 it's happening we are leaving Arizona I have the movers inside they are working on loading the truck that's right in front of me and it's been two wonderful days of packing this is probably the most luxurious move that I've ever had we had folks coming yesterday to help pack everything into boxes which was so incredible not having to do it ourselves and then today another crew came in to load the truck and they are almost done as you can see the garage is pretty empty actually everything right there is to be donated or get rid of and then the rooms are also good to go so let me show you a little bit around the house this is one of the offices it's empty it's good to go we still have to do some paint work right there because it's a little bit messy and the bathroom right here all good to go I actually just cleaned it there is my room which is the messiest part of the house so far all of my uh desks chairs everything is packed but there is a big mess right here because actually that trip to Europe never happened because guess what we both tested positive right before the flight yep the kitchen is almost good to go look at that so empty there's one more table to pack but for the most part okay so I experienced living in Arizona was incredible after having lived there for more than five years I can say that the amount of pros and cons is equal which is good I talk about all the positives and negatives about living in Arizona in a video up here that I made way before I knew I was leaving so even though I had a good time living in Arizona I ended up moving out of Arizona so I want to talk in this video about why I left and I want to talk about the things that I didn't really like about Arizona in case you are considering a move there well the main motivation to leave Arizona was because my husband got a job in the Bay Area but at the same time there wasn't a reason for us to stay in Arizona it's not that we had family or kids going to school or friends which by the way most of the friends that we made in Arizona they just end up moving for one reason or the other so it was just the right time for us to move we were ready for a new chapter and we didn't really move for any of these reasons that I'm going to talk about but they kind of contributed directly or indirectly and the first one has to be the heat it's probably the one reason why a lot of people hesitate when it comes to move into Arizona and rightfully so because it is extremely hot it's the hottest climate I've ever experienced and I think I read somewhere that the highest temperature that was ever recorded in Arizona was 128 degrees Fahrenheit which is outrageous like that's literally death valley if not more that was probably back in 1994 but it still gets extremely hot and when I moved here a lot of people told me you will get used to it first year second year and sure the first year you're experiencing this for the first time you try to embrace it you try to be creative when it comes to activities that you can still enjoy even if it's extremely hot outside like going to the movies or going to museums but then it just gets all the way time and it honestly didn't get any easy for me it was still very harsh summer at some point even going to the mailbox midday becomes really challenging but I wasn't really frustrated because of the heat because you know that it's going to be hot what was more frustrating for me is winter because winter is the time when the weather is pleasant you can go outside and enjoy the desert and enjoy all the wonderful outdoorsy activities which by the way that was the number one thing that I loved about Arizona this landscape of the desert is so magnificent there's a lot of activities that you can enjoy like hiking mountain biking climbing it was just so diverse you can do million things but in winter the days are also short so if you are working a nine to five job by the time you finish your work you leave your office you get home it's already dark outside so you really just have the weekends which is a little bit frustrating because when the sun goes down you don't feel as motivated you can still go outside and hike and you know enjoy whatever it is that you enjoy doing but it's not the same so I was a little bit frustrated I know it's a different story for people who live in Arizona or come into Arizona as snowbirds maybe they are older retired they have more time in their hands I think it's great if you have more time in your hand you don't have a nine to five job it is great winter is just so incredible the other thing that was really challenging in Arizona is making friends it probably also has to do with making friends as an adult in general but I found it very hard to make friends in Arizona I think there are two main reasons the first one because Arizona is so spread out there is Phoenix in the center but there are a million other cities around Phoenix and people live all around the valley I remember when I was in Chicago it wasn't the case because even though people live in downtown in downtown Chicago or in the suburbs most of the big events are happening in downtown Chicago and that's where all people come together but that's not the case in Phoenix because there are events in like Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale and it's really hard to bring people together to a central location even if you want to bring people together for like gatherings or events some people will probably have to drive one hour if not more to get to the other side of the valley so that was a little bit challenging add to that the fact that there wasn't really any reliable public transportation so you have to have a car in Arizona unless when I just moved from Chicago I lived in Scottsdale and I was living within walking distance to my office so I didn't really need the car at that time and probably also for students who maybe go to Arizona State University if you live in Tempe you just live around campus you probably won't need the car but once you move to the suburbs there's no possible way there's no reliable trains or buses which is different from here for example in the Bay Area there is good reliable system of transportation if we have an event in San Francisco we can grab the train and get there no problem so that's one of the things that I didn't really like they still have buses and they do have the tram but it doesn't cover all of the valley of course so having a car is essential food sucked in Arizona that's my personal opinion if you had a different experience let me know in the comments but it was really hard to find good restaurants with high quality food authentic food and I think usually with big cities like Chicago New York San Francisco there are people from all over the world they bring their culinary experience so you find high quality Mediterranean food Mexican food Asian food is really diverse but that wasn't the case in Arizona there was some Mexican influence but even with Mexican influence I found that Mexican food was not really good or authentic which I traveled to New Mexico which also has a big Mexican influence and food in New Mexico was a lot better so in Arizona unless we go for a high-end restaurant average restaurants are just okay you end up spending your money and you don't feel like it was worth it so even eating out is not as great of an adventure if that makes sense that's my experience personally I am picky when it comes to food but I can literally name maybe three to four restaurants that I really liked in Arizona which is unfortunate scorpions and rattle snakes it's one of the concerns that a lot of people have the heat attracts animals of this source from living in Arizona for more than five years I've only seen three rattle snakes which is not bad first one I saw was in the Grand Canyon National Park I was hiking inside of the canyon and it was really hot and then the second time was in the Mcdowell mountains just going for a casual hike the third one I don't remember exactly where but a lot of people are scared from rattle snakes but the reality is they are as scared from you as you are from them and so usually they are going to try to avoid you unless you start all the snakes so when you are hiking for example just be aware and watch where you are putting your foot usually when you hear the rattle it's the snake trying to warn you that they are right there be aware and I always think that it's not the best idea to hike with headphones just so that you can hear what's happening around you and then scorpions so scorpions I had a crazy story myself in my new house I had a guest bedroom with a queen bed and so I would usually go to the bedroom just to lay down and relax do some meditation and one time just took a break I was laying on the bed as I open my eyes I see a scorpion crawling on the wall I was really startled I didn't expect it because the house is pretty new its new build the area is pretty clean but there was a scorpion on the wall which I didn't really expect so I haven't heard many crazy stories like this but just be aware the second time I saw a scorpion was on the trail I was hiking after sunset and so I could see it on the trail but it was just you know doing its thing peacefully these are some of the things that made living in Arizona a little bit hard but overall I had a positive experience thanks so much for watching if you guys enjoyed this video give it a thumbs up subscribe to the channel my name is Habiba from the trekking palace and I will see you soon on a new adventure Arizona chapter is closed