Buying a home is a high-stakes game, often with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. Making a wrong decision can lead to foreclosure and bankruptcy; making the right decision can generate wealth that is passed down for generations.

When people are ready to settle down, they're confronted with all the usual dilemmas: whether to buy a home; where to buy a home; what kind of home to buy; and how much to spend. These highly emotional decisions are all more manageable using the lessons of behavioral economics, which I studied as an economist.

When I took a new tech job offer in 2017, it meant leaving San Diego for Seattle. As I set out to find a new home for myself, my husband, and my mom in my new city, I wanted to avoid getting caught up in the competitive pressure of beating out other buyers and making rash decisions that I might later regret. So I decided to divide my search into two phases. In the first, I would take my time getting to know the city and its various neighborhoods by renting a home. In the second, once I had a clear sense of my preferences, I would begin making offers on properties that met my criteria. By taking this approach, I hoped to avoid the pitfalls of hasty decision-making and make an intelligent, informed choice.

For about five months, I spent a great deal of time exploring the different neighborhoods and assessing their pros and cons. From historic homes dating back to the 19th century to midcentury modern homes from Seattle's post-World War II boom to modern new construction, there were plenty of options.

The most significant tradeoff to be made when choosing is location versus home size. I initially thought of a short commute and a large home as must-haves, but given my budget and the need to have space for three adults and three dogs, I had to sacrifice on the length of my commute. Many homebuyers make this same compromise. According to a Redfin survey, 89% of homebuyers would rather purchase a single-family home with a backyard than a unit in a triplex with a shorter commute.

Soon we focused our efforts on West Seattle, a neighborhood located on a peninsula across the sound from downtown. My commute to the office would take about 30 minutes each way by bus, where I could at least get some work done with the complimentary WiFi. This was a decent tradeoff, given that homes in West Seattle were about $100,000 less than homes closer to the downtown office.

Now in phase two, when I began viewing properties and making offers, I became hyperconscious of how my emotions might influence my decision-making. Common mistakes made by homebuyers include becoming too attached to a particular home, fixating on the list price instead of the market value, following the herd, and letting fatigue cloud judgment.

You must try to avoid falling in love too quickly with a home. Once you start picturing your future in a home, it can become challenging to walk away, and it can suck you into a fierce bidding war. Block out any and all thoughts about hosting holidays or your children playing in the backyard. Yes, it is a good idea to consider whether the home will suit you in the future, but if you become too attached to that future, you're working against yourself. People value a home more if they already feel like they own it.

Behavioral economists have a term for this: the endowment effect. The behavioral economist Jack Knetsch has found that people's willingness to sell an item they own was lower than their willingness to buy an item they did not own, even when the subjects knew ownership was assigned randomly. In one experiment, test subjects were given either a lottery ticket or cash. Most people opted to keep whatever form of compensation they had received first instead of trading it for the other option. For a variety of reasons, whether an aversion to feeling loss or a bias toward the status quo, people tend to get attached to the bird in their hand, even when there might be two in the bush.

List prices can also be misleading. In a hot market, sellers may advertise their homes for significantly less than what buyers are ready to pay in order to spark a bidding war. This amounts to a bait-and-switch.

As a buyer, don't take the bait. Don't anchor your expectations on the listed price. The anchoring effect refers to a person's tendency to focus on the first piece of information they hear while making decisions. In a famous lab experiment by the late Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, research subjects spun a wheel of fortune with numbers from 0 to 100. The participants were then asked to guess the share of African countries that were members of the UN. Participants whose spin landed on a lower number were more likely to guess a low number. Participants whose wheel spin landed on a high number were more likely to guess a high number. The number the needle of the wheel landed on was completely irrelevant, yet the research subjects still used it as an anchor for their guesses.

The list price of a home may contain some helpful information about what the seller believes its value is. But ultimately the value of the house is set by the market.

If you need to, take a break. Losing bidding war after bidding war — which happens a lot — fosters fatigue and impatience, which can lead you to give up too soon or to buy a home you later regret.

Behavioral economists have repeatedly found that the quality of decisions deteriorates when an individual is overburdened with too many options. A study published in Health Economics found that orthopedic surgeons made worse recommendations toward the end of their shifts. Doctors were less likely to recommend surgery for patients who would have benefited just as much from surgery as patients seen earlier in the surgeon's shift.

