I moved from California to Texas but only stayed 4 months. Texas isn't much cheaper, and everyone was politics-obsessed.

Kellee Speakman moved from California to Texas and back again within the span of five months in 2022. Speakman, who identifies as conservative, said she didn't like Texas' obsession with politics. She also found the state to be more expensive than she had anticipated.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kellee Speakman, a 50-year-old elementary school teacher who moved from Temecula, California, to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in March 2022. She and her family only stayed in the Lone Star State for four-and-a-half months before moving back to Temecula. I grew up in Southern California and lived here for 48 years before briefly moving.

Temecula is the best place I've ever lived. I wasn't unhappy here at all. But my brother, who I'm very close to, decided to move to Texas in 2022.

At the same time, I was being told that as a teacher, I was going to have to get the COVID-19 vaccine , and I didn't want it. I consider myself to be pretty conservative. There are a lot of California policies I'm not in favor of.

A lot of people were moving to Texas at that time, and they would always say, "It's for freedom." I was intrigued by that. I really believed I might be missing out on something.

After my brother and his family moved to Texas, I flew out to look around. Honestly, I didn't love it. I should have trusted my gut.

But I couldn't imagine losing my family. We decided to move in January 2022. My husband was going for me.

He didn't want to, but he knows I'm close to m.