Going to Happiness

I used to agree with John Darnielle that relocation, that oft-touted prescription for general life malaise, wasn't nearly as transformative as most young people believed. Like a turtle, we carry ourselves with us, I thought, whether we live in New Jersey or Florida or Spain or Mars. Move to a new place, find a new group of people, find yourself with the same problems over and over again–because you're still the same person.

That was before we moved to Virginia.

I have to say that the DC-metro a...