Also, avoid following the herd. If others are ready to bid high, you could be tempted to do the same and stretch your budget. Herding behavior, another behavioral economics term, can lead to bubbles in the housing market or the stock market and was one of the culprits for the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. The best way to avoid getting caught up in speculation bubbles is to not speculate in the first place and make offers appropriate only to your personal financial circumstances.

After spending a few weeks touring homes in the area, I came across a property that immediately caught my eye. It had everything my family was looking for. But there was one giant red flag: the home had been on the market for nearly a year without any offers.

Upon further inspection, I noticed that the house was located across the street from a strip mall and had a strange layout. Even though I liked the home, I wanted to avoid paying more than other buyers might think it was worth. So I kept looking.

When buying a home, you have no choice but to concern yourself with resale value. Life is unpredictable; there is always the chance you might not stay in the home long term, and you don't want to pay more than what you can resell it for.

There is tension in this advice: a homebuyer must avoid herding behavior by thinking for themself while simultaneously considering how other people might value homes in the future.

The way to walk the middle path is detached observation — recognize the behavior patterns of others without letting it unduly bias your decision-making.

About a month later, we found a home that seemed too good to be true. Ample space, close to public transit, even a view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. However, the home was 70 years old, so we would need to update the electrical, plumbing, and heating. Since we were renting elsewhere, we could delay moving to get this work done.

Things go wrong after you buy a home. Thinking that these problems won't end up costing you significant time and money is what behavioral economists call optimism bias: the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of favorable outcomes and underestimate the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes. The challenge, then, is to consider the risks and whether they are worth the reward.

As I prepared to make an offer to buy a home, I thought back to the hundreds of homeowners going through foreclosure that I interviewed while interning at the Boston Fed. They experienced bad luck on top of bad luck — deaths, divorces, medical emergencies, job loss, and a global recession. Any of those things could happen to me.

With all the repairs the house needed, I determined the maximum amount I could afford to pay was $950,000. I liked this particular home more than any other home on the market priced below $950,000, so I reasoned that this amount must be my value for the home. But I still had a nagging feeling that I was overextending myself and overpaying.

What if the roof sprang a leak? And what if, because I had already spent my savings repairing the plumbing, electrical, heating, and cooling, I didn't have any money left to repair the roof?

I could have kept going down the list of unlikely catastrophes. Instead, I focused on the unlikeliness of the scenario rather than the pain of the scenario. This helped me get out of my head and back to the task at hand. In economics, expected utility theory hypothesizes that individuals weigh uncertain outcomes according to their likelihood and the net benefit of each outcome. I shuddered at the thought of a bad scenario, like being laid off during a severe recession and housing-market downturn. However, according to expected utility theory, I should weigh that feeling against the likelihood of that scenario, which I reasoned to be a once-in-a-century event. In all likelihood, my job was safe, the economy was fine, and the value of homes would keep going up.

The home was listed at $840,000. I submitted my bid on the home for that amount. When you're deciding whether to bid above or below the asking price, look up how competitive the housing market is in the neighborhood and how the home compares to what else is on the market. If the market is cool, it's advisable to come in low. However, if the market is hot, the seller may completely ignore your offer if it's below the asking price.

Even though I offered $840,000, I was ready to go as high as $940,000. Later that day, my agent called me to deliver the good news: we won the home at list price. No one else even submitted a bid.

Daryl Fairweather is the author of "Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work" and the chief economist of Redfin.

This story is adapted from "Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work" by Daryl Fairweather, to be published by the University of Chicago Press on April 11, 2025. Copyright © 2025 by Daryl Rose Fairweather. Printed by arrangement with the University of Chicago Press.

Former NBA player Donald "Slick" Watts has died at the age of 73. 

Watts became one of the NBA's self-made men and a fan favorite of the Seattle SuperSonics after going from an undrafted rookie in 1973 to the All-Defensive first team and becoming an assists and steals leader in 1976.

Watts’ son, Donald, who played for the University of Washington, announced his father’s death Saturday on social media.

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"You did so much for so many of us. It was an honor call you pops," the son said.  

Watts had been in poor health since a stroke in 2021.

