u/MonkeyCantCook

Hi there! Scroll down to skip the backstory, this is long-winded me trying to ask a simple question.

I am a 22 year old CS graduate currently living in a very expensive city on the East Coast. I have never visited Charleston, but have already learned a lot about it from reading other posts here and other sources on the web, and find myself considering a move. This would be for financial and career reasons: I may lose my job imminently, and thus be forced to move out of my current apartment later this summer. I have some workable savings ($15k), and have a plan to stretch this out a long ways while I improve my resume (online tutoring, freelance software development, and potentially YouTube). In order to do this, however, I need a place to land that is:

1. As cheap as possible (particularly in regards to rent, which is by far my largest expense)
2. Walkable or bikable to groceries and other stores
3. Has a usable local bus network
4. Connected to other parts of the country by adequate train or bus service
5. Has reliable Internet to allow me to work remotely
6. Has some limited dining / entertainment options (even if that just means public parks or something)

Charleston seems to check most of those boxes (to varying degrees, maybe, I don't know), and based on what I've seen I'd be happy to try living there for a year or two. Like I said, I've not been to Charleston, but I have visited Huntington a couple times, and I recall that being a surprisingly charming and attractive city. What I don't know about, however, is #5.

Can anybody here attest to the Internet speeds / reliability in the city? I get that Charleston is the largest city in the state, but it is also a very small one in a very isolated area, in a state that is notorious for its poor infrastructure. Do you guys have fiber yet? Is there anyone who has done remote work of any kind from Charleston that can confirm it's viable?

Hoping for some good info / advice. Thanks for reading and take care!

Hi there, I'm brand new to the subreddit and pretty new to cycling in general, so please excuse any dumb questions or naivety on my part! I moved to Washington, DC last year and bought a bike as an alternative to owning a car in the city. Since then, I have come to really enjoy exploring the area on my bike, and am always looking for new and interesting places on the map. I have zoomed out far enough to notice Delaware, and have gotten an idea.

The plan would be to take no more than 14 days, but probably closer to 10-11, and bike from Wilmington, DE to Norfolk, VA, roughly following the Atlantic coast. Both Wilmington and Norfolk have easy and direct train service to Washington, ideal for bringing my bike. Towns to visit along the way tentatively include Dover, Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Ocean City, Chincoteague, and Cape Charles, where I'd charter a boat to take me across the bay to Norfolk (there are no scheduled ferry services, as far as I can tell). This would happen in late July or early August.

The reason I'm posting here is that I can't really find any precedent for someone doing this trip. There is this post from a couple years ago which has some helpful information, but OP states that this was an out-and-back trip from Wilmington, and that they didn't go down into Virginia. I haven't found much more than that -- I tried looking into rail trail maps and couldn't find any that went, say, north to south over a long distance (or were published within the last 2 decades).

As a first-timer, I'm happy for any help I can get. General (or specific) route planning principles? Gear suggestions? Must-see destinations? Grave warnings???

Thanks in advance!