The pandemic has been a time when a lot of people are making big life moves. Forced into stagnation and with nothing but time to reflect on and reassess life goals and circumstances, many people, famous or not, are making plans for the next big step. And for most celebrities, who have the capital to fund big moves on a whim, this is a pretty simple process.
As California became a hot spot for the pandemic due to the large populations concentrated there, and as the news featured more and more stories about climate change and wild fires destroying the West Coast, many Hollywood elites are choosing to make the move out of Los Angeles for greener pastures somewhere else in the country. Texas is a popular choice, now home to billionaire Elon Musk and a slew of other celebs. But some of the other choices aren't so obvious, and different stars have different reasons for making the choice to relocate. Here are 10 celebs who moved away from California this past year.
9 Hilary Swank Moved To Colorado
Hilary Swank is no longer a California resident but now calls Colorado home, punting her Golden State mansion for the Centennial State. Though she had owned the house in Colorado since 2016, she moved there officially this past year to be closer to her husband Philip Schneider. They have plans for using all that space to expand their family - with some dogs, that is. "We’re looking to get a lot more rescues when we have the time. We have a nice ranch now that we can bring 'em all," she said.
8 Shailene Woodley Moved To Green Bay
Shailene Woodley's move was motivated by her coupling with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and she now spends part of her time in Green Bay with him. Though she comes back to Los Angeles for work when she needs to, the couple are cozy and are open about their engagement and plans to stay together. We know she's down for her man - she has recently come to his defense when the media has blasted him for being dishonest about his vaccination status and perhaps infecting others with COVID.
7 Nicole Kidman And Keith Urban Moved Back To Australia
The Aussie couple may have traveled the farthest of any of these celebs to get away from Los Angeles during the pandemic. They moved back to their Australia home, which sparked controversy because they were given special permissions around quarantining at home and coming in and out of different countries for filming.
6 Zac Efron Also Moved To Australia
Zac Efron sold his $5.3 million house in Los Angeles during the pandemic and now calls Australia home. He moved to New South Wales after falling in love with the place while filming there. He reportedly has no plans of returning to the United States, even though he's now broken up with the girlfriend he had while living in Australia, Vanessa Valladares.
5 Joe Rogan Moved To Texas
Podcast host Joe Rogan recently took up residence in Texas, like many other celebs who are moving to the Lone Star State. He cited overcrowding and population size as a reason for leaving, saying, "I want to go somewhere in the center of the country ... somewhere you have a little more freedom. I think where we live right here in Los Angeles is a little overcrowded. I think it's exposing the fact that it's a real issue when you look at the number of people that are catching COVID because of the overpopulation issue. When you look at the traffic, the economic disparity, the homelessness problem ... I think there's too many people."
4 Busy Phillipps Moved To New York
Busy Phillipps cited health concerns among her reasons for leaving Los Angeles. She recently moved to New York City with her husband and children. She explained: "I don't know one ... person in Los Angeles who doesn't have irritable bowel syndrome. It's why we all give up gluten and wheat, but maybe it's the toxicity of the city. I don't know, just a theory. When the fires started again this year I just had this real lightning bolt moment where I turned to Marc and said, 'We have to leave. We have to go to clean air.'"
3 Rosario Dawson Moved To Newark
Rosario Dawson is one of many celebs who have made the move from California for romance. After being separated from her boyfriend, Senator Cory Booker, for much of the pandemic, she moved in with him in Newark last summer. She took the cross country road trip in an RV with her dad, who is battling pancreatic cancer.
2 Gigi Hadid Moved To Pennsylvania
Supermodel Gigi Hadid moved to a quiet Pennsylvania farm with her boyfriend Zayn Malik and their 1-year-old daughter, explaining that she loved raising her daughter somewhere away from the big city. "I think she'll definitely be raised here. The greenery and the farm-y lifestyle are similar to what made me feel really centered as a kid, and I think that's really important to Zayn and me ... I think that just giving your child the opportunity to explore different interests is such a beautiful thing."
1 Gwen Stefani And Blake Shelton Moved To Oklahoma
Blake Shelton told Ellen DeGeneres about his living situation with Gwen Stefani and her kids when he appeared on Ellen: "Like everybody else in the world, just pulled the plug on [our plans] and went to Oklahoma. It was cool because Gwen, the time that she spent in Oklahoma over the years has been like a week here, a week there. But she got to be there and actually see it go from pretty much winter, to spring, to summer, and see some seasons change. And it's actually the first time that I've been able to be there for that long to see all that happen again. So we loved it."