Watts was signed by coach Bill Russell to play for the Sonics in 1973 as an undrafted rookie. He was with Seattle for less than five years but became known for his broad smile, bald head and crooked headbands. He led the league in steals in the 1975-76 season.

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He later played for the New Orleans Jazz and the Houston Rockets but made Seattle his home after his career and frequently attended Sonics and Washington and Seattle Storm games.

"We are saddened by the passing of Sonics icon Slick Watts," the Storm posted to social media. "Slick was a champion for the Storm and a beloved member of the Seattle community."

Grandson Isaiah Watts, who plays for Washington State, posted several photos of his grandfather. 

"I pray every time they see me they see you," he wrote. "Love you past life. I got us forever. Rest in paradise papa."

From Rolling Fork, Mississippi, Watts starred at Grand View Junior College and Xavier of Louisiana before entering the NBA.

In his later years, Watts taught physical education in the Seattle School District and ran a basketball academy with his son. He was named to the Sonics’ 40th anniversary team.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Seattle’s Democratic mayor this week proposed a city ordinance that would strengthen protections for those seeking transgender care and surgeries, while calling out the Trump administration's "hateful, dangerous and discriminatory attacks" against the LGBTQ+ community. 

Mayor Bruce Harrell campaigned as a moderate before his win in 2021, pushing public safety and helping local businesses, according to The Seattle Times, although he has expressed support for transgender care previously. 

Harrell was elected following riots in the city after George Floyd’s death and the deadly Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone that, along with the pandemic, devastated parts of the downtown area. 

Harrell "symbolized a shift toward the center, away from some of Seattle’s further-left leaders," The Seattle Times wrote in 2023 of Harrell’s 2021 win. 

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On Thursday, conservative Seattle radio host Jason Rantz called Harrell's proposed city legislation "extreme," but "mostly toothless" and mainly "virtue signaling" to gain favor with Seattle progressives. 

Harrell proposed the legislation after President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting federal funding for providers of transgender healthcare for people under 19. 

"We are proud of Seattle’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive city for the LGBTQ+ community and recognize their immeasurable contributions to the vibrancy and culture of our city," Harrell said in a statement this week. 

"This legislation is a tangible step to strengthen local protections and stand with our LGBTQ+ community in the face of hateful, dangerous and discriminatory attacks from the Trump administration and others, ensuring that everyone has access to essential healthcare services."

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During his speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump touted his administration's efforts to roll back "wokeness" in the U.S., while taking aim at "gender-affirming" procedures for minors.

"I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children, and forever," Trump said. "Ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body. This is a big lie. And now a message to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you.

"Because we're getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military, and it's already out and it's out of our society," he continued. "We don't want it. Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It's gone."

Trump's executive orders have been met with lawsuits, though some hospitals across the country have halted transgender care after Trump’s executive orders to avoid losing funding. 

A judge in Seattle also blocked the orders in four states in one of the lawsuits filed by a group of Democrat-led states.

Harrell added that the ordinance affirms Washington state’s "Shield Law" that protects transgender people needing reproductive services and those who provide them from prosecution. 

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Harrell noted this week in a release by the city that he signed a bill in 2022 that made encroaching on reproductive or transgender care a misdemeanor offense. 

He added that, as a member of Seattle’s City Council before his election, he was a "vocal" supporter of access to transgender care for city employees. 

Harrell's office and the Trump administration did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

With a basketball in hand, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell delivered a diabolical blow to NBA fans still reeling from the loss of their former franchise. 

Harrell interrupted his State of the City address at Benaroya Hall on Tuesday to tease the return of the Seattle SuperSonics, something basketball fans in the city have been longing for since the team relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.

The only problem? It was all said in jest. 

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"Right now, at this moment, I have an announcement to make," Harrell said, reaching beneath his podium to pull out a basketball. 

The gesture elicited loud cheers from those in attendance, but the joy in the room quickly turned to frustration after Harrell revealed that he was "just kidding."

"This is a long speech. I had to break it up a little bit here," Harrell laughed through the crowd’s reactions.

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in September that the league would discuss the topic of expansion games at some point in the season. 

But during the NBA All-Star weekend, the topic was not raised. 

Seattle and Las Vegas — both cities with successful WNBA teams — have been floated as potential landing spots for another franchise.

