was chosen as the time to move. I researched elementary schools. I was invited into a fantastic group of Orange County moms on Facebook. In February, 2015, we chose the school district, elementary school and neighborhood where we wanted to live, returned to Columbus and put the house on the market. Everything seemed to line up nicely.

The cross-country journey began in two phases, starting in April. Irvine has strict school residency requirements, so while we didn't physically need a house until July 1st, we had to rent a townhouse in Irvine by end of April. We rented a PODS container and timed it to arrive on the same day as our in-person school appointment April 29th, only it didn't.