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My parents moved our family about 1000 miles away from my hometown when I was 16 years old. We moved from a small town to a decent sized city with a completely different culture.
I didn't want to move at the time and have always missed home. I swore that I would move back as soon as I became of age. Instead, I ended up getting married and starting my own family, and kind of forgetting about the whole thing for a few years.
Then about 6 years ago I started bringing my family to visit my hometown at least once a year. I instantly remembered why I missed the place so much. Although some things have changed, many have not and I really believe that it is overall a much better place to live.
I really prefer the climate, culture, and overall quality of life compared to where I live now and am once again seriously considering moving back. I am now 32 and have been gone 16 years.
I am curious to hear anyone else's story about moving back home and/or their opinion on the old saying that you can never go home again.
I don't miss my home town per se but I do miss the region. My husband and I are actively exploring job opportunities to get back to the Midwest.
The one thing I would caution you on is to not go back with rose-colored glasses. It's easy to miss the good things and remove the negatives from our memories.
You may be treated like an outsider even though you grew up there. I know when I was a teenager growing up in a small city in Ohio I thought I ruled that town (of course that was teenage arrogance). It's not the same going back now. It's not my town anymore.
So it may be a wonderful place to live and raise your family, just don't expect to fall back into your old life.
Good luck to you and if you love it that much, I hope you get there.
I don't miss my home town per se but I do miss the region. My husband and I are actively exploring job opportunities to get back to the Midwest.
The one thing I would caution you on is to not go back with rose-colored glasses. It's easy to miss the good things and remove the negatives from our memories.
You may be treated like an outsider even though you grew up there. I know when I was a teenager growing up in a small city in Ohio I thought I ruled that town (of course that was teenage arrogance). It's not the same going back now. It's not my town anymore.
So it may be a wonderful place to live and raise your family, just don't expect to fall back into your old life.
Good luck to you and if you love it that much, I hope you get there.
Thanks for your response. I grew up in the upper midwest, the U.P. of Michigan to be exact. Actually I also really miss the REGION more than the town itself. I am probably biased, but I think that the upper midwest is the best region in the country.
I can also relate to your teenage experience and I probably do choose to forget some of the negative aspects of the region.
I live in the south now, and honestly I would probably be happier anywhere in the Michigan,Wisconsin, Minnesota area. The U.P. of Michigan just seems so unique and different from most of the country, but I guess everyone probably thinks that way about the place where they grew up.
I do miss a lot about the climate and culture of the northern states in general, although they do vary some.
I would imagine that Montana would be a nice place to live.
Funny thing is, my husband is persuing a job in Escanaba!! We just got back from a two week trip to the UP. We spent a weekend in Interlochen too. I absolutely LOVE the region between Traverse City and Petoskey. I just turned 30 but I'm already planning to retire in Charlevoix, MI.
Montana is nice enough but I've been homesick for the Great Lakes region for a few years now. Being in Northern Michigan just felt like home to me. It made my heart hurt to leave.
I didn't even notice your sn! I should have realized where you were missing. I really like that stretch between Grand Marais and Marquette. I didn't get to explore anywhere east of Grand Marais along the Superior or west of Marquette.
Grew up in a small town in west Michigan just a few miles from Lake Michigan when I was 14 Mom and Dad moved us down to Texas in order for him to go to a school down there. After living back in MI in different locations (Sault Ste Marie, Gaylord, Marshall) I landed in Northern Maine. That was fine for almost 20 years but it never felt like home. When my wife and I had our family going and the kids were starting school we really started looking for a new place to live. After looking from Soldotna, AK all down the west coast, through the west, south, midwest, and east and not leaving any place out of the running, when all was said and done, we ended up back in my little hometown. Even after a 30 year absence, it was like nothing had changed. Sure some people have changed, stores are gone that I once knew, but the attitude is the same, the town is the same, and the schools are much improved fro when I went to them. I am home... after a long hiatus I really feel like I am home and all is right. The old saying may be true for some that you can never go home, but for me it is wrong... Not only CAN you go home, but it can be even better than before you left. I am back in my hometown a much richer person for having friends all over the Country, a much greater appreciation for what we have here, and wouldn't trade the journey back for any amount of money. Just like no amount of money will get me to leave again.
I know what you mean about missing MI. There is something about the UP and Northern MI that is unlike anyplace else in the Country. Not just scenery, not just people, not even the weather, you can find duplicates of all those in other places, but it has a unique blending of all those traits that just seems to call a person back. Plus it feels weird not running into one of the Great Lakes if you travel any direction for a bit in other places.
I agree, there is something really special about the Upper Great Lakes region, Michigan in particular. My dh and I are both natives of NW Ohio, but have lived in Michigan for the past sixteen years and it is now our home just as if we have always lived here. We tried living in Phoenix a few years ago, thinking that perhaps we were missing out on something, having lived in the same part of the country for our entire lives. Man, with all due respect to people who live there and love it, we couldn't WAIT to get back to Michigan. I don't know exactly what it is, but it has a magnetic quality about it, doesn't it?
