@aaab welcome to Minnesota! I think quite a few people do commute. I used to commute 2 days a week and it was okay, but it did get old (I did it for 4 years). The drive itself isn't terrible (70ish minutes), but during the winter, the highway did get slick since it's wide open fields. During my commute, I used the time to call people and catch up or listen to a good radio show/podcast. Mankato does have quite a few lakes around the area if you enjoy time on the water (you mention nature so possibly?). If you like sporting events, there is a college in town (Minnesota State University, Mankato) so they have college hockey, football, baseball, etc. Rochester doesn't have recreational lakes or university sporting events, but, agree, restaurants and gyms are limited in Mankato. Rochester has the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center, which is wonderful for Mayo employees and lots of new restaurants. I'm not sure I was much help, but it can be done, you would just have to have the mindset of being on the road often. 🙂