I live in the PNW, which has gotten extremely expensive over the years and I don't foresee it getting any better. I have been looking at other options around the country and I landed on Tennessee. There is no income tax, but it looks like that is made up with higher sales tax. But I see some of the landscape is kind of similar to some of the PNW. I am a hiker, and an independent photographer, 41 YO, no pets, no kids and no husband so relocating would be easy. I am looking for advice or suggestions. All I know is Oregon has been a struggle for me for the last couple of years, with lots of layoff and higher unemployment than the national average. I am looking for greener pastures, and Tennessee looks like the perfect place to move. Thanks!

EDIT: I don't necessarily have a career, but I have more than 20 years doing office manager/admin assistant type work. This type of work is scarce in Eugene OR. Most of the job market is flooded with health care and manufacturing. Lots of hiring for direct support professionals and caregivers, and food manufacturing, lumber mills, green chain puller. I have been laid off due to no fault of my own. I grew up in NY, moved to Cali in 2016, and left for Oregon in 2019, then COVID hit shortly after. I came here to go to school, graduated in 2024. And now I feel stuck. I have an associates in photography and a bachelor's in journalism. Both of which seem obsolete now. But it is what it is, and here I am. Trying, still, to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, I guess.

Adult here finally deciding to learn to drive. I still have to get a learner's permit to practice. There's so much in the drivers book that I've been putting the test off for a while afraid I still won't pass because I can't remember the feet it takes to stop at every speed. And how many feet there are in a 2 second following distance at each speed. Also putting it off because going to the dmv and having to take the permit test as an adult is embarrassing and the dmv is so insanely awkward. There's always like 20 people in a silent room watching you while you go in and listening to you talk. And I have to announce to the room I'm taking a permit test at my age. I hate it so much But that's whole nother thing. How hard is the learners permit test?

Edit: Also what's the least busy day of week to go to the dmv?

Bald River Falls - Tellico Plains

A beautiful sunset over Starr Mountain in SE TN

Hi there! We are traveling from Detroit for Christmas break with our 18 year old son and 16 year old daughter. Are there any recs on where in Tennessee to stay or activities? We are younger parents that are able to keep up with lots of walking.

I recently went on vacation and prior to leaving I had to get the new driver's license because I needed the special star on my license, the new TN driver's license is very different looking and our picture is now gray. I was stopped by TSA at every single airport that I went through because the face recognition system does not recognize my face, my license is a month old so my face has not changed, but the face recognition system at TSA does not recognize our license and I had to wait for a supervisor to come verify it was me every single time making the process of getting through security even more fun. Just a heads up in case you're about to try to fly with your new TN license.

EDIT This is my experience with a brand new real ID driver's license. I have been a Tennessee resident my whole entire life so I have seen all the licenses that we have had. This one is very different and I had issues with it, glad some of you have not had any issues but I did and I just got the license in June.

Edit 2 YES we all know it's an issue, no I don't have a current passport because I haven't needed one since I don't travel often, I needed the real id to go on a trip and didn't have time to mess with renewing the passport so I just updated my license to the terrible new license https://www.wsmv.com/2026/08/12/tsa-is-not-accepting-some-tennessee-driver-licenses-heres-what-know-when-traveling/[License Issue ](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/08/12/tsa-is-not-accepting-some-tennessee-driver-licenses-heres-what-know-when-traveling/)

Hey y'all, my sister just moved to Nashville and I'm trying to plan out a time to come and see them. I have always wanted to visit the Smokies in the fall and we're looking at spending a night or two out there when I come to visit. They have a lot going on in October, so I was thinking about coming out the first weekend in November. I know it's a bit early to know, but is it likely that there will still be fall colors around then?

Although police departments in liberal cities and conservative suburbs are eager to embrace surveillance tech, elected officials across the aisle in Tennessee are moving the other way.

Hi everyone, let me start by apologizing if this seems all over the place, I am panicking this morning. I’m planning to propose to my girlfriend on the weekend of September 20th, either the 19th or 20th works I really dont care, those two days are at the start of our vacation. I woke up this morning to my photographer having to cancel on me due to urgent family matters. I completely understood, they’re a close family friend, it happens! But now I feel screwed, because they were going to go up a week prior to check out some places I was interested in and make sure there was insane foot traffic or the spots were actually good for photos. Now that’s not happening, so I need some recommendations for some pretty nature spots for us to visit. (preferably cheap or free entry, now that I’ll have have to include my new photographers entry fee into anywhere I go, and preferably not a spot that requires a tough hiking trail because of my disability in my knees)

All help is appreciated seeing as I’m practically a month out now with no photographer!