Lifestyle Review: Jackson, Wyoming
Or how I learned to love the mountains
One of my main hypotheses in trying out different cities was that I would love to live near mountains. In fact, I decided to leave New York, because after hiking the Inca Trail, I realized how much I enjoyed just seeing them every day. It makes you feel so small, but when you climb them, you realize that even the big things in life can be done with enough hard work (and suncream!).
I actually recorded my first vlog while I was there in case you’d like a different format, but the rest of the review continues below it!
I originally planned to go to Telluride in Colorado, a place I have been a few times and loved, but a great mate of mine suggested Jackson as a similar place but more beautiful. Always keen to try a new place, I figured, why not? So here is my review (check out my other ones too on Denver and London).
Affordability (1/10)
Jackson is apparently the second-most expensive town in the US and also the wealthiest area per mile. The fact it is next to multiple national parks, multiple skiing areas and it's just beautiful, means that the rich and wealthy have flocked there. I was fortunate to get an 80% discount on the usual Airbnb rent for my place, but a quick look at properties on Zillow and there was very little under $1M. The “local” people there (aka those that didn’t have a hedge fund), often need jobs that include accommodation, though the minimum wage jobs are some of the highest ($20) — it’s likely not easy living there. While getting my Covid booster, I heard the property taxes have also become ridiculous too.
There are shops like Target, Subway…etc, just a bit of a trip down the road though, so there are ways to make it cheaper. I went to the local super market where it was about $7 for a bag of chips, and $13 for 6 pieces of wood for my log fire… much more expensive than New York, something I never thought I’d say!
Friends & Family (1/10)
The airport in Jackson (Hole) has very limited flights coming in and out of it every day, which makes traveling anywhere expensive, and indirect, let alone asking others to come visit. The time difference that I first experienced in Denver is also here.
I went during the “off-off season” aka, not summer hiking nor skiing, which means the town was quite dead. There were limited activities to do (though I did go to a Halloween Dog contest!) outside of hiking, so meeting people seemed to revolve around bars.
I did chat with a couple of bartenders to try and make friends, but as soon as I was paid up, it was clear it wasn’t going to be anything. Which makes sense, if I knew someone was only in town a week, why would I put in the effort in?
Dating (1/10)
After listening to the song Country Girl, I always thought meeting a girl in a cowboy bar would be how I found the love of my life. There is just something about a cowboy hat, plaid shirts in a bow, and jean shorts! I did go to the local Cowboy bar on a Friday night and alas didn’t meet my new wife. With it being hard to meet people IRL, the dating apps were even worse. I’ve never been somewhere where you see 1 person a day on the apps!
This is matched with the fact that people either seemed to be new parents or grandparents. When I looked online the average age wasn’t too bad, but I realized that it’s a reverse binomial distribution of ages :(
Culture (2/10)
The main culture in the place seems to be geared towards either skiing (which isn’t a thing I’m good at/love), expensive art (there were so many galleries… like 2 on each street type thing) and general cowboy tourist stuff (I didn’t buy a cowboy hat). There are a couple of small museums that alas I didn’t go to, but outside of a few bars… there really wasn’t that much to do.
Night life / Logistics (3/10)
Outside of the Cowboy Bar (pictured above), there are a couple of other saloons and a few breweries. I went to a brewery which was fun, but the Cowboy bar had a weird vibe. This might have just been me, as going there alone, I felt very out of place. The only person outside of the bartender I spoke with was from Ecuador, and my broken Spanish & his broken English did not do too well.
Part of this all falls on myself for giving up alcohol a bit on this trip, which reduced my desire to go try new bars out though. Something I hope to get over a bit in my next few locations (or just resume my drinking again)
Health & Fitness (7/10)
One of the best things about Jackson, is it’s closeness to mountains. In a 20 to 30 minute walk I had multiple mountains to climb with amazing views. In an hour, I was in Teton National Park climbing with even great views (and a lot of snow). Every other day I went on a hike, probably averaging about 3 hours. It was great for both my physical but also my mental health. I decided to go without headphones and just used my thoughts to keep me company. I highly recommend doing this for a week if you’ve never done it… Helped me get some clarity on a number of things.
The reason this didn’t get higher than 7, was that it was a 40 minute walk to the nearest gym, which meant outside of hiking I was stuck with bodyweight exercises.
Job & Startup Opportunities (2/10)
One of the reasons I thought Jackson would be good for startups was because with all that wealth… it seemed perfect for VC & Angel investment. After a quick Google, I found multiple of these and reached out to all of them offering myself as a free mentor for their startups for the 2 weeks I was in town. Alas no one picked me up on this. There was a coworking space attached to one of them, but they never replied to me either.
Talking to one of the bar tenders, he actually used to work at a startup and said he had been thinking about setting up something for local entrepreneurs, alas we weren’t able to sort something out before I left.
The feel of the town (4/10)
I realize the above is pretty negative based on the rubric that I set out. Honestly, I was kinda expecting it, but I was hoping for it to blow me away in different areas too. That’s the point of doing this trip, is to try places out and see what I like/dislike about them.
This 2 weeks was actually still really lovely though, as more of a break than finding my future home. I had a log fire at home, I hiked a good amount while being with my thoughts, I worked on a few side projects and I got through more Buffy episodes than I would have expected.
Jackson, and the surrounding area, are truly beautiful. If you love skiing (and can afford it), then I would definitely recommend a visit. One thing it did make me think, is that if I lived in London I would want to plan multiple escapes (ideally have a second place) that I could escape with nature and mountains. As such, I think I am adding “Not London UK” as an option to my list of things I want to consider, this could be Manchester, Edinburgh… Who knows! Here is my updated visualization:
Note, that I also added a bit more to Denver. If I was to work in the US… It is currently my top choice.
I’m now in Salt Lake City for a long weekend, before heading to Seattle and then on to Vancouver!
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Also don’t forget to check out my first Vlog, which I did briefly discussing how I felt about Jackson while I was actually there!
