Here’s some first hand accounts of those who did just that, and why you should care.

As we all know, Covid-19 has had a dramatic impact on our ability to travel.

With restrictions simultaneously getting both more lax and more strict, there are some questions you might want answered prior to looking forward to your next summer trip.

I interviewed three different students who were all former residents of southern California and have since moved out of it. Each of them has revisited California at least once since March of 2020 as well as at various different points since then.

The first question I asked the three of them was how long they’d lived in California for, and all three had at least lived here for a minimum of ten years.

Next I asked what their reasoning for moving was, and all three answered that it was job related.

On the topic of when they’d recently visited, the first interviewee, Bryan, had visited around June of 2020 to come visit family and friends. Naveah, the second interviewee, had visited around December of 2020 to spend Christmas with her parents. And Trevor, being the final interviewee, stated that he had visited during April of 2021 for both family and business related reasons.

Both Bryan and Naveah said they were only required to have their passports and a mask to be able to travel by plane, while Trevor said that he needed proof of vaccination as well as his passport in order to be able to fly.

Bryan noted that he joined the Air Force and was mainly forced to move in order to work a specific position in his military branch. Naveah said she moved to Texas in order to live with more family but was also fortunate enough to continue working remotely at the same job she had in California which is programming for an app development company. Finally, Trevor said he moved to Illinois in order to become a full fledged oil inspector for an oil business.

On the topic of what they missed most about California, Bryan said he misses the hot and humid weather the most, as he said it’s very cloudy and rainy year round in Virginia.

Naveah misses California. “I will no longer have such great views of the ocean or such easy access to it,” said Naveah. “Texans have been great and generally have a great attitude, but I will miss the way people treat each other in California.” 

Trevor misses the family he moved away from. “Don’t feel bad for leaving your family to better yourself,” said Trevor. “You can always come back to visit them, they’ll understand.” He also wanted to add that the food is terrible in comparison to southern California, specifically that he wishes the wide variety of Mexican food he had grown accustomed to was still around in his area.

When deciding on your next location to travel or move to, keep in mind these three testimonies for when you want to leave southern California, as there will always be both benefits and consequences to leaving the place you call home.