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Old 08-09-2014, 02:14 AM
 
3,841 posts, read 4,491,118 times
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And how did it work out for you?

Especially interested to hear from people who are still in their working years, but would also love to hear from the retired, independently wealthy, minimalists and college students as well!

I have a cousin who moved recently to Wisconsin from Corona, Ca. (the inland empire where its very HOT!) to be closer to grand children and they love it!

I'm asking because there's some rumbling in my husband's company that they may have his department telecommute. (Could easily be done, but still in talking stages). Well, my imagination is going wild! BUT I've only lived in LA and Orange County!

SO! Have you moved for instance from Los Angeles, Ca. to Corvallis, Oregon? Houston, Tex. to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? Nome Alaska to New Orleans? Prescott, Az. to Chicago? etc. etc.

How did it work out? Are you pining for your old city? Freaking out over snow storms? Mosquitoes? Rattle snakes? Going to church or meet up groups to meet friends? Bored? Stressed? Over all a positive move or are you hitting your head thinking, "What did I just do??"

Looking forward to your replies,
Cheers!
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Old 08-09-2014, 02:42 AM
 
Location: Who Cares, USA
2,341 posts, read 3,566,780 times
Reputation: 2258
I've spent pretty much my entire life, both childhood/teens and adult, moving all over this country. East coast, West coast, Gulf coast, and points in between. Big cities, small towns, the coast, mountains, plains, forest, desert... all over the place. I currently live in small town Eastern Washington, but who knows how long I'll stay here? It's really all I've ever known (nomadic lifestyle). Lucky for me I have a wife who shares my wanderlust.

For me, it has been very rewarding. I have gotten to see many different parts of the country from a local's perspective, and it has been a cultural smorgasbord. The down-side is that most of my friends and relatives live many miles away from me, but the internet has helped me to stay in touch. It may be a cliche, but for me, home really is where the heart is. My family roots are in Texas, but I just never really felt "at home" when I lived there. Nothing against Texas, I harbor no ill feelings toward the place... it's just that I have always had a rampant case of wanderlust that I still carry with me today, and I'm 50 years old. I have one life to live, and I don't want to limit myself. Maybe once I'm a senior citizen I'll finally settle down somewhere, but for now I have no plans of staying put for too long.

Sometimes it has been really hard (moving long distances) on my finances and very stressful, but somehow I always manage to land on my feet. If you're not scared of getting out of your comfort zone and trying out a new and foreign environment, it can be extremely fulfilling. It has for me, anyway.

Best of luck to you.
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Old 08-09-2014, 11:16 AM
 
Location: Lakewood OH
21,695 posts, read 28,319,152 times
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I've made two big moves in my life and had no regrets. The first was when I was in my 30's in 1978. I moved from Chicago to Portland OR. In those days Portland was a small, provincial city with a unique rough and ready character and plenty of real characters and unique personalities to write a book about.

There were few amenities and even fewer larger stores and name brands. Ma and Pa shops were the day and it was no place for foodies. The entire downtown area shut down for a long weekend in August for a celebration called "Artquake" in which artists showed their crafts, actors performed, vendors sold items and people had a great time. No traffic allowed. At Christmas, the local large department store had a very funny robotic animated version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" that was delightful.

Then the was "The Church of Elvis" and "The UFO Museum."

People said "Hello" to strangers on the street. But they also told you they didn't like outsiders taking their jobs.They were honest to be sure. You didn't get the welcome wagon but if a neighbor needed a hand, as I did when I first moved in my new place, someone would be there with an offer of help.

Then the city become overpriced and overrun by first the gentrification of some of the rougher areas where I lived and then the gentrifiers got gentrified making it the overpriced cookiecutter city it is today. The rents soared on the little shops and other commercial properties. They were priced out as national chains began taking over.

Rents soared for apartment dwellers. So I left my former city to those who like the typical urban trendy city of the day. Were I a young person today, I would be looking for something more off the beaten path as I was all those years ago but to each their own.

So, 36 years later, as one of the many who were pushed out by the ever soaring high cost of living in Portland, I was forced to relocate but not unhappily so. I miss my friends, those who are left, and the flowers. Much of the city doesn't look as it once did; my former pleasant neighborhood for one is now crowded, polluted and not so clean anymore according to the one friend I have left who has managed to hang on there.

