Could you/have you moved far from your loved ones? (job, climate)

[dancingbear]

Folks, I'm very interested in your opinion. Share your story and thoughts here!

It's been on my mind to move somewhere new, somewhere that I can feel good about calling home. I finally found that place but my only concern is leaving my family.. but especially my sister. We are best friends and I love her dearly. She's the one person I feel would always have my back, no matter what. When I lived just a few hours away from where I grew up, I felt homesick and missed her and even my crazy relatives.

Have you ever moved far from the loved ones in your life? Any advice?

[Darrow]

The farthest I've lived away is roughly 400 miles...far enough, but close if I had to get home quickly. It was good for our marriage to get away from some of the family, but we did move back closer and realized there's not a lot of things in common with the adult siblings other than holiday dinners. Now that our children are grown, we are planning to move away from the area again, but this move will be at least 1000 miles - maybe further. I empathize with you regarding your closeness to your sister. Mine moved 1400 miles away from me 2 years ago and it stunk, but she was just here for 2 weeks and it was plenty of catch up time. We're in different stages of life now, and have discovered we can live without eachother nearby...thanks cell phones!

[sbbet]

My husband and I moved to west Tennessee a little over 3 years ago from New Hampshire. It's too long to drive but not a bad trip by air. We go back once a year and visit our two children. We finance a trip for them once a year too (if they want it.)

It's been a grand adventure but probably not for everyone. My parents have passed away and my sister and three brothers live scattered about the country, CT, NV, IL, and FL. I'm not used to having family near as I was a navy brat. My legal residence until I was 12 was WV but I grew up in CT. I have lived in 9 states, four of them as an adult.

My husband was NH born and raised; I moved there right after college and stayed almost 40 years. I did want some stability for my kids and they got it.

I'd do it again. Live near a major airport. Live near the interstate. It's a piece of cake.

We came with a five year plan and have decided to stay. Maybe not exactly here. We're still thinking.

[Sudcaro]

Yes indeed!
We have lived in the USA since last January, but all our relatives are in France! And it's not the first time I've lived far from them (though it had never been as far as that!)
But it's not that difficult because we can keep in touch thanks to the internet and telephone, so we keep sharing lots of things, maybe more than we used to (I send pictures to them all the time!). Being far has even brought me closer to some relatives who gave me their e-mail address before I left (or asked my brother to give them mine once I was gone), so now we are in touch more often than we used to!
Of course, we can not be in the same room for a meal or party, but our hearts are still together!

[DixieChick1972]

I used to live about 5 hours from my family, I ended up moving back.

[ReturningWest]

I'm from Oregon and moved to Georgia...that's about as far as it gets.

But, my mother and I didn't get along and she's now passed, my younger brother and I don't get along - he's in a religious cult. I do miss my older 1/2 bro who lives in SoCal and would love to live near him but I couldn't afford a rock on a driveway there.

I do miss Oregon and the mountains and the climate and the fresh food and I hope to move back ASAP...but not because of some need to be near family.

I think it depends on how attached you are to your family and also how old you are and how adventerous you are. There is no one answer for everyone.

[Alaskapat528]

I live about 3900 miles from family in the midwest. It has good points and bad points; I try to make a trip back once a year.

[nicet4]

Moved for a job 900 miles away from my entire family for 20 months five years ago. I was older and the children were adults but it was hard.

My wife worked for government, she needed to work another 20 months to be eligible for full pension and seeing how we were both in our mid 50's this was was more important then than it would have been had we been in our 30's.

We agree it was worth it. In a few months we start collecting free money every month, wife will turn 60 which is when it starts, for the rest of both our lives.

But the big kicker, and why we really did it, was health insurance. At age 60 both of us are covered by a good quality government health insurance at a greatly reduced price. We were looking at savings of $900 a month for five years in just the insurance.... that coupled with the money made it worth it for us.

Also worth noting when we get on medicare that insurance reverts to a free supplemental plan. Over the 20 or 30 years we hope to live after 60 that represents a lot of money. Her pay was horrible but the benefits were great.

I went home every single holiday.

My wife had five weeks vacation per year and every time she would come down with me every month until that run out and them it became every 2 1/2 months whenever another week accumulated. She would fly down on Friday night, spend the week and fly back on a Sunday night.

Even though we saw each other often it was hard on us.

But everything is fine now!

[Aylalou]

It depends on what you want most. My daughter lives near me and my precious granddaughter. I am close in spirit to my son who lives in New York - distance is not an issue when you feel close to someone, and I never feel he is far from me. I am planning a big move next year (if all goes well) and I will intensely miss my granddaughter but I can't see sacrificing for her alone. She has a good mother who gives her a very rich life. That is not to say I don't expect to miss her and am sure I will cry after returning for visits, but I realize that's a passing thing.

You won't know until you try it. Everyone is different. I hope this has been of some help.

[therewego]

Originally Posted by dancingbear

Folks, I'm very interested in your opinion. Share your story and thoughts here!

It's been on my mind to move somewhere new, somewhere that I can feel good about calling home. I finally found that place but my only concern is leaving my family.. but especially my sister. We are best friends and I love her dearly. She's the one person I feel would always have my back, no matter what. When I lived just a few hours away from where I grew up, I felt homesick and missed her and even my crazy relatives.

Have you ever moved far from the loved ones in your life? Any advice?

I envy the closeness you have with your sister. We are now living across country from our family but we had already lived about 8 hours from them. I think it would be very hard for you to move away from her because I have no family here nor do I know anyone so it is kind of lonely if you let it get to you. I am hoping to make new friends in the fall when my kiddos start school and so far the neighbors have been very nice. It is an adventure, getting to know new streets, new places to see, or new restaurants, etc.