Silver said back in June that both of those destinations have been previously floated. 

"There's been some discussion about going back to Seattle, potentially," Silver said at the time, via NBC Sports. "Las Vegas, no doubt, is very interested in a team. Mexico City one day."

For now, Sonics fans will just have to remain optimistic.

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• After a home robbery, Patrick Hutchison scoured Craigslist, hoping to find some of the lost items.
• Instead, he found a tiny cabin for $7,500 and spent six years and $30,000 refurbishing it.
• It inspired him to pivot from being a full-time copywriter to a carpenter.

For many, owning a home is a major life goal.

It was for Patrick Hutchison, too — although, for him, it was less about having his own place and more about feeling responsible for something, and homeownership seemed like a natural step toward that path.

"But I couldn't even come close to affording a house," Hutchison, who was working as a copywriter in Seattle at the time, told Business Insider.

While scouting for viable options, Hutchison tested out different filters on the real-estate website Redfin, only to stumble upon cabins in the woods.

"Then I sort of forgot about the idea of doing something responsible and just became obsessed with this idea of buying a cabin," he said.

But not all tiny cabins come with tiny price tags, and affordability was still a challenge.

So Hutchison gave up on his idea — until his house was robbed. While searching for some of the items he'd lost on Craigslist, he found himself on the cabin listings instead.

"This place popped up, and it just said 'tiny cabin in Index,' and the price was $7,500," said Hutchison. The listing "just showed this little semi-abandoned shell of a structure," which intrigued him, he said.

A few days after seeing the listing, he owned a 10-by-12-foot tiny cabin in Washington, set against the stunning backdrop of the Cascade Mountains.

What came next was even more unexpected. After renovating the cabin, he ditched his copywriting career, embraced carpentry full-time, and wrote a memoir about the experience, "Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman," which was released last year.

From making bad cuts to accidentally building his outhouse on his neighbor's property, here's how Hutchison's off-the-grid adventures changed his life — and some of the biggest mistakes and greatest lessons he learned along the way.

Patrick Hutchison bought his cabin for $7,500 in 2013, just six days after seeing it online.

When he found the cabin on Craigslist, Hutchison was new to real estate.

"I had never bought a place before, so I had no idea about inspections, escrow, or title searches. I just walked in without knowing the usual process," he told BI.

Still, he said, his inexperience benefited him because it allowed him to make quick decisions and eventually dive into the reconstruction process without hesitation.

At first, he did try to negotiate a lower price, but when he found out three other parties were interested in the cabin — one he had already envisioned as his own — he panicked and agreed to pay the full asking price.

Initially, Hutchison thought only a few spots in and around the cabin needed to be reworked.

The 120-square-foot cabin was in a tiny hamlet called Index, about 50 miles northeast of Seattle. It was just a simple room, with no electricity or running water.

Hutchison didn't begin the cabin restoration with a rigid blueprint or detailed spreadsheets. Instead, he had a rough list of obvious fixes: an outhouse, a covered deck, and a driveway.

"There certainly wasn't a master plan," he said, and the process was more about learning and evolving with the space rather than following a strict timeline.

But once he began building, it started to become apparent just how much needed to be fixed.

"I didn't know enough about what makes a building structurally sound or watertight or any of those things to know how poor of shape the place was in," he said.

So, every new detail he discovered revealed a new problem, making Hutchison feel like he had to constantly start over despite making progress in his work.

"It was a bit of a rabbit hole. And some projects, like putting in a wood stove, created as many problems as it solved," he said.

Hutchison didn't live at the property full-time — he traveled there from Seattle on weekends, often with some friends in tow to help. He also took a break to travel, and a landslide in Index prevented him from visiting the cabin for a period.

Ultimately, the cabin took six years for him to fix up. He hadn't anticipated it would take him so long.

"I thought I'd just tidy it up a bit. I wasn't even sure if I'd use it much," he admitted, adding that "there was a chance I'd end up like the guy before me, buying it and never really doing anything with it."

Instead, the opposite happened.

To learn different aspects of building, Hutchison turned to YouTube.

Hutchison credits much of his building knowledge to a mix of traditional shows like "This Old House," which he watched on PBS growing up, and more recently, to YouTube tutorials.

"I've always loved watching skilled craftsmen restore classic homes," he said, adding how these videos became his go-to resource for learning while fixing up the cabin.

