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Oh, do it! You'll have so many worthwhile life experiences if you do. Some of them might be roadblocks, but others will be great experiences.
Look at it this way...if you do it and decide it isn't for you, you can always go back. But later in life you may very well kick yourself again and again if you don't at least TRY it!
Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement and sharing!
I'm 100% positive that I will kick myself in the rear years ahead if I didn't at least give it a try. I feel bad whenever I bring this up to my fam, and they give me that look that says "why do you want to abandon us...don't do it", but they are all settled in life, whereas I am not. Plus, I'm doing it for grad school, so I'm sure it will be easier to network and meet new people.
More,more! I really enjoy reading about other's experiences.
You should give it a try. Moving to a new town is exciting. Meeting new friends, starting over, recreating yourself to a certain degree. Done it a couple of times. It is good for family relationships and makes visiting so sweet! I am in real estate and can hook you up with a great agent to find you a rental or a home to purchase. l
Let me know if I can help!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilacjamila
Can anyone share a story, preferably a positive one, about picking up and leaving your hometown without your family, and how your life turned out the better for it. I've been battling an inner pull to leave my hometown where 85% of my maternal and paternal family lives. It's been nagging for the past 2 years, and I feel very dissatisfied on many levels. I'm 27 in NYC.
I feel on an intrinsic level that here is not where I belong, and that I won't have the life I desire if I stay here. The only thing is I am very close to my family and no one else wants to leave with me. I have a very close immediate family, and a large network of cousins and aunts, etc., however, I still want to leave badly. I'm afraid that if I don't branch out now while still single and childless, I'll only live in this one place for my life, and that is so not what I want.
So again, has anyone despite being rooted on a familial level, uprooted themselves and followed a desire to live elsewhere..far..far away? How was the experience?
Jumped on a train with a destination in mind when I was eighteen, remembered how pretty this particular place was.
Arrived on a dreary, wet and cold day, into the outskirts .. which looked like nothing I'd remembered ..
.. thinking, oh no, what have I done?
Called a taxi and asked to be taken to a downtown, centrally located and 'cheap' place to stay.
Three nights stay took up about a third of all the money I had with me, so ended up taking a chamber-maid job the following day at the hotel.
During my three-day stay at the hotel, ended up talking with various staff, .. receptionist, waitresses, co-owner, etc.
When the owner found I had bartending experience, he asked if I wanted to work, to which I replied .. no .. I'd planned on not working for a couple of months.
But when I'd eaten up a third of my savings already with three nights accomodations, figured maybe I'd better get to work after all .. and fast!
I was having a really hard time finding a place to rent. The owner mentioned that if I really got stuck, he'd rent me a room in a wing of the hotel that hadn't been renovated along with the rest of it. (and no, he didn't come along with the deal)
Ended up living there for six months or so and worked in the lounge for the next couple of years.
Once I took a room up there, they started renting the other rooms in that wing, out to other staff in the hotel .. kind of became like staff quarters, each with their own place.
From there, moved into a house with friends. Probably the cheapest way to go at first, shared accommodation, or co-op living.
I think the most difficult were my first couple of meals, eating alone and not knowing anyone. Next day in the park, met some people who invited me back for a rabbit dinner at their place. From then on, it was just meeting new people all the time and had the time of my life, probably the most fun years on my younger life.
During my 'hotel stay' always kept a jar of peanut butter and rye crisp handy as it didn't require refridgeration or anything. Lived pretty frugally back then, maybe a hot dog or fudgicle at the beach and whatever I could nip off the buffet table when no one was looking.
Seems things always have a way of working themselves out along the way. Just make sure you have enough money to get you by in the meantime.
It's amazing how quickly you meet lots of people and friends. Always an adventure!
After i got out of the navy, I packed up all i owned into a 1990 Ford Bronco in Kentucky and headed west. Went to Vegas. I loved the whole adventure of it. Driving across hoover dam at 3:30 in the morning, no traffic and just the sounds of the exhaust (had a nice sound) then coming over the hill and seeing vegas in all it's glory lighting up the desert, wow, thats a trip i will never forget!
