How small efforts have helped me make big decisions

Many months ago, I found a career I thought I wanted to pursue.

I could have applied to jobs, fought for interviews, eventually received and accepted an offer, quit my old job, tried to learn a new set of skills, hated the work, and ended up staying much longer than I should have because I don’t like to quit without giving jobs a chance.

Instead, I interviewed three people who did the work I was interested in and decided it wasn’t a good fit.

I made a big decision with a few hours of effort instead of what could have dragged on for a year or more.

Now I have another important choice to make: do I stay in the city I live in, or do I move?

If I were to go by features alone, the city I live in has just about everything I’m looking for. It’s also the place where I began practicing aikido, which has become one of the most meaningful ways I spend my time.

Despite these benefits, I’ve been unhappy in this city for quite a while.

However, if I move to the place I’m considering, many of the benefits I’ve enjoyed will be diminished. I may even have to give up aikido, at least for a while. And although I’ve moved many times, I always find it stressful.

But I’ll also be much closer to many of the people I care about.

I’ve struggled with this decision for a long time. A year ago, I seriously considered the same move, but I wound up just switching to a different neighborhood. It didn’t help.

The more I weigh my options, the heavier the burden of choice seems to become.

But thanks to a recent idea I had, that load has begun to feel lighter. I was able to make a decision about a career change without ever changing careers. What if I could find out what it would be like to relocate without actually relocating?

I decided that rather than facing the giant task of planning a move, I would start with the much easier (and more fun) task of planning a trip.

The following strategy has worked well for me when I’m about to travel to another city:

Step 1: Make a list of places I want to see in that city.

Using word of mouth, web searches, travel guides, Yelp, Tripadvisor, and other resources, I list the places that interest me: restaurants, bars, museums, bookstores, coffee shops, stores, parks, movie theaters, concert venues, historical buildings, and so on.

Step 2: Find those places on a map.

One of my favorite websites is a seemingly little known feature of Google Maps called “My Maps.” I connect to mymaps.google.com. I create a new map and name it with the city I’m visiting. Then, one by one, I search for the places on my list. As each location pops up, I save it and it creates a pin on my map. I can even color code the pins by category (e.g., all restaurants are yellow, all shops are green, etc.). The color coding part can be a bit clunky, but I find it helpful.

Step 3: Pick the neighborhood(s) where I want to stay.

By the time I’m done populating my map, I usually have 20, 30, or more location pins. Many of those pins tend to be clustered together. I use those clusters to decide where I want to stay–either inside one cluster or between a couple of them.

Step 4: Reserve an Airbnb. (No, this isn’t an ad.)

When I travel, I often like to book my lodging through Airbnb rather than hotels. This allows me to be surrounded by other residents, cook meals, walk to the local establishments and attractions, and feel what it would be like to live in that neighborhood.

I used these same steps to pick two neighborhoods in my potential, future home city. I booked each place for a week. As I wrap up this post, I just checked out of the first place a couple of days ago and am at the second location, lying on a comfortable couch and listening to relaxing music. I don’t think I would want to live in the previous neighborhood, but so far, the current one looks promising.

Two weeks of lodging isn’t cheap, but it’s a small price to pay to help me feel confident that whatever choice I end up making, it’s the right move for me.