But the lack of cell service and WiFi at the cabin presented challenges.

"I'd watch videos, try to memorize the steps, and then head up there to apply what I'd learned. But without the internet, it was tricky to recall all the details," he said.

The materials used in the videos often did not match the ones in his home.

Even more frustrating, however, was the cabin's haphazard construction.

Despite hours of research, he often found the cabin didn't match the standard practices shown in tutorials.

"I'd learn how to fix a floor joist," which were structures that helped support the in-house flooring, "but the structure in front of me had nothing to do with what I'd seen. So, I had to get creative," Hutchison said.

The absence of a fixed deadline meant he could work on each task at his own pace.

In a world that demands perfection, learning to build gave Hutchison the freedom to be himself. But more importantly, it allowed him to make and learn from mistakes.

"It felt like the building equivalent of singing in the shower," he told BI.

The absence of constraints also allowed him to approach each challenge with curiosity rather than stress.

It also helped strengthen Hutchison's friendships and offered a serene escape from city life on weekends.

"It was always a joy to get out there for a few days," he said, adding, "It allowed a space for my friends and me to gather and just be in this cozy little intimate space."

Through laughter, games, and deep conversations, the cabin strengthened their bond.

"A lot of really, really good friendships got made stronger in that place," Hutchison said.

Looking back, the one thing that Hutchison wishes he had done was get a property survey.

Hutchison unknowingly built his outhouse on his neighbor's land, a mistake that cost him $8,000.

In the end, he had to buy the extra land from his neighbor and pay more for it than he did for the whole cabin.

A prior property survey would've prevented this.

Though reconstructing the cabin was a passion project, it also took time and money.

The biggest expense was the land, which, including fees, cost around $16,000. Beyond that, hundreds of hours were spent sourcing materials, planning, and working on the cabin.

Other major costs included $1,000 for a chimney pipe, multiple rounds of gravel pouring, and tree removal to ensure safety. In total, Hutchison estimated he spent $25,000 to $30,000 out of pocket, not counting his labor.

While he eventually sold the property in 2021 for $52,000, the profit wasn't as large as it seemed.

"People latch onto, 'Oh, you bought the cabin for seven and sold it for 52,'" he said, adding, "but I sold both lots and put all this money into it."

Ultimately, the cabin wasn't a big moneymaker, but it changed his life.

The cabin's real value, Hutchison said, was that it had helped him find his new career.

For Hutchison, building his career from scratch wasn't about a sudden leap but a gradual shift.

For over six years, he and his friend and fellow builder Bryan Schatz talked about building cabins full time. But Hutchison continued working as a copywriter until he felt he could afford the financial risk.

"It was a very slow separation," said Hutchison, but ultimately, it allowed him to walk away from his old career and fully dive into his new path as a carpenter.

In 2018, a few years after restoring his first cabin, Hutchison and Schatz took on an even bigger challenge: buying ¼ acre of land to build a cabin from the ground up — not just a Craigslist fixer-upper, but one of those dreamy snow-covered cabins you see while scrolling on Instagram.

Today, Hutchison works full-time as a carpenter at Wild Tree Woodworks, a Seattle-based company that builds treehouses. He and Schatz recently sold their latest project, Cyclops Cabin, and are already on the hunt for their next build.

"Whether that means rehabbing an existing place or starting from scratch, we're not really sure," he said, "but yeah, building is how I spend my time now."

• Starbucks is extending its free refills policy to non-rewards members with reusable cups.
• Customers at participating stores will be eligible for a top-up of many brewed coffee and teas.
• Starbucks is also reversing its open-door policy, limiting facilities to paying customers and staff.

Starbucks is expanding its free refills policy to all customers at participating stores as part of its new code of conduct, effective January 27.

Non-rewards members at the coffee giant will soon be able to receive refills at no extra cost as long as their beverage is prepared in a clean reusable cup or a for-here utensil. They also must order in-store and within the same visit.

The offer includes hot and iced brewed coffee and tea but excludes flavored iced tea, cold brew, nitro cold brew, iced tea lemonade, and its Refreshers.

Starbucks rewards members were previously the only ones who could get a free top-up of their order. From February 12th, loyal customers will also have to use a reusable cup or a ceramic in-house mug to be eligible for a refill.

