Jackson Hole and the Value of Lifestyle
A nice Brown trout who took a fat woolybugger (and a nice pic) before being released back in the Wind River, WY.
I spent this past Saturday over the mountain in Jackson, WY. My wife and I like to make the trip over Togwatee Pass to get out of town, see some Mosse and other wildlife and eat some sushi at Nikai near the town square.
Jackson is an interesting story here in Wyoming. If you’ve never been here, you’re certainly missing one of those “must see” American destinations. Jackson is in Teton County, the country’s wealthiest county per capita - yes, higher than New York!
Well known for the towering Tetons (the most photographed mountains in the world), Jackson has a storied past, from the wild-and-wooly outlaw days to the birth of America’s first national park, Yellowstone, Jackson is indeed pretty special.
I share this not as a Jackson flag-waver, but as a Wyoming resident. Throughout my travels people always asked “why?” or most often, “how?” I could possibly do what I do from such a “remote” place. For me, it’s always been about quality of life.
I’ve grown up watching many of my friends leaving the state in numbers for the appeal of a higher salary in a larger city, but the ironic thing is, many of them are replacing people who have chosen to trade the “city life” for a piece of the true west lifestyle. As a New York City publisher friend of mine says, “We go to the city to mine our money, then we come home.”
So, as a young entrepreneur it made a lot of sense to me when the first “big city offers” came calling. Why not skip the step where I pack-up and move and try to make it happen here, where my heart is? We all have ties to various parts of this great country (and others) which help shape who we are.
Don’t let the promise of money dictate your decisions. The money is relative. Just because the salary isn’t what you’re used to seeing doesn’t mean it isn’t adequate for a place (like Wyoming) with a lower cost of living. For most of us out here, our lifestyle, more than money, dictates our decisions.
As Wyoming legend Chris Ledoux sang it, “I’ve gotta live my life, write my songs beneath these western skies.”
Why do you live where you do? Is it because of money or because you love it? Would you trade-in your comfortable salary for a lifestyle you don’t currently lead? I’m curious to hear your thoughts!
