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I grew up on Long Island, then moved to Oakland, CA in 1973, when I was 24. Got lucky with a great job with high wages, benefits and exceptionally large pension. I stayed with it for nearly 30 years. Took early retirement at 55 and moved cross country to Floyd, VA. It's a county with one traffic light, lots and lots of cows and about 15,000 people.
I've been here for over 11 years and am still very happy. I really enjoy rural living on 28 acres with a long stream crossing the property for the many old retrievers I've adopted over the years. I don't miss the bumper to bumper traffic, living one neighborhood over from the drug war zone, etc. I do still miss Chinese food but I manage to have some now and again.
Change can be wonderful if you know what you are going in to and I did.
I'm familiar with the Floyd area as we have traveled on the Blue Ridge Parkway many times and have been into Floyd. First time through (40 years ago or so) we stopped at Mabry Mill; got a picture hanging here on the wall. Really pretty area and one that we thought about at one time for retirement. Oakland to Floyd; now that is some change!!
I grew up on Long Island, then moved to Oakland, CA in 1973, when I was 24. Got lucky with a great job with high wages, benefits and exceptionally large pension. I stayed with it for nearly 30 years. Took early retirement at 55 and moved cross country to Floyd, VA. It's a county with one traffic light, lots and lots of cows and about 15,000 people.
I've been here for over 11 years and am still very happy. I really enjoy rural living on 28 acres with a long stream crossing the property for the many old retrievers I've adopted over the years. I don't miss the bumper to bumper traffic, living one neighborhood over from the drug war zone, etc. I do still miss Chinese food but I manage to have some now and again.
Change can be wonderful if you know what you are going in to and I did.
I'm certainly not against people relocating. I've done it numerous times myself.
What I don't get are people who really don't like wherever they are, but stay there for years and years. I have a cousin in the NYC area. Every morning on Facebook, she's posting something about the subway, how bad people smell, traffic congestion, etc. She seems to hate it there, but has lived there her whole life AFAIK. Just seems silly to stay somewhere you don't like for that long.
I'm certainly not against people relocating. I've done it numerous times myself.
What I don't get are people who really don't like wherever they are, but stay there for years and years. I have a cousin in the NYC area. Every morning on Facebook, she's posting something about the subway, how bad people smell, traffic congestion, etc. She seems to hate it there, but has lived there her whole life AFAIK. Just seems silly to stay somewhere you don't like for that long.
If you don't have the means and money to move and especially if there are kids involved, you are stuck. Period.
That said, although I have talked to my friends about it, I don't advertise it to the world.
If you don't have the means and money to move and especially if there are kids involved, you are stuck. Period.
That said, although I have talked to my friends about it, I don't advertise it to the world.
Lots of good reasons have been given for not moving. And just because you choose to move, doesn't mean you hate where you live, you would just like to live somewhere else for awhile.
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Lots of good reasons have been given for not moving. And just because you choose to move, doesn't mean you hate where you live, you would just like to live somewhere else for awhile.
Right but SC is talking about people who actually hated where they lived (like me), but couldn't figure a way to get out. Son is now a grown up and living his own happy life, so I can finally make it happen.
I'm certainly not against people relocating. I've done it numerous times myself.
What I don't get are people who really don't like wherever they are, but stay there for years and years. I have a cousin in the NYC area. Every morning on Facebook, she's posting something about the subway, how bad people smell, traffic congestion, etc. She seems to hate it there, but has lived there her whole life AFAIK. Just seems silly to stay somewhere you don't like for that long.
You are 100% right about it being silly to spend your life somewhere you don't like or aren't happy. Maybe your cousin just likes to complain about NYC, it's kind of a birth right. I'm born and raised there too, Worked most of my career in Midtown. I love NYC and I remember when it was a real dump. I live 2 hours north now but we're constantly driving down or jumping on the train in to the City. Wife was at a B'Way show yesterday and we're planning to hit the Bronx Zoo this weekend.
I used to bring my daughter in to work occasionally when she was little and she loved being in NYC. She couldn't wait to get out of our country charmer of a town and go to college in NYC. Now she lives and works there full time. So my daughter did do something to get away from a place where she was bored silly and moved to the place your cousin sounds unhappy. Funny how that works. That's why Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors.
...I have a cousin in the NYC area. Every morning on Facebook, she's posting something about the subway, how bad people smell, traffic congestion, etc. She seems to hate it there, but has lived there her whole life AFAIK. Just seems silly to stay somewhere you don't like for that long.
You don't understand... if us NYers didn't complain we would have an identity crisis! We would be Minnesotans or something!
So from another question I recently asked, it seems that relocating to a lower cost of living during retirement seems to be a very popular option. I admit that for me it's not an option for 2 reasons, primarily family and loved ones and two, from my experience, every single person I know that relocated far from the place they spent the last 40 years ended up back within 2 years for various reasons. mainly folks who moved to Florida or Arizona and then hated it when they got there.
So if you have relocated, a few questions.
How far from your original home did you move?
What was your biggest adjustment?
If you have kids/grandkids do you see them often?
1. From Michigan to Texas-1,400+ miles
2. None, I loved Texas from my first visit (daughter in Military, came to visit at Christmas time).
3. Daughter decided no more cold Michigan winters, stayed in Texas. She and her now family are 7 miles away from me.
The weather and the lower cost of living are 2 reasons I now call Texas home. I tried returning to Michigan in 2012, was there less than 5 months before returning to Texas, or should I say "home".
Most of us don't have jobs that we'd gladly do for free. I don't dislike my job, but I wouldn't be here for free. There are a handful of occupations that are based in such expensive cities that aren't really done elsewhere. If someone is one of those occupations, they may not be able to move. For most of us, it's a reasonable option.
Yep, priorities change. A lot of people from "the city" want to retire somewhere "out in the country," but fail to consider a lot of things. There are plenty of communities here in rural southwest Virginia where a family physician may be an hour away. There might only be a Food City and Walmart around for over an hour. While the mountain views are pretty, living in such a place may not be very reasonable overall, and is definitely going to be a shock for people coming from mainstream America.
Some people only want to live in the biggest and most prestigious of cities, like Chicago. Others would never set foot in such a big city and are fine miles from anything. Most people want something in between.
I just find it bizarre that some people could get to a relatively old age without much understanding of where they want to live, what lifestyles suit them and communities that would fit the need, etc. If you've done something for many, many years, it's probably what you like (or you at least didn't actively dislike it) or you wouldn't have tolerated it for so long anyway.
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you in your early 30's?
So how would your judgement about what older people do be based on anything other than a young person's POV based on a bunch of generalizations?
Of course you find it "bizarre". You haven't even lived half your working life yet.
I grew up on Long Island, then moved to Oakland, CA in 1973, when I was 24. Got lucky with a great job with high wages, benefits and exceptionally large pension. I stayed with it for nearly 30 years. Took early retirement at 55 and moved cross country to Floyd, VA. It's a county with one traffic light, lots and lots of cows and about 15,000 people.
I've been here for over 11 years and am still very happy. I really enjoy rural living on 28 acres with a long stream crossing the property for the many old retrievers I've adopted over the years. I don't miss the bumper to bumper traffic, living one neighborhood over from the drug war zone, etc. I do still miss Chinese food but I manage to have some now and again.
Change can be wonderful if you know what you are going in to and I did.
I thank the CA ratepayers and taxpayers every day for my great pension. Then when I retired I moved.
That seems wrong.
Now, don't get me wrong, I contributed to the Fund that funds my pension, but the agency realllllly contributed to it!
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