The Seattle-headquartered coffee chain said on Monday that it would also reverse its open-door policy.

The policy was first introduced in 2018 after Starbucks faced widespread criticism over an incident in which two men having a business meeting were arrested at a Philadelphia location after they tried to use the restroom without purchasing anything.

The policy lets non-paying guests use store facilities, like bathrooms, indoor communal areas, and patios.

From January 27th, these spaces will only be reserved for staff, customers, and people accompanying those making purchases.

"Implementing a Coffeehouse Code of Conduct is something most retailers already have and is a practical step that helps us prioritize our paying customers who want to sit and enjoy our cafés or need to use the restroom during their visit," Starbucks' representative Jaci Anderson told BI in an emailed statement.

The changes come as new CEO Brian Niccol sets out his vision to make Starbucks cafés places where people want to hang out again.

• Boeing has resumed the production of the 767 and 777 as it gets back online after a lengthy strike.
• Following the end of the strike, the aviation giant had already restarted 737 production.
• Boeing has had a troubled 2024 after a midair blowout in January shone a light on its quality control.

Boeing has resumed its production across its range of aircraft in the Pacific Northwest factories as it gets back online following its lengthy and costly strike.

The aviation giant, which had already resumed production of its 737 Max jets, has now restarted building the 767 and 777 models again, Stephanie Pope, Boeing's COO and the CEO and president of its commercial planes division, said in a LinkedIn post.

The news follows an announcement last week that Boeing would commit $1 billion to its 787 Dreamliner manufacturing plant in South Carolina.

"Our teammates have worked methodically to warm up our factories in the Pacific Northwest, using Boeing's Safety Management System to identify and address potential issues and ensure a safe and orderly restart," she wrote in the post.

The aircraft manufacturing giant hopes to ramp up production in what has been a difficult year. In January, an Alaska Airlines flight lost a door plug during a flight, injuring several passengers and resulting in an emergency landing.

The incident highlighted Boeing's production processes and led to questions about its quality control, which led then-CEO Dave Calhoun to resign.

Boeing was also hit with several lawsuits related to the Alaska Airlines incident, as well as facing renewed scrutiny over two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

Its problems were compounded when over 30,000 factory workers went on strike for nearly seven weeks beginning in September.

Boeing now has a backlog of around 5,400 commercial aircraft worth roughly $428 billion.

"We have taken time to ensure all manufacturing teammates are current on training and certifications, while positioning inventory at the optimal levels for smooth production," Pope said in the post.

"As we move forward, we will closely track our production health performance indicators and focus on delivering safe, high-quality airplanes on time to our customers," she added.

• I took a $6.50 ferry to Vashon Island, a scenic spot near Seattle.
• The ferry ride was only 20 minutes long and had beautiful views of the Puget Sound.
• I had a great time on the island and even attended a llama happy hour on one of its farms.

I love exploring the many beautiful islands in Washington state.

Recently, I planned a trip to Vashon Island, one of the largest islands in the Puget Sound, just south of Seattle.

To get there, I booked a 20-minute ferry ride from Seattle on the Washington State Ferry. My ticket to Vashon Island was only $6.50.

Here's what it was like taking the ferry and exploring the island.

I started my journey to Vashon Island at the Faunterloy ferry terminal in Seattle.

Unlike the area's Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island isn't accessible via a bridge. This means all visitors have to take a ferry ride and arrange their trip around the scheduled departure times.

Although the ferry can accommodate cars for an extra fee, I didn't bring one with me on this journey.

To get to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal in West Seattle, I took a couple of buses from the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. When I arrived, I bought a $6.50 ticket at a booth inside the tiny terminal.

Soon enough, the ferry arrived, and I boarded with the other foot passengers.

Though only about a dozen of us boarded the 1,200-passenger ship, I saw many cars waiting to get on the ferry.

Needless to day, I was glad to be a foot passenger.

The ferry had beautiful views of West Seattle.

The ferry had an open deck with no seats and an indoor sitting area with booths and wooden benches.

During the 20-minute ride, I admired evergreen-clad views of West Seattle and the Puget Sound area (a system of interconnected waterways off Washington's northwest coast).

