I moved south from Connecticut in search of a cheaper, simpler life. It wasn’t at all what I expected, so I backed away.0

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• July 12, 2026

This As Told essay is based on a conversation with Sandra Bonola, 56, who moved from Connecticut to Charleston, South Carolina, in 2021, and then to Beaufort, South Carolina, in 2023, before deciding the South wasn’t right for her. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I am a native New Englander, born