James Van Der Beek moved his family out of Los Angeles to bring them closer to “nature”.
James Van Der Beek
The ‘Dawson’s Creek’ alum and his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, moved from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, with their five children – Olivia, 10, Joshua, nine, Annabel, seven, Emilia, five, and Gwendolyn, three – last year, and James has now said he decided to relocate his family in order to make sure his kids had a healthier environment to grow up in.
He said: “We wanted to get the kids out of Los Angeles. We wanted to give them space and we wanted them to live in nature. When we were flying here for our anniversary, I felt an energy to Austin.”
And Kimberly admitted the biggest bonus to life in Austin for her is the sense of community spirit which she finds is lacking in Los Angeles.
In a joint interview with Austin Life magazine, she said: “In LA if you get sick, you get a Postmates delivery. If you want to move, you get a moving truck recommendation. In Texas, somebody makes you something and brings it to your doorstep or you have five friends pulling up with their trucks to help you move.
“It’s just a different way of life here. It’s not to say one is better than the other, but it’s that hands-on village lifestyle that I’ve been craving for so long.”
James announced that he and his family were leaving Los Angeles back in September last year, posting several photos of their empty house in Beverly Hills.
At the time, the actor explained that they were heading off on an "adventure".
He shared: "Sometimes a fuller life begins with an empty house. Leaving Los Angeles incredibly grateful for all the friends and memories we’ve made here. Onto the next big adventure! (sic)"
And in October, he took to social media again to reveal he and his family were settled in their new home.
James - who previously appeared on 'Dancing with the Stars' - wrote: "And... we’ve landed. In the last ten months, we’ve had two late-term pregnancy losses, each of which put @vanderkimberly in the hospital, we spent Christmas break thinking she had a tumor (the doctor was wrong, thank god), I was prematurely booted off a reality dancing show I was favored to win in front of the whole world, and my mom died. And a shut-down. All of that led to some drastic changes in our lives, and dreams, and priorities... and landed us here. Overflowing with profound gratitude today. (sic)"
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