I moved from California to Texas for a fresh start. It was much more affordable there, but I was still unhappy and moved back.

• In 2021, single mom Priscila Barros left California for Houston, seeking a lower cost of living.
• Barros bought a cheaper home, but Houston's heat and traffic left her unimpressed and homesick.
• In 2025, she returned to California with her children and said it was the best decision.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Priscila Barros, 41, who works in social media and freelance marketing. In 2021, Barros moved from California to Texas with her three children; she returned to California in 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I was living in Murrieta, California, about an hour and a half from Los Angeles. At the time, I was separating from my partner, and as a mother of three boys, moving to a more affordable place made a lot of sense. I also thought leaving California would give me a chance to reset and figure out what I was doing.

I wasn't super familiar with Texas, but it always seemed to be at the top of everyone's list. I also had a few friends there, so it felt better to move somewhere I knew at least a few people. Before moving, I took a work trip to Texas and remember thinking, "This is great."

In 2021, I moved to Houston. Like a lot of people who move somewhere new, I had stars in my eyes at first. I thought all these amazing things were going to happen once I left California — I'd save money, have a bigger house, and just have an easier life overall. And while some of that was true, other things started to weigh on me.

A couple of years in, it just didn't feel like the right long-term fit for my family and me. We couldn't get used to the traffic in Houston or the freeway backdrop. And while Texas had a lot of positives, the state's politics, weather, and lack of mountains or beaches made me realize the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

After the honeymoon phase, I got to a point where I suddenly thought, "What did I do?"

We couldn't get used to the weather in Texas

In Houston, I bought a brand-new house with a big yard. It was about 2,500 square feet, with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a playroom, and it sat on a cul-de-sac. I paid $292,000, and my mortgage was only $1,300, which still feels hard to believe.

The house had problems, though. That's the thing about Texas — they're building so many homes so fast that things aren't always up to par. We had mold under the sink and condensation on the vents. As a single mom, it was a lot to handle.

It's hard to compare California and Texas because they're really apples and oranges. But one of the hardest parts of living in Texas was the weather and the lack of nature. I was used to seeing wildlife and birds all the time, but in Houston, we hardly ever did.

We never really adjusted to the heat, either. It was so hot most of the time that I barely saw my kids, especially in the summer. They were used to being outside with friends and family, but in Houston, they mostly stayed in their rooms.

Sure, there were places to go. We were about 20 minutes from Galveston, but the beach wasn't great. In California, we could drive to Big Bear for a weekend or go to the beach and come right back. We were spoiled by the nature and weather there.

Eventually, I was ready to move. My oldest son said, "I'm not moving back." He had just made friends, and I told him that if he wanted to stay, he was 18 and could figure that out. But I still had two other boys to think about.

I put the house on the market in May 2024, though it took some time to sell. That year, we went back and forth to California about five times. On one drive to my mom's house in Murrieta, I said out loud, "My name is Priscila Barros, I'm going to sell my house for full price, and I'm moving back." Within the hour, my realtor texted to say we had a full-price offer and the buyers wanted us out by the first week of January.

I ended up selling the house for $295,000, which sounds like a gain, but after realtor fees and closing costs, I actually lost money. In between, we spent two months in an Airbnb with three kids and three dogs while we looked for a home in California. It wasn't exactly budget-friendly, but we made it work.

My home in California is more expensive, but it's worth it

We moved back to California in February 2025. We live in Hemet, California, which is about an hour from Palm Springs, an hour and a half from Big Bear, and right between the beaches in San Diego and LA.

Hemet gets a bad rap, but there are problems everywhere. For me, what California offers outweighs what I was dealing with in Texas.

California has great weather, diversity, good restaurants, Disneyland, hiking, free museum days at Balboa Park, palm trees, mountains, and the ocean. You don't realize how special that is until you're in Houston on a 100-degree day, staring at a flat freeway.

I bought a 1966 midcentury modern home in Hemet, California, and it's been the fresh start we needed. I paid $640,000 for it. It's not exactly what I imagined, but it's what I could afford. It needs work, but it has great bones — half an acre, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a three-car garage, a pool, and amazing views.

My mortgage is a lot more expensive now than it was in Texas, which means I'm working a lot more. But there are also so many more business opportunities here. As a creative freelancer, there's this unspoken culture of, "You do that, I do this — let's trade, or I'll help you. I know this person."

We're all happier in California

I did not take relocating lightly. I knew there would be sacrifices, that it would cost more, and that I'd have to work much harder. In Texas, my mortgage was lower, and life was cheaper. After a difficult separation, that breathing room was something I genuinely needed.

But in the end, I had to do what felt right for my family and me.

My kids and I are genuinely happier back in California, even my oldest. They're with their best friends all the time, hiking, skateboarding, and going to the beach — they're hardly ever home. In Texas, they were on the computer all the time.

I'll never move out of state again. Seeing the boys happy makes me realize that all the sacrifices and all the extra hours I'm working to live in California are absolutely worth it.

While moving back didn't make sense on paper, everything worked out. I don't think returning to California makes me a failure. Sometimes we have to move around, learn new things, and meet new people in order to figure out the right path for ourselves.

Did you leave California or move to Texas, only to realize it wasn't the right fit? We want to hear from you. Email reporter Alcynna Lloyd at alloyd@businessinsider.com to share your story.