When my husband told me that he had been offered a two-year job in America, I was initially excited. That was until I discovered where it was. Until last year, the only meaning that Kansas had to me was as the place that Dorothy got whisked away from in The Wizard of Oz. Oh how things change. These days, I have my very own Kansas driving licence.
I have to say, I never in a million years dreamed I’d end up here. We were planning to take six months out from real life and go travelling. That was until the recession came along and my husband decided that actually, having a secure job was probably a better idea – especially when they offered him this position which, unlikely as it sounds was actually a pretty plum job. So, after several months of wrangling and wresting the promise from him that we would a) be able to take the piano and b) I would be able to go home whenever I wanted, we decided to go for it.
Three months in and I haven’t been home yet. And the piano isn’t with us either.
Despite that, however, I find myself becoming strangely seduced by my new home. Ok, so the pace of life is much slower, but that’s kind of nice. There is room to breathe, to think, to relax. All around you is wide open space, big skies, a sense of possibility. It translates into little things too – like getting around. I work in Lawrence, about 30 miles from where we live. Were I to translate that distance to England, it would probably take me several hours to get there (at least in London, where I used to live). Here it’s an easy 40-minute commute, down virtually empty freeways, coffee snugly nestled in my cupholder, listening to the radio and watching the world wake up. There will be no sitting in traffic jams, feeling the tension rise. There never is any traffic in Kansas. It’s very calming.
Meanwhile, living somewhere less obviously metropolitan forces you to explore the surrounding area. The aforementioned Lawrence, for example, is a buzzing university town, with a campus voted one of the prettiest in America. You can attend a lecture, ogle the national champion basketball team players or simply sit and chill in one of the cafes along Massachusetts Street.
For a more obvious buzz, Kansas City has got to be one of the most underrated places in the U.S. There are some great bars, a brilliant music scene, an excellent venue in the form of the Sprint Centre (we went to see Bon Jovi last week, for the bargainous sum of $26 each) and an art gallery with one of the best collections of Chinese art in the world. It’s a gritty, lively place – there’s an industry to the landscape (think Gotham-style skyscrapers) – and it’s a great place to wander and explore.
Cast the net further and you’ve got Abilene, home of both Eisenhower and the aviatrix Amelia Earhart; Jamesport, an Amish community and Lucas, a centre for radical artists. Hop over the border (driving round here you’re half the time over the state line anyway) and you’ve got a whole new state in the form of Missouri to explore. In Kansas you’re right in the centre of things – everywhere in the States is a similar length flight away. We just got back from a weekend in New York – two and a half hours away and less than $100 to get there.
In London I would spend most of my evenings at friends’ houses, drinking wine and bitching about work. Here I have fewer friends, so do new things. This afternoon I’m giving myself time off – I will bake and garden and sit in the sunshine. As Dorothy famously said, there’s no place like home.
Flights to Kansas City range from £335 on cheapflights.co.uk
For hotels in Leavenworth, and Kansas City.
Lucy Denyer
