Any one need to get away from Michigan for a while?? (Grand Rapids: vacation, work)

[malamute]

Originally Posted by forestst

I'm a proud Michigander but now that I'm starting my fourth post-college year without any promising career opportunities I think it's time to leave. Seriously, I've now been five months without a job at all, not even the kind of restaurant and retail jobs I could easily pick up just after high school. Anybody I know who finally made the leap and left this state can only say they wish they did it sooner.

That's the perfect time to go, when you aren't tied down with home ownership, family, kids in school, spouses's job. People used to leave home just for the fun of it, the adventure -- to see new places and people, just to see if they could make it somewhere else.

Often the best job doesn't come looking for you, you have to go looking for it. If it's 4 years without getting started in your chosen career, you might have to make some compromises just to get your foot in the door but there's no time like the present.

I left home but not for the job situation, I left for the fun of it and for weather reasons because I found out the weather in other places suited me better. I think Michigan is a beautiful state, sometimes I even miss the winter -- maybe two days of it. You won't find anywhere with better lakes and rivers -- but no where is going to be perfect.

[jrmontag]

It was in the 80s where I'm at right now in Saginaw and I already hate it. Though maybe that's because I got burnt to a crisp at the Tigers game yesterday. My arms hurt so bad.


But I see where you're coming from. I love this state but I don't want to spend the rest of my life here and end up regretting the fact that I never tried anywhere new. I'm going to be 26 tomorrow and will have my doctorate in December. In my profession, I could easily get a job wherever I want in the US. While ultimately I'd like to end up in Michigan, I have a very strong urge to try something new while I am still young and single and not attached to anything here. That is why I have decided I would like to be a traveling physical therapist. I'll get to spend about 3 months at a time wherever I choose to work...so if I don't like it I get to pack right back up and try somewhere else. I think this will either help me appreciate Michigan more or help me decide where I'd like to spend my life and raise a family.

I don't know what profession you're in, but if it is something that has opportunities like this, I would maybe go that route and get a small taste of several places to see what you like best. I think my first trial will be Alaska, so in that sense I'd say I'm a bit different from you, heh.

[detshen]

I moved away when I was 23, and it was great! It's a wonderful growth experience to leave the place you have always known and create a life elsewhere. I came back because I wanted to be near to my family again. I appreciate Michigan so much more now. I find it amusing and a little sad that people fight with me when I tell them how much I like it here and that I am happy to be back.

To those of you leaving for life adventure, have fun! When the time comes we will be happy to have you back

[Bydand]

I also moved away when I was in my 20's. I traveled around a bit and finally landed in the Northeast. Right after I was married, we were taking a vacation back to my hometown area, and I will always remember driving down main street toward Lake Michigan. My DW asked me what it would take to get me to move back there. My reply was that wild horses and a million dollars couldn't drag me back. A couple of years later and I was SO ready to get back home. I can never imagine living outside Michigan again. For us it is the perfect place to raise out boys, and live out the rest of our lives.

My advice to all of you who are thinking of leaving: GO! You never know what you will find, who you will meet, or what you will see. If you have the chance to leave, do so. After traveling around and seeing all this great Country has to offer, you may just decide that home is the one state that can offer the total package. Maybe not, but you will never find your perfect place if you don't look for it. As my forefathers used to toast to travelers:

"May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you
In the palm of his hand."

Have fun, we'll leave the lights on for you if you decide this is the place for you to be.

[nw michigan]

Bydand that was great advice. I left Florida with three children in tow and am so glad I did. NW Michigan is the best place for raising kids.

[Rapunzll]

You are very young yet, go and explore, have some adventures. You can always come back if you want to!

[Bluefly]

I found my (well educated) peers who stayed in metro Detroit "matured" a lot faster - at least on paper. They married younger (then often divorced younger), had their stable jobs and the middle age pot bellies and were planning for retirement vacations in their mid twenties. It was kind of sad and hard to relate to them when I came back.

My friends on the east coast married later (if at all) and had far more vibrant but unpredictable careers.

That said - I went through the "palm tree" Jimmy Buffett escapist phase too. You should get away at your age, but know that it grows old. There's a deeper happiness within.

I don't understand why people complain about snow so much. I'd miss Christmas without it. Marquette (second most days of snow in the country) was rated as one of the most liveable cities in the country - a place where doctors and professors and others can't be dragged away by lures of higher income offers. It's like a winter wonderland full of people skiing and snowboard and snowmobiling (obnoxiously) in the winter, biking and sailing and hiking in the summer. In a recent survey, a majority of people rated the winters as a positive value in their lives.

There are plenty of islands and bays on the Great Lakes that look identical to the ones in the tropics. I just don't get why snow makes so many people miserable. You never hear people in Colorado complain about it. I think people in Michigan have just gotten addicted to sedentary lifestyles and snow is an obstacle to that. Obviously, it annoys me greatly.

[Michigansnowflake]

Originally Posted by Bluefly

I found my (well educated) peers who stayed in metro Detroit "matured" a lot faster - at least on paper. They married younger (then often divorced younger), had their stable jobs and the middle age pot bellies and were planning for retirement vacations in their mid twenties. It was kind of sad and hard to relate to them when I came back.

My friends on the east coast married later (if at all) and had far more vibrant but unpredictable careers.

That said - I went through the "palm tree" Jimmy Buffett escapist phase too. You should get away at your age, but know that it grows old. There's a deeper happiness within.

I don't understand why people complain about snow so much. I'd miss Christmas without it. Marquette (second most days of snow in the country) was rated as one of the most liveable cities in the country - a place where doctors and professors and others can't be dragged away by lures of higher income offers. It's like a winter wonderland full of people skiing and snowboard and snowmobiling (obnoxiously) in the winter, biking and sailing and hiking in the summer. In a recent survey, a majority of people rated the winters as a positive value in their lives.

There are plenty of islands and bays on the Great Lakes that look identical to the ones in the tropics. I just don't get why snow makes so many people miserable. You never hear people in Colorado complain about it. I think people in Michigan have just gotten addicted to sedentary lifestyles and snow is an obstacle to that. Obviously, it annoys me greatly.

Me too, I love the snow and all it brings (yes, even shoveling)....and dont get the people who whine about it

[MichiganMovesSouth]

I like the snow too - for the most part. I can't say driving in it is any fun.

I think the people in CO complain less because with their snow comes more sunshine than we have - at least I think so.

Just a thought....

[khfar]

Originally Posted by Michigansnowflake

Me too, I love the snow and all it brings (yes, even shoveling)....and dont get the people who whine about it

Just like some of us don't GET people who love the snow so much that they enjoy shoveling. I'd take warm weather and sunshine any day, but that's just me.