I also noticed a snack bar stocked with chips and beverages, but I planned on having dinner soon, so I didn't grab anything while on board.

Sure enough, we soon arrived at Vashon Island's docks. Once we docked, I caught a ride to my lodging about 4 miles from the terminal.

The next day, I headed to happy hour at Vashon Llamas.

The following day, I visited a farm called Vashon Llamas, which offers a reservation-only llama happy hour for only $10.

The 90-minute happy-hour experience allows visitors to enjoy their own snacks and drinks, and pet llamas on the farm.

I loved feeding the llamas and talking to the farm's owner.

The happy-hour experience was adorable. One by one, llamas approached my table, and I got to pet them and feed them treats. For dessert, they munched on evergreen needles.

The farm's owner, Kelly, told me about how she transported her herd of 14 llamas from Wyoming to Vashon years ago, so even they have taken the Washington State Ferry.

Vashon Island is also known for its Oscar the Bird King sculpture, so I visited that, too.

While on the island, I also stopped at Oscar the Bird King, a large wooden sculpture by Danish artist Thomas Dambo that was installed in 2023.

To get there, I followed signs to the sculpture in Point Robinson Park, located on the east shore of Maury Island, which is connected to Vashon Island.

Overall, I had a great time on Vashon Island, and I'd definitely take the short ferry ride again.

Overall, I loved my visit to Vashon Island, and taking the ferry there was easy and cheap at only $6.50.

The people I met were friendly — and one local I met even drove me back to the ferry terminal after my three-night stay.

Visiting the island and dining with the llamas was a priceless experience, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something to do in the Seattle area.

This story was originally published on December 14, 2024, and most recently updated on December 16, 2024.

• My husband and I left our stresses of living in Seattle behind by moving to the suburbs.
• The tech boom raised Seattle's cost of living, making it hard for us to afford a home in the city.
• Now we enjoy having a close-knit community — and easy access to the city.

Growing up in a small town, I always thought the city was where I belonged. I moved to Seattle for college and loved the energy, the culture, and the endless entertainment opportunities.

But after a few years of struggling with some realities of city living — constant traffic, astronomical rent, and the never-ending search for a parking spot — I started to feel burned out.

Although I enjoyed living in Seattle, I decided to move about an hour away to the suburbs of Washington.

Now, I have the best of both worlds: I'm close enough to enjoy the perks of the city but far enough to escape its headaches.

Seattle's tech boom has made it even more expensive to live there

Seattle's population has grown by about 20% in the past decade, in part thanks to companies like Amazon and Microsoft setting up headquarters in the area.

Unfortunately, the influx of high-paying tech jobs has also driven up the cost of living.

When I lived in Seattle, rental costs ate up a lot of my income — sometimes up to 50%. Plus, online rental marketplace Apartments.com suggests the average rent in Seattle is about 30% higher than the national average.

Since renting in Seattle was already expensive, buying a house in the city felt like a far-off dream for me and my husband.

One of the biggest advantages of moving an hour away from Seattle has been our ability to find nice places to live within our budget.

Once we left, we were able to buy a renovated single-family home on almost half an acre outside the city for about half the price something similar might have cost in Seattle.

I love dealing with less traffic — and finding parking is much easier now

The Seattle metro area has some of the worst congestion in the US — and the busy, crowded streets made living in the city stressful for me.

I regularly spent hours of my day creeping down the freeway at 5 mph.

Sometimes, I'd lose track of time circling the block to find a parking spot near my destination — and if I had to park in a garage or lot, I'd pay upward of $20 for just a couple of hours.

In my town east of the city, I can pull right into my driveway, and I never worry about finding a spot at the grocery store, which is only 10 minutes from my house during rush hour.

Life outside the city offered tranquility my younger self didn't know I'd need

My gripes with living in Seattle may seem small, but they've had a big impact on my life.

Now, we live on a quiet street where the towns of Covington and Maple Valley meet, and suburban life blends with nature. We have ample space for a garden and hiking and biking trails minutes away.

The sound of nonstop city traffic has been replaced by birds and the occasional neighbor mowing their lawn. When we take our dogs for a walk, we cross paths with more families and fellow dog walkers than cars.

Our close-knit community is a welcome change from the anonymity I often felt in Seattle. I like that we know our neighbors and often chat with each other, which felt tough to do in a big city.