As far as going "home", as in back to where we grew up, we are fortunate to live within an hour of both of our hometowns, his being Toledo, Ohio and mine being a small farming community of about 7,000 people, so we can go home fairly often. My little town hasn't changed all that much except for one huge difference: it was invaded by Walmart about eight years ago, so now, instead of everything being on the main street, all of the "action" is now along the highway on the edge of town where Walmart and all of the fast food outlets and gas stations are and the once bustling and quaint downtown is more or less like a ghost town. Kind of sad, the "Walmartization" of small town America...
Funny thing is, my husband is persuing a job in Escanaba!! We just got back from a two week trip to the UP. We spent a weekend in Interlochen too. I absolutely LOVE the region between Traverse City and Petoskey. I just turned 30 but I'm already planning to retire in Charlevoix, MI.
Montana is nice enough but I've been homesick for the Great Lakes region for a few years now. Being in Northern Michigan just felt like home to me. It made my heart hurt to leave.
I didn't even notice your sn! I should have realized where you were missing. I really like that stretch between Grand Marais and Marquette. I didn't get to explore anywhere east of Grand Marais along the Superior or west of Marquette.
Wow! That's pretty interesting. I grew up in the far western end of the U.P., just a little northeast of Escanaba.
Well I really hope it works out for you. My wife and I have actually had a couple of job interviews near the Ironwood area with no luck so far.
That has been one of the hardest factors in considering moving back up there.
Grew up in a small town in west Michigan just a few miles from Lake Michigan when I was 14 Mom and Dad moved us down to Texas in order for him to go to a school down there. After living back in MI in different locations (Sault Ste Marie, Gaylord, Marshall) I landed in Northern Maine. That was fine for almost 20 years but it never felt like home. When my wife and I had our family going and the kids were starting school we really started looking for a new place to live. After looking from Soldotna, AK all down the west coast, through the west, south, midwest, and east and not leaving any place out of the running, when all was said and done, we ended up back in my little hometown. Even after a 30 year absence, it was like nothing had changed. Sure some people have changed, stores are gone that I once knew, but the attitude is the same, the town is the same, and the schools are much improved fro when I went to them. I am home... after a long hiatus I really feel like I am home and all is right. The old saying may be true for some that you can never go home, but for me it is wrong... Not only CAN you go home, but it can be even better than before you left. I am back in my hometown a much richer person for having friends all over the Country, a much greater appreciation for what we have here, and wouldn't trade the journey back for any amount of money. Just like no amount of money will get me to leave again.
I know what you mean about missing MI. There is something about the UP and Northern MI that is unlike anyplace else in the Country. Not just scenery, not just people, not even the weather, you can find duplicates of all those in other places, but it has a unique blending of all those traits that just seems to call a person back. Plus it feels weird not running into one of the Great Lakes if you travel any direction for a bit in other places.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I definitely agree with your assessment of the area and it is nice to hear that others feel the same.
I agree, there is something really special about the Upper Great Lakes region, Michigan in particular. My dh and I are both natives of NW Ohio, but have lived in Michigan for the past sixteen years and it is now our home just as if we have always lived here. We tried living in Phoenix a few years ago, thinking that perhaps we were missing out on something, having lived in the same part of the country for our entire lives. Man, with all due respect to people who live there and love it, we couldn't WAIT to get back to Michigan. I don't know exactly what it is, but it has a magnetic quality about it, doesn't it?
As far as going "home", as in back to where we grew up, we are fortunate to live within an hour of both of our hometowns, his being Toledo, Ohio and mine being a small farming community of about 7,000 people, so we can go home fairly often. My little town hasn't changed all that much except for one huge difference: it was invaded by Walmart about eight years ago, so now, instead of everything being on the main street, all of the "action" is now along the highway on the edge of town where Walmart and all of the fast food outlets and gas stations are and the once bustling and quaint downtown is more or less like a ghost town. Kind of sad, the "Walmartization" of small town America...
Small world. My husband and I are both from Bowling Green, OH.
My husband works for the US Forest Service and was halfway into a four month "detail" (temp assignment) in Rapid River when the federal government shut down. I had planned a three week vacation out to see him and check out the area in case it turns permanent. The kids and I had been there two weeks when the feds told him to go home. Now he's waiting to hear when he can go back to Michigan. He's getting sick of working with such a low amount of tree species here in Montana and can't wait to get back to all the hardwood trees in the Midwest. It was just beautiful there last week.
I don't miss my home town per se but I do miss the region. My husband and I are actively exploring job opportunities to get back to the Midwest.
The one thing I would caution you on is to not go back with rose-colored glasses. It's easy to miss the good things and remove the negatives from our memories.
You may be treated like an outsider even though you grew up there. I know when I was a teenager growing up in a small city in Ohio I thought I ruled that town (of course that was teenage arrogance). It's not the same going back now. It's not my town anymore.
Same here. I really miss my home town too, but I don't recognize it anymore. In my heart it will always
be home. Both of us want to move back but gentrification has removed what made it special.
Never thought that being in our late 50's would make us outcasts.
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