Could Arizona Become Home? Why We Spent Nearly a Month Living Like Locals
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- 5 min read
When people asked why we'd be in Arizona for nearly a month, the easiest answer was, "Vacation."
But the truth is... this was never just a vacation.
We came here with questions.
Big ones.
For the past few years, ever since our first visit to Arizona in 2023 when Clark toured ASU and photgtaphed a baseball game, we've quietly wondered whether this state could someday become home.
Not next month. Not impulsively. But maybe in a few years.
So this summer, instead of taking a typical week long family vacation, we decided to do something different. We decided to experience Arizona the way we might if we actually lived here.
Not vacation life. Real life.
At this point, you're probably thinking...
"Wait... are you just trying to follow your kid to college?"
Fair question. The answer is no. This isn't a plan built around wherever Clark decides to go to school.
In fact, we hope he chooses the place that's the best fit for him, whether that's Arizona, somewhere else in the Southwest, or somewhere he haven't even considered yet.
This trip isn't about following our son.
It's about discovering what feels right for our family.
That said, Clark absolutely helped start the conversation.
This summer, he spent a week living in the dorms at Arizona State University for a journalism camp. It wasn't just a campus tour or a quick visit. He experienced what college life could actually feel like.
He came home energized.
Ever since his first trip to ASU freshman year, he's talked about Arizona with a level of excitement that has never really gone away.
Watching that made us start asking bigger questions.
What if the reason we keep coming back isn't just because of ASU?
What if Arizona has been quietly pulling all of us in different ways?
Maybe Clark's college search simply gave us permission to ask questions we'd already been carrying.
Because the truth is, we've all felt it.
There's something about the sunshine, the dry air, the wide-open landscapes, and the slower pace that keeps calling us back.
For me, it's the desert light, beautiful spaces and all the wonderful people I have met.
For John, it's the endless opportunities to be outside in the sunshine, and the ability to not have to shovel endless amounts of snow.
For all of us, it's the feeling that life somehow slows down here.
But we also knew something important.
Loving a place for a week isn't the same as living there. A vacation is a highlight reel.
Three and a half weeks feels much closer to reality.
That's why we've spent the past three weeks doing more than sightseeing.
We've worked. We've grocery shopped. We've cooked dinners. We've done laundry.
I've photographed sessions.
One of my favorite parts of photographing in Arizona has been discovering spaces full of character.
Locations like Cozy Acre in Gilbert create the perfect setting for relaxed, storytelling sessions that feel natural and personal.
We've sat in traffic ( but let's be honest, no amount of traffic in Phoenix or surrounding cities is at all comparable to Boston traffic!)
.
We've experienced 115-degree afternoons.
We've had days where nothing exciting happened at all. This lead us to decide that a house with a pool would be a must if we do move out to Arizona!
Because that's what life actually looks like.
We also wanted to understand Arizona beyond the Valley. So we drove.
We drove south through Tucson and explored Lowell, soaking in the history and wondering what life might feel like in Southern Arizona.
Then we headed north to the Grand Canyon region.
Driving through miles of tall pines honestly felt a little like home.
The tree-lined roads reminded us of New Hampshire in the best way, and suddenly we found ourselves asking another question we hadn't expected.
Would we want to live somewhere that still feels connected to the forests and mountain towns we've always loved?
Or...
Do we picture ourselves embracing life in the Valley, surrounded by the energy of Phoenix and Scottsdale?
Every place we visited gave us a different perspective.
Every drive sparked another late night conversation.
And every conversation reminded us that Arizona isn't just one place.
It's many different lifestyles wrapped into one state.
Of course, there was one more question quietly sitting in the back of my mind.
What would this mean for my photography business?
Over the last several years, I've built a business that I truly love in New England. I've had the privilege of documenting families, seniors, couples, small businesses, and beautiful places and airbnbs, and every one of those stories has shaped me as a photographer.
So naturally I found myself wondering...
What would that look like here?
Would my work evolve with the desert landscape?
Would I find myself inspired in new ways?
Could I continue serving my New England clients while building something meaningful in Arizona too?
I don't expect to answer those questions on one trip.
But I wanted to begin paying attention.
Because if our family ever writes its next chapter here, I hope my business grows alongside it, not by leaving one place behind, but by embracing places that have shaped who I am.
That's really what this trip has been about.
Not making a decision. Gathering information. But paying attention.
Seeing how each of us responds once Arizona starts feeling less like a destination and more like everyday life.
Because by the third week of a trip, something changes. The excitement settles.
You stop seeing everything through vacation glasses. You notice which grocery store you naturally drive to.
The coffee shop you keep returning to. The neighborhoods that make you slow down.
The mountain views that still make you smile after seeing them every day. The places you could actually picture calling home.
That's the version of Arizona we wanted to experience.
Not the fantasy. The ordinary.
We're not leaving this trip with every answer.
In fact, we've probably come away with even more questions than when we arrived.
But they're better questions. More informed questions.
Questions rooted in experience instead of assumptions.
Maybe that's exactly what we hoped this trip would give us.
Whether Clark attends Arizona State University or chooses a completely different path, this journey has never been about following him.
It's been about discovering what feels right for our family over the next decade, not just the next four years.
Maybe that's what this season of life is really about.
Clark is beginning to imagine where his next chapter might unfold, and at the same time, we're beginning to imagine ours.
Not because one depends on the other, but because sometimes a family grows into its next season together.
Will Arizona become home?
If you asked us today, we'd say yes. Of course, life can surprise you, and we're not pretending we have it all figured out.
But after nearly three weeks here, we know one thing for certain.
We didn't come looking for a vacation. We came looking for clarity. And I think that's one of the greatest gifts travel can give us.
Sometimes a place feels like home before you can explain why.
Sometimes it doesn't.
The only way to know is to stay long enough to find out.