For a while, it felt like everyone was moving south. The trend took off during the pandemic, when remote work gave more Americans the flexibility to live wherever they wanted. Many headed to states where housing was more affordable and jobs were easier to find. Southern states such as Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and
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
