Honestly, SV is oversaturated and overrated. You're probably going to find far more satisfaction elsewhere. Maybe you'll miss out on the startup scene, depending on where you end up looking, but that's not really a bad thing.<p>If you're thinking about Silicon Valley because you're already near it, I'd suggest taking a look at something in the Central Valley, like Sacramento. Sac's dead-smack in the middle of California, so you have relatively-easy access to the Bay Area, Tahoe, or what have you to satisfy your desires to explore/travel/run/hike/kayak/etc. (in fact, the Sacramento and American rivers - which intersect in Sacramento - are very popular for kayaking and rafting).<p>Otherwise, focus on some medium-sized city that looks like it'll satisfy your recreational needs relatively well; chances are, it'll have enough of a tech scene to be able to find steady, meaningful work.<p>I happen to live near Reno, which is also on the cusp of a tech boom; big industrial projects in the northern outskirts (including - and especially - Tesla's Gigafactory, but also some incumbents like Amazon) will have steadily-increasing tech needs, programming included. The casinos are relying more and more on state-of-the-art technology, and as a result, a lot of casinos and equipment manufacturers alike are gobbling up programmers and tech support in order to fuel the growing demand. Plus, Nevada in general is very business-friendly, thanks to a better-than-average tax and regulatory environment, and Reno in particular is a short drive away from Tahoe, making it <i>really</i> nice for hikers/bikers/kayakers/runners/etc. I'd be surprised if we don't hit critical mass over here pretty soon.<p>Basically: unless paying for a hyperinflated cost-of-living and clawing your way through hordes of other prospective coders all swarming "The Valley" is your kind of thing, it's rarely worthwhile to think about Silicon Valley specifically when there are plenty of places that could actually use your talents.