31-year-old Peter Brown is a software developer at Agilion, a remote company based in Burlington. While Brown could make web applications anywhere, he chooses Vermont because of the quality of life he says he hasn't found anywhere else.
The Cape Cod, Massachusetts native says he fell in love with Vermont as a college student at UVM.
On quality of life
"I think ideally we would be making as much money living in Vermont than we would anywhere else. To me it's definitely a conscious choice. I know I could make more money living in Boston or living in New York as a software developer, and I choose not to do that. Mostly for the quality of living that I get here in Vermont. I think that's actually more valuable to me."
"I know I could make more money living in Boston or living in New York as a software developer, and I choose not to do that. Mostly for the quality of living that I get here in Vermont. I think that's actually more valuable to me."
"It's an opportunity to live my life in a way that I feel is sort of free. I'm not confined to the way society wants you to work- in a big city, and making lots of money."
On his first hike
"I went hiking for the first time about ten years ago with my wife. And I didn't love it. I have to admit, my body hurt and I was super out of shape. It was pretty painful for me. She was really into the outdoors, but I was really sort of the computer guy who wanted to stay inside all the time and just build software. "
"She really pushed me to get outside, and over the last few years I've gotten really into hiking and being outside. We've got kayaks now. And I can do all of these things without having to deal with driving to another state, or driving through traffic."
"The longer I stay here, the more Vermont becomes part of me. Vermont and I are growing on each other, I think."
On why he stays
"There are so many things that I do now that just weren't part of my lifestyle before. And now I'm like, 'this is actually part of my life.' The longer I stay here, the more Vermont becomes part of me. Vermont and I are growing on each other, I think."
