Whenever we go somewhere new on vacation, we like to explore the area and play “What if…?”, looking at things from the perspective of possibly relocating. Isla Mujeres has long been the fantasy, “win the lottery and move anywhere” destination, but Sedona has officially replaced it.
Not even on our original itinerary for this trip, several friends noted it as a must-see so we changed our schedule from a drive-by on the southern rim of the Grand Canyon and a night in Williams, to a night in Sedona instead. After staying at the amazing La Posada and driving by the Wigwams in Holbrook, our scheduled destination the next night (doing some backtracking), we canceled that and added a second night in Sedona, sight unseen. After our first night there, we added a third night, cutting our Vegas stay in half.
After exploring the Verde Valley region, including Slide Rock State Park, Cottonwood and Jerome, plus Sedona itself, we fell in love and the “What if…?” game morphed into “When could we….?” planning. We even checked out an open house and grilled the realtor with a bunch of
questions, finding the school system and low taxes especially appealing. It would be a big cultural change — I can count on two hands how many black people we saw in the area, and out there, Hispanic primarily means Mexican — but unlike areas of the Northeast where that’s been a deal-breaker, the regional differences are more appealing.
It’s still a fantasy at this point, but unlike Isla Mujeres, it’s a realistic and attainable one that doesn’t require winning the lottery. It could also happen as soon as next summer…