Although we don't have as many restaurants and events in the burbs, I'm still close enough to Seattle to attend concerts and sporting events, visit museums, or meet up with friends for dinner and a show.

I miss the city sometimes, but I'm happy I've found what matters to me most at this stage of my life.

• Alaska Airlines' merger with Hawaiian Airlines gives it access to long-haul Airbus and Boeing planes.
• The airline is pressuring mainline competition in Seattle with new nonstops to Asia in 2025.
• Japan's tourism boom makes it a strategic destination and I'm excited about the expansion.

Fresh off a $1.9 merger with Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines has big plans for using its new widebody planes with new routes to Asia.

The airline announced Tuesday plans to fly former Hawaiian Airbus A330 planes to Tokyo and Seoul from Seattle in 2025, utilizing operations infrastructure already in place under the newly acquired airline.

Seattle is a huge hub for Alaska, where it holds 55% of the domestic market — but its prior lack of overseas reach makes the Asia expansion a no-brainer.

Alaska chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison told The Points Guy that demand is stronger from Seattle than from Honolulu, where Hawaiian previously served Tokyo. Alaska can also take advantage of strong cargo and corporate demand from Seattle.

Leaving Seattle will also mean shorter flight times than from cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where United Airlines and American Airlines operate.

The expansion will also put pressure on competing Delta Air Lines, which already flies nonstop from Seattle to both cities.

Delta has been investing in its Seattle hub for years as it tries to take advantage of the city's West Coast location and poach business.

But Alaska's new routes, which Harrison said will grow to 12 by 2030, are likely to maintain and grow Seattle locals' loyalty to Alaska — and those across the country who need more one-stop options to Asia.

Alaska's incoming A330s are nice but lack premium economy

I'm thrilled about Alaska's international expansion.

Seattle may be far from my local New York airports, but flyers now have more choice across the Pacific — and likely beyond, depending on where Alaska's next 10 routes will lead.

Alaska said the merger wouldn't lead to immediate changes on board Hawaiian's aircraft, meaning the A330 I flew on in economy to Honolulu in November 2023 will offer a similar experience to those flying to Japan in 2025.

In my experience, the coach seats were well-padded, offered enough legroom for my five-foot-three-inch self, and had an adjustable headrest — a must for me to sleep in economy.

I also appreciated the rows were fit with only two seats on the sides closest to the windows. There were four in the middle sections.

My only gripe was the deep recline. While I loved the comfort it offered, it meant every passenger had to recline, or the person in front would cut into your space if you were sitting upright.

If you're inclined to rest or sleep, it's great. But if you want to sit more upright to watch a movie, expect to feel a little cramped and have a slightly annoying viewing angle to the screen.

The planes do not offer premium economy, but Harrison said the aircraft would be retrofitted to add the popular cabin in the coming years.

Delta may earn business in the meantime thanks to having premium economy already installed on its A330-900neos flying from Seattle to Tokyo.

Alaska's Asia-bound planes could also change once Alaska gets more of Hawaiian's undelivered Boeing 787 aircraft.

Business class on these planes represents a significant upgrade to that of the A330s, which don't offer the same privacy or direct-aisle access.

Travel to Japan is breaking records

Japan makes sense as Alaska's first long-haul destination. The nation's fall foliage, cherry blossom season, shopping, and myriad cultural and historical sites make it a tourist hot spot.

A September report from Mastercard Economics Institute showed a 153% increase in visitors from the US to Japan in the first half of 2024 compared to the same time in 2019. Travelers from Canada increased by 148%.

CNBC reported that Japan expects 35 million total travelers by the end of 2024, representing a 10% increase from 2019.

Crowds are so high that Japan Airlines is pushing travelers to use a bag delivery service to send luggage straight from the airport to their hotel or accommodation instead of carrying them on the train.

The boost is, in part, thanks to cheaper airfare — and Alaska's new route is likely to further lower prices out of Seattle.

Flights from the US to smaller Japanese cities have seen huge drops. Kayak data shows Sapporo fares are down 19%, Okinawa fares are down 17%, and Osaka fares are down 14% compared to 2023.

Japan Airlines' new free flight program may have helped, which comps domestic legs for many tourists who also book a roundtrip international flight to Japan on the same booking.