I posted this on the THF, but thought I'd post it here too to see if anyone else has experience up there.

Wife and I are kicking around the idea of making a clean break and starting fresh somewhere new. We've got several places on the short-list (including a few in Texas), but somewhere in New Hampshire is really standing out right now. Seems the state as a whole has quite a bit to offer as far as what we like to do - hunt (lots of public land), fishing, hiking, skiing - pretty much a ton of outdoors stuff. I know the winters suck. Seems like the state has a lot more freedoms than Texas. The no state income - and no sales tax - are a nice incentive. I've read where property taxes are high - but comparatively from everything I've read they're not much (if any) higher than what we currently pay in Texas. Our budget would probably afford us 30-100 acres depending on the age of the home.

Anyone spent any extended time up there (or lived there) that has some input?

I went there quite a bit as a kid, but that was a long time ago. I do remember that it was a beautiful state but I was always there in the summer

Never been there, but have heard nothing but good things about it.

Depending on what you want we have a drier climate and. I state tax. We do have sales tax but property taxes are real low because of energy in our state. You will have more free hunting land then all of NH. Lots of mountains for other activities. Wyoming is very conservative and should stay that way for a long time.

To the OP never been to the north east.

My wife's whole family lives in NH. I've been there a bunch of times but would never live there. Folks up that way are just "different" from what I am used to. I'll stay in TX.

I have spent a little time in WY - love the state, but not a huge fan of the landscape in that part of the country. Otherwise it would be on the list.

Never considered New Hampshire before, but it looks like a cool place to live. We had talked about Utah should Texas get too blue.

We watch North Woods Law a lot on TV. They have some, in my opinion, goofy laws in that state. Like speeding on an ATV. They set radar traps on the trails and give people speeding tickets on ATVs. But the hunting is good. The long cold winters suck.

keep in mind the older you get,the less you can tolerate cold weather....my prediction is that it's gonna take about two winters of snow,cold temps,being stuck inside and traffic congestion to make you wish you never left Texas....

DW & I lived there the first 40% of our lives. Lovely place, absolutely lovely. But no way in h*ll would we ever move back. Winter weather a major factor. Our last two winters (Manchester west side) there was so much snow plowed up from the street you could only see the roof peak and chimney of our house when standing in the middle of the street. Made for a fantastic 3-storey snow fort for me and the kids! Used to be a highly conservative state, not so much now with decades influx of CT-MA-RI and even NY not-so-conservatives. GREAT opportunities for both hunting and fishing (and I'll say the same for ME & VT).

My recommendation is look west and north of US-202 if you're serious. Stay away from the larger urban areas Concord-Manchester-Nashua and coastward.

Once you get out of the metroplexes, Texas is still Texas.
Parts of Arkansas would be at the top of my list for going out of state.
The weather in Oklahoma is just too extreme.
Love New Mexico also, but some of the droughts and resulting fires have been really bad.

Agree on Arkansas we have been looking online at houses in Hot Springs Village.

Have to agree. I've not lived in NH but did live a year and a half in Maine. Maine and NH are at reasonably the same latitudes.

Things I liked:

The fishing, the scenery, summers are nice but short.

Things detrimental:

Overbearance of control by government (controlling "laws" on everything), heavy taxation on any use of the public ways including bicycles, canoes and kayaks registration, yearly vehicle registration on a moderate mid size sedan was $400+/yr, on a Tacoma 4x4 was $600+. For the most part people were stand-offish to downright azzholes. Wimmin are ugly with frostbit skin and in winter wear mens' boots. It got dark at 1630 hours in the winter. It was cold ... real cold and it snowed from October thru May. All the NE is shut down by COVID right now. Too close to Boston and NY. That too cold statement means no car washing, special building techniques, and just plain a PIA going to the store or anywhere else. If you live in the country will need snow removal equipment. Everything, and I mean everything costs more ... substantially more !

No way I'd move back up there. I do fly through Bangor often though on our trips to New Brunswick.

Northern Alabama is very nice.

I've been looking mainly from N of Concord and W. We will obviously go spend some time up there before we make any kind of decision.