By Vanlines.com Staff

You've decided that you want to move, and now you need to choose a new place to live. So where do you start?

Start with a blank slate. Don't limit yourself to the cities and towns you've considered before; create your ideal place from scratch. Though it is difficult to find a place that meets all your requirements, knowing what you want will make it easier to find your "dream town." Here's how to find a city you're crazy about:

1. Moving is not only about going from one location to the next. It is about asking yourself what you are looking. Keep the following questions in mind when choosing where to move:

• Family/Friends/Community: What kind of people do you want to be in a community with? Conservative or liberal? Friendly or reserved? Ethnically diverse or homogeneous? How close do you want to be to your current friends and family?

• Lifestyle/Temperament: What size is your ideal community? Is it a big city like New York or Chicago, a smaller city like Kansas City, Mo., or Charlotte, N.C., or an open-minded community like Santa Cruz, Calif., or Taos, N.M.? What kind of lifestyle do you want? Laid-back or fast-paced? West Coast or East Coast? Materialistic or earthy?

• Work/Career: Research to see if your current line of work fits into the area you are visualizing. Where do you see yourself working? Is it in a corporation, from home, outdoors or somewhere else? Depending on your expertise, your job search might be limited to certain areas.

• Spiritual Connection/Religion: How important is spirituality and religion to you? How do you experience your spiritual connection? Is it going to church, being with people you care about, being in nature or experiencing it through art, music or some other way? Make sure your new location fulfills your spiritual and religious requirements whether that means the availability of mosques, churches, temples or other places of worship.

• Leisure/Cultural Activities: What do enjoy doing for fun? What cultural and educational activities are important to you? What sports do you enjoy? What volunteer activities would you like to participate in? What type of food do you like? A city for example, might offer large cultural centers and ethnically diverse food, but a rural area offers more opportunities for nature-related hobbies and activities such as fishing and hunting.

• Finances: What (if anything) would you need to change to be financially comfortable in your new location?

• Physical Environment: What kind of flora, fauna, topography and weather energize you? Do you prefer a city environment or the calm of nearby mountains?

• Health: What do you need to have the ideal health (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) on all levels? Do you need health clubs nearby? Do you need health food stores near you?

• Transportation: What are your preferred modes of transportation? Do you like to have a variety of choices?

• Personal Connection and Energy Check: What is it about the place that you imagine feeling most connected to? Is it the people, the views, the smells or a combination of all these things? How do you want your body to feel in this place, and what type of energy does this place emit?