Hi everyone! Happy Sunday! My dear friend and former podcast guest, Therapist (licensed in PA only if you need one!) and Dream Builder Coach, in member of this community, @Kara Taylor is generously offering a holiday gift of ‘pay what you can’ coaching hours (approximately $175-250 normally for an hour!) up until Christmas if you’re feeling a little lost and want to start aligning with your purpose for 2026! You can hear her episode from February 12th, 2024 on my podcast if you want to give it a listen and take advantage of it- she totally helped me when I was starting out & I know she can help you too! You can find her episode from Mariette’s On The Move podcast on February 12, 2024 if you’d like to listen and book a time with her! I posted it on my Facebook, but here’s the link if you want to learn more- you can DM her in this community! The links to the episodes are in the comment of my Facebook post here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1MxrgeWYrV/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I'm happy you're all here! I've been busy recording for the new 'Moving For Smarties' series and I'd love to know- what are some topics you'd love to talk about in here? I'd love to do a goal-setting workshop closer to the end of year. What are some other topics you'd like to hear about?

I have two ways to get the mailer...if you go to www.movingforsmarties.com, there's a pop up that will collect your information and it will send you the 27 page eBook, 'Moving For Smarties' as a thank you for joining the mailer. It's a fun workbook to get your moving exploration in gear. The second place you can read it is in my LinkedIn Newsletter called, 'Life in Transition' where I put out the newsletter a few times a month. Would love for you to subscribe to both but it's basically the same content. Happy reading!

1. Introduce Yourself: Share in the Welcome Thread: - Where you’re moving from - Where you’re considering moving to - The emotional tone you want your next chapter to have 2. Download the Field Guide→ City POC: 3–7 Day Relocation Exploration Field Guide. This is your roadmap to choosing where you’ll thrive. 3. Choose Your Neighborhood Shortlist Day 0 in the guide to identify 3 neighborhoods to evaluate.(You’ll use your nervous system to help you do this — not just lists.) 4. Move at Your Own Pace. There is no timeline here. You are collecting data for a major life decision. We honor clarity over speed. 5. Jump Into a Conversation. Pick a thread below and share what’s real — not what’s polished. This is a judgment-free zone. Welcome — you’re not doing this alone anymore.

I moved from Charlotte to Indianapolis because I wanted to be closer to family — Chicago was too far, Knoxville wasn’t quite right for me, and Indy felt like a good “in between.” I actually tried to buy a house there before I’d ever lived in the city. On paper it made sense: affordable, rentable, a starter place I could live in for a bit and eventually turn into an investment. But once I did the full inspection (which I highly recommend — it saved me), a bunch of hidden issues came up that would have been mine to solve the minute I closed. So I walked away. Which left me with two weeks to find a place, and I ended up in Carmel. It was adorable and convenient, but not the right fit for my actual lifestyle — I didn’t sleep for three months because of the highway noise. That season became my “city proof of concept.” I realized I was spending more time in Chicago than in Indy, and the more I paid attention to my real rhythms and how I wanted to feel day-to-day, the clearer it became that I needed to go home. So I moved again — and I don’t regret the detour. I just wish I’d known then that no matter how good a city looks on paper, you can’t choose a place until you’ve lived your life in it, even briefly. Here are some lessons I learned... - I should have asked more questions when the apartment complex said 'close to the highway' - (List out things you wish you would have researched or asked more questions around)