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Guy and Melissa Hoagland desired to retire to an environmentally sustainable place with a temperate climate, a college/university, and to be in a city, but not a big city. The couple landed in Asheville, NC, a place with all of the above and more. They rented for a year to ensure it was a fit. Thereafter, they zeroed-in on exactly the part of town they loved and purchased a home there. Check out what else drew Guy and Melissa to Asheville on episode 127 of Retire There with Gil & Gene.
Guy Hoagland was born and raised in NJ. He attended Dickinson College and the University of Florida School of Medicine before completing his internship and residency. He founded the Henshaw Health Center in PA in 1987 and later opened an internal medicine practice in Florida. He became board certified in multiple areas and worked as Chief Medical Officer at SouthernCare Hospice before retiring at 43 in 2001. He then embarked on a 2-year transcontinental RV trip with his family covering 42 states before working as a church administrator and founding two nonprofit organizations. He led medical and other mission trips to New Orleans, Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, and Kenya before relocating to California and eventually Asheville in April 2022. He currently enjoys honing his photography and wood turning skills and exploring the local trails.
Melissa Hoagland was born in York, PA, moved to Allentown PA as a teenager and attended Dickinson College, where she and Guy met, and then Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in Anatomic Pathology at Johns Hopkins Hospital before joining the Pathology faculty at Penn State's Milton S. Hershey School of Medicine. After becoming a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling 4 children, and community activist, she served as chief navigator and education coordinator during her family's extended RV travels. Melissa is now a writer and activist with a focus on climate change mitigation and earth stewardship, having completed Stanford's Online Certificate Program in Creative Nonfiction in 2013. Her hobbies include reading, writing, yoga, and hiking.