I moved to Cleveland Ohio a couple of months ago. It is my choice after a lot of research on the Internet, visiting various cities and talking to others who lived in different parts of the country. So far so good. This works for me. I believe that people need to be in a place that suits them. At the age of sixty eight it was far more difficult to pick up and move than it was when I was thirty two so I would consider moving a couple of thousand miles at my time of life pretty drastic but I did what I felt I had to do and there are no regrets.
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Old 08-09-2014, 11:57 AM
 
3,463 posts, read 5,631,298 times
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My S.O. and I are nu-age gypsies. We've moved 10 times in the past 14 years and had extended stays in lots of states. I am addicted to the change process ~ The hunt for a new place and the anticipation and anxiety that goes along with making those decisions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We are sort of settled now due to financial reasons, but the past two decades have been fun and eye-opening. But, all that moving and not having jobs for a while takes a toll on you in a few ways. What I have found is it is very cleansing. You get rid of "stuff", both material and mental. A 'clean slate' is a very nice slate to wake up to. I have found it takes a little while to make an informed decision on whether your move was a good one or not, so don't be rash in your assessment. Rent for year, never buy, and, as undesirable as it sounds, be ready to take the crappiest jobs you can imagine to get by. Dont wait for "The Job". Jump right in and develop a Work and Look process that will allow some cash flow while you are looking.
The coolest places for me, were the ones I never expected. The places I had high expectations for always let me down. It was the little quiet, inconspicuous, off-the-beaten-track towns that I liked the most, so always travel with open heart and mind

Happy travels
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Old 08-09-2014, 04:17 PM
 
3,841 posts, read 4,491,118 times
Reputation: 5044
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobloblawslawblog View Post
I've spent pretty much my entire life, both childhood/teens and adult, moving all over this country. East coast, West coast, Gulf coast, and points in between. Big cities, small towns, the coast, mountains, plains, forest, desert... all over the place. I currently live in small town Eastern Washington, but who knows how long I'll stay here? It's really all I've ever known (nomadic lifestyle). Lucky for me I have a wife who shares my wanderlust.

For me, it has been very rewarding. I have gotten to see many different parts of the country from a local's perspective, and it has been a cultural smorgasbord. The down-side is that most of my friends and relatives live many miles away from me, but the internet has helped me to stay in touch. It may be a cliche, but for me, home really is where the heart is. My family roots are in Texas, but I just never really felt "at home" when I lived there. Nothing against Texas, I harbor no ill feelings toward the place... it's just that I have always had a rampant case of wanderlust that I still carry with me today, and I'm 50 years old. I have one life to live, and I don't want to limit myself. Maybe once I'm a senior citizen I'll finally settle down somewhere, but for now I have no plans of staying put for too long.

Sometimes it has been really hard (moving long distances) on my finances and very stressful, but somehow I always manage to land on my feet. If you're not scared of getting out of your comfort zone and trying out a new and foreign environment, it can be extremely fulfilling. It has for me, anyway.

Best of luck to you.
Wow, you've really taken the tour! Have you always been able to adjust quickly to any given environment?
Have you found preferences for particular sizes of cities? Climates?
May I ask what line of business you're in that has allowed you to relocate so often?

Thank you!
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Old 08-09-2014, 04:28 PM
 
3,841 posts, read 4,491,118 times
Reputation: 5044
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah View Post
I've made two big moves in my life and had no regrets. The first was when I was in my 30's in 1978. I moved from Chicago to Portland OR.

I moved to Cleveland Ohio a couple of months ago. It is my choice after a lot of research on the Internet, visiting various cities and talking to others who lived in different parts of the country. So far so good. This works for me. ts.
Hi Minervah!

I remember a while back having an exchange with you concerning asthma etc. and how the dampness in Oregon could sometimes be a problem, and you had some good advice. I hope you are healthy and happy!

Portland to Cleveland does sound like a very big change! Especially in regards to weather! I'm taking you'd rather have cold and snow than high heat and humidity?

Seems like most of this country there are really huge trade offs in regards to weather unless you're in the sweet spots on the California coast.

Could you share how what the biggest draw was about Cleveland? I certainly see how the changes in Portland could make someone want to move if it's just turning into a big swath of suburbia. Portland was always famous for the things you described and it sounds like it broke its promises.
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Old 08-09-2014, 04:44 PM
 
Location: Who Cares, USA
2,341 posts, read 3,566,780 times
Reputation: 2258
Quote:
Originally Posted by Podo944 View Post
Wow, you've really taken the tour! Have you always been able to adjust quickly to any given environment?
Have you found preferences for particular sizes of cities? Climates?
May I ask what line of business you're in that has allowed you to relocate so often?

Thank you!
That's... umm... classified. J/K. I'm what they used to call a "Jack of all trades". I have experience in several different lines of work. I majored in liberal arts in college, and it's a pretty useless degree... so I have tried my hand at many different things. I have mainly worked in transportation-oriented jobs, and in restaurants. I even owned a restaurant for a few years. So, basically, I'm an old school hustler, which has allowed me to live the kind of nomadic existence that I have lived. I am currently helping my wife tend to the needs of a sick relative, and that is why we currently live where we live.

