We’re almost out of the boxes now. We just moved into a condo in the 2200 Building near the heart of downtown Seattle.

Moving is never easy, but we’ve had a lot of practice at it. Since first meeting my wife 24 years ago, we’ve moved TO the Seattle area four separate times. And within Seattle, we’ve lived in six different houses.

This move feels a bit different though. It’s the first move where we were thinking about ourselves more than the children. Our two sons are now college-aged.

The view from our condo, above the Pan Pacific hotel, is striking. The Space Needle stands outside our north-facing windows, the city skyscrapers to the West.

We have the great fortune of also being above Whole Foods. I will definitely never go hungry with its amazing array of prepared foods. The other day, Shari and I walked to Tom Douglas’ Palace Kitchen for dinner, then walked back. For us, such impromptu jaunts exemplifies the type of lifestyle we envisioned moving into the city. I’ve tried hard to live a car-free lifestyle during the week, other than for business meetings that take me out of the city. I’ve really enjoyed it. Walking allows you to really feel the environment around you.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the conveniences of a luxury condo complex. It’s something I hadn’t thought much about prior to moving. Having a clean, modern fitness center has spurred me into exercising more often. I frequent the hydro pool and the sauna. In fact, the amenities in the facilities have kept me from wondering out into the city as often as I would have thought.

The key to urban living though is having friends nearby. Luckily, various friends have also recently made the move into the city. We can always find someone to join us for the early or late happy hour.

Moving usually opens a new chapter in people’s lives. Certainly for us, our first move to Seoul as newlyweds was a unique stage in our lives, as was our move to a flat in the west end of London with our pre-teen boys, and the move to Washington DC while preparing ARIS for its eventual IPO on NASDAQ.

This move, I feel, will be about living by ourselves once again and building a family of valuable friendships.