If you could live anywhere, would you choose where you are right now?
Trish and I asked ourselves that question, and couldn't answer yes with confidence. So we let go of the idea that a house automatically equals home, and set out to find what does.
somewhere between here and home.
Brian and Trish.
Empty nesters, on purpose.
We raised and launched eight kids. Somewhere along the way the house got quieter, our work learned to travel, and we started wondering whether the place and routines that fit one season of life still fit the next.
This is our journey, together. Trish's questions and observations are as much a part of it as mine, and you'll find both of us in the writing and on camera.
We weren't running from a mistake.
We'd built a good life in North Carolina. It served an important season. We wanted to see what the next one could be.
- Our kids were growing into lives of their own.
- Our work could travel with us.
- The routines that suited an earlier season had stopped asking anything of us.
- More time with family, wherever they've landed.
- The difference between visiting a place and living in it.
- Where we might eventually want to land. We don't know yet, and that's the point.
Watch our introduction.
If you only watch one, watch this. It's the conversation that explains why we're doing this at all.
If You Could Live Anywhere, Would You Choose Where You Are?
Passing through vs. living there.
The summer was family and goodbyes. Since August 9 we've lived in one city at a time, four to six weeks of groceries, neighbors and ordinary Tuesdays.
- Aug 9 – Sep 5Knoxville, TNStayed
- Sep 5 – Oct 3Cincinnati, OHStayed
- Oct 3 – Nov 7St. Louis, MONow
- Nov 7 – Dec 5Oklahoma City, OKNext
- Dec 5 – Jan 9Denver, COPlanned
- Jan 9 – Feb 5Albuquerque, NMPlanned
Summer visits · Jun 16 – Aug 9+
Before we lived anywhere, we spent the summer being with the kids, wherever they are.
- Jun 16 – 30Europe · Germany, France, Austriawith Nic, Gabby, Wes, Parker
- Jun 30 – Jul 4Sanford, NCwith Fletcher, Jaden, Mat, Mallory, Wes, Holland, Parker
- Jul 4 – 13Denver, COwith SJ, Noa
- Jul 13 – 20San Antonio, TXwith SJ, Noa, Fletcher, Jaden, Ben
- Jul 20 – Aug 4Salt Lake City, UTwith Jon, Emi
- Aug 4 – 5Sanford, NCwith Fletcher, Jaden, Mat, Mallory, Wes, Holland, Parker
- Aug 5 – 9Western Carolina University → Indianapolis, INwith Melson
With our good friends Keith and Keri, who call Knoxville home.
Knoxville, TN
“Knoxville wasn't merely ‘Vol. 06 : TN ’26’. It was Track One of our new life.”
From “Our Playlist for Knoxville”
Friday night high school football. And a piece of Rookwood tile, gifted by a local tile craftsman who worked on the city's finest.
Cincinnati, OH
“We thought living without a permanent home might make the unexpected harder. Cincinnati taught us something different.”
From “One of the “What Ifs” Happened”
Out walking, getting to know the neighborhood on foot.
St. Louis, MO
“We are trying to look below the surface in each place, and uncover its heart.”
From “A month of Life in St Louis”
Not everything we saw.
What it taught us.
Come along for the ride.
You don't have to leave home. Just keep asking the question with us.
![The [Hu]man Element](/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bs-hu-element.png)
© 2026 Brian Sykes · theBrianSykes.com