I have been able to adjust and adapt fairly easily wherever I have lived. Probably because it's all I've ever known my whole life. My parents split up when I was 8 years old, and my mom moved around constantly because of her job, so I just kind of naturally picked up a knack for it.

As far as preferences go, I used to prefer big cities, and even then it had to be in a central, urban, diverse area... NO suburbs, but there's also something to be said for rural and small town life. I thought I was going to HATE living here when we moved. We moved here from Seattle, which even though is still in the same state... might as well be the other side of the universe from here. It's very conservative where I live, and my wife and I are both very liberal, but I have never been one of those people who just HAS to be surrounded by "my own kind" (for lack of a better term). I don't mind stepping out of my comfort zone, and love a good challenge. And.... it is absolutely gorgeous where I now live. Lots of clean air, evergreen forest, small lakes... and the people up here are generally very friendly. I just don't ever discuss politics with them, haha! Oh, and it is dirt-cheap here too. Our money goes a LOT further here than it ever did in Seattle.

Other preferences are four seasons, short summers that don't get too hot, snowy winters that don't get ridiculously (sub-zero) cold, and I don't mind rain and grey skies. I also prefer hilly-to-mountainous, wooded areas. Not a big fan of flat land or treeless landscapes. Though I have lived in more than a few in the past.
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Old 08-09-2014, 05:05 PM
 
3,841 posts, read 4,491,118 times
Reputation: 5044
Quote:
Originally Posted by thunderkat59 View Post
My S.O. and I are nu-age gypsies. We've moved 10 times in the past 14 years and had extended stays in lots of states. I am addicted to the change process ~ The hunt for a new place and the anticipation and anxiety that goes along with making those decisions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

A funny thing is before I was 21 years old, I "moved" over 30 times! The problem was, my mother was also addicted to moving, but she was... what can I say "unbalanced". She made my dad moved quite a few times, and after he died when I was 8 years old, it accelerated. We were poor, so she was always looking for a "better situation".
So, I lived my life packing and un packing boxes, and making new friends, then 1 month to 12 months later had to say goodbye. I think the longest I lived anywhere was about 2 years a couple of times. The shortest was 2 weeks!

The other bummer, was in all the moving, it was all done within the area I was raised in except for a move to San Diego for a couple of years. Seriously, we would move across the street, or live in a converted garage, or live in an extra bedroom of a house with my mom as the house keeper.

So that was no fun... it would have been much more enriching if we moved to totally different cities for sure! But most of it was all done within the same concrete jungle I was born and raised in.

Now by all rights, I really should be in a rubber room growing up like that, and yes, there were definitely some "issues" I had to overcome because of the consequences of having no stability, however, we human beings are pretty adaptable. I learned to be pretty flexible, and have learned to get along with all types of people. I may not have a lot of friends from childhood, but I have one very good one who I kept in touch with all these years.

Decided to share that little tid bit about me for fun... my mom was called a "gypsy" for sure.
But enough of me writing a book here...

I know I inherited a bit of the wander lust myself... although I have basically lived in So. Cal all my life, I absolutely LOVE road trips and the whole idea of "exploring". If I could go on a road trip somewhere new every couple of months that would be incredible!


Rent for year, never buy,

Well, I'm not sure we're aiming to move from place to place necessarily... if I were much younger perhaps, but I blinked, was a mom in suburbia in my first marriage, and now I'm more "mature". (in years!)

and, as undesirable as it sounds, be ready to take the crappiest jobs you can imagine to get by. Dont wait for "The Job". Jump right in and develop a Work and Look process that will allow some cash flow while you are looking.

My (now amazing) husband would have a telecommute job that would allow us the freedom to relocate. This is why my imagination is suddenly going wild.

The coolest places for me, were the ones I never expected. The places I had high expectations for always let me down. It was the little quiet, inconspicuous, off-the-beaten-track towns that I liked the most, so always travel with open heart and mind

Wise words indeed!

Happy travels
Thank you for taking the time... My part is in purply bold.
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Old 08-21-2014, 09:09 AM
 
1,068 posts, read 2,067,360 times
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I moved from the Central Valley of California eight years ago, and have landed (permanently, we are hoping!) in the U.P. of Michigan. We have been here for two years, this month. So...that's a change, right? lol- prior to being here in the U.P., we lived in Omaha, NE for three years (I hated it). My husband is from MI, I moved downstate with him years ago, and fell in love with the state- we've lived downstate, up north, and now, WAY up north, lol.

I have to say that for me, being a native Californian, the move was exciting- and I fell in love with the entire state of Michigan- no clue why, it just really 'clicked' for me. We love where we live now, the scenery is just incomparable- we took a trip to Marquette recently, and the color of the sky, of Superior, of EVERYthing is just almost like something out of a paintbox, or something.

Worked out well for me. I've adopted the place now- California? Haven't been back in years, no intention of it either!
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