I had a job by 11 am (this was in 1999, long before the recession) and a furnished apt by 2pm that day (referred to by the manager at the new job). I still miss those times!
I have friends from high school who envy me for travelling and seeing the world, and I am envious of them by having close friends in the same area their whole lives. Point being, there are pros and cons to everything.
I left my home town (outside Detroit Michigan) back in 1977. I've lived and traveled all over the world & do not regret it for a minute. The experiences I've had and the friends I've met would have never been if I hadn't left. You will still be close with your family. I was the only one of my siblings that had the wander bug. I may not see my family more than a couple times a year but we talk and e-mail all the time. Traveling is also what allowed me to find my very, very dear husband and soul mate. I would have never met him if I hadn't been traveling. If you also have the wander bug GO! You can always return to NY if you find out that it IS where you are suppose to be. Good luck & great travels!
I had a job by 11 am (this was in 1999, long before the recession) and a furnished apt by 2pm that day (referred to by the manager at the new job). I still miss those times!
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You will still be close with your family. I was the only one of my siblings that had the wander bug. I may not see my family more than a couple times a year but we talk and e-mail all the time. Traveling is also what allowed me to find my very, very dear husband and soul mate. I would have never met him if I hadn't been traveling.If you also have the wander bug GO! You can always return to NY if you find out that it IS where you are suppose to be. Good luck & great travels!
I'm sure you appreciate your family all the more too. That is great that you met your soul mate. I see your in TX..that is where my current desires are leading .
Can anyone share a story, preferably a positive one, about picking up and leaving your hometown without your family, and how your life turned out the better for it...
...So again, has anyone despite being rooted on a familial level, uprooted themselves and followed a desire to live elsewhere..far..far away? How was the experience?
I never knew what a hometown was. Most kids raised by military parents don't. Our whole lives are packing up and moving just when we are getting comfortable. When raised that way, moving away from friends and family is much easier because you realize you can make it anywhere, find friends anywhere and as long as the place you move to has the space for it, have family come visit and often - especially with so many in your extended family.
Don't be afraid to follow your heart. There is no law that says you can't return to NYC at a later date if your move was less than perfect. In many cultures, money permitting, young people are encouraged to spread their wings and see what else the world has to offer them. And yes, 27 is still young.
If you don't try a move now, you will always wonder and never feel happy. Happiness is the root of all pleasure in life. Follow your heart and take the plunge. You may find what you were looking for and you may find your real self in another place.
I packed up a suitcase and left a couple days after I turned 18. I had no idea how to function out in the real world, but I bought a plane ticket back to California (where I'd lived as a child) and ended up in San Francisco. Was definitely frightened by the big city, and hitchhiked (!) up to the Napa Valley where I found a job working nights as a janitor at a nursing home. My boss let me sleep in the storage room for a couple weeks until I found a tiny little studio apartment to rent -- for almost half my monthly income. I learned the hard way how to budget for food. I didn't have a vehicle, I walked almost three miles each way to work every night. I remember running out of money about a week before my next paycheck one time, and being so hungry that I almost couldn't walk to work. I found a wild apple tree by the road and ate green apples all week until I got my paycheck.
I went and found a different job the next week, working in a restaurant washing dishes for the late shift. The good thing about that job was that any cooked food left over at closing couldn't be kept and served the next day, so the employees were allowed to take it home. I ate a lot better after that, the job sucked but at least I was able to eat. Met my future husband and was pregnant with my first child before I turned 19...
I made a lot of mistakes, but I would do it again because I learned some crucial life lessons from it.
Yeah it was! The interview was absolutely the easiest one I ever had. Was very qualified and they could not find anyone for job for weeks. All I had to do was really log into the system they were using and show him I could do that, was hired based on that and was making much more than I was in the navy lol
Ended up with some friends there that are still in close contact today.
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Go for it!
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