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This extreme idea tends to be extremely popular with people in my 18-25 age bracket and celebrities, people who just decide to move 1,000 miles away to somewhere random and start over. How is that something to do? I want to hear stories about this. What did that person, or you, do to prepare? What was the outcome? How did that person, or you, make out?
I did that, twice. Although I did it for school.. I did it all with my own money and my own planning pretty much just up and left. I think it's ok.. but I think that it's glamorized and doesn't deserve it. If you can't change yourself where you live, you're not going to be able to move and change yourself. If you don't have things planned out and move in a bad situation, it's probably only going to get worse.
You don't have to move to make yourself a better person, and if you think you have to go through extremes for self improvement.. then you're probably already setting yourself up for failure.
Right now I live about 750 miles from home, and I like it and met an awesome girl in the process who I wouldn't have met if I never moved. That being said, you get experiences no matter where you are. For me, it made me realize how great life is around family and that my hometown really was nice. At the same time, I'm very happy where I'm at.
Go with what you think is best, it's easy to change.. just don't set yourself up for failure.
This last time, I had enough with the job, enough with the city I lived in and wanted to get far away. I decided to pick the one place in the US I have never lived before.
From the time I decided that I was "going to do this now" to the time I was pulling out of my driveway with my things either on a truck on the way up there or packed in my car, and on my way to my new home, was one week.
The internet is wonderful.
Of course, it really does help to have experience moving so you know of all those little things to expect along the way.
I made no reservations to any hotels and did a quick look over at the map for most of the trip. I discovered what hotels would allow me to have my pets and picked a few in areas that were about 10 hours driving away. I would walk in and get a room. If I was unable to do that, I would have slept at a rest stop. I've done it before.
The only time I took any care to fine tune my route was when I realized that taking the freeway the whole way up would put me in the middle of the biggest fricken metropolitan area at rush hour. Hell with that. I got online at my hotel, talked to my friends and they told me a better way to go. I mapped it out and had that in hand so that the next day, I could avoid the drama and heart failure.
Also, I know traveling with pets to allow extra stops in addition to gas stops and food stops. Stopped at rest stops every four hours no matter what and let the dogs out to stretch their legs, do their thing and meet people as well as sniff around. I made it a great adventure for them and they loved every minute of it.
Online you can find:
Businesses that will move your stuff
People who will transport your pets, (if you need this)
Housing
General idea of your route
General idea of hotel locations, (pet friendly hotels can be found online as well)
General idea of rest stop locations
Before I left, I took my car to a mechanic, allowed that they would probably rip me off, was prepared for that, let them do just about everything possible to that car to ensure that all would be well before I drove 1700 miles away from my familiar surroundings. In the end, I think they probably only pushed one thing that could have waited but whatever.
I didn't have much need for a cell before I moved but went and bought one for the trip, (pay as you go) and had my new area code and number set up days before I left.
From the time I decided to go, I had everything ready in 3 days. The only reason it took me a week to go was because I had to wait for the people who were going to ship my stuff to have an opening.
Moving is not as hard as some make it out to be...meaning, just the stuff you have to do. The part that most people have a hard time with is leaving friends and family behind. I've moved all of my life so I'm so used to it, that doesn't even really get to me. There's still a bit of anxiousness, of course, but it's like second nature to me now.
Forgot to add, yes I did move without having a job lined up. I also went through some hell staying in a place to save up the money so I could eventually just up and move. I had a nest egg before I moved. One or the other, you have a job or a good chunk of savings before you go. If you don't have either one, chances are you will fail.
We did it once but it was from Alaska to Indiana, where we knew no one. Job in AK was the pitts and going nowhere, got a similiar job in Indiana within 24 hours of arriving for a vacation. Had no plans on ever leaving AK when we went on vacation. Sold house, moved and transferred both jobs in less than 60 days.
First 6 months were very very hard but survived. Good thing we were young and owned very little.
My husband and I did it moving from Georgia to Indiana. We had visited the new city a couple times over a few years to check it out but when we moved we did it with no job or housing set up. We rented a storage builing to store our stuff and stayed in a motel for a week until we rented a place. It took about 3 weeks to find a job. Not easy but it has worked out well and we dont regret it.
This extreme idea tends to be extremely popular with people in my 18-25 age bracket and celebritie.
People with some useful skill, some cash in the bank and no legal ties to a place (eg mortgage) can do well.
People without useful skills, some cash or with responsibilities that will hound them? Not so much.
Quote:
I want to hear stories about this. What did that person, or you, do to prepare?
What was the outcome? How did that person, or you, make out?
Visit a homeless shelter and ask the ones who weren't prepared how it went.
I moved from Milwaukee to South Florida in '95.
Read the book, "How to Get a Job Really Fast" and did exactly as it suggested.
In November of '95, I flew myself to Florida for an interview I'd set up and was offered the job.
A friend of a friend let me rent a room in her house until I became acclimated.
I went back home and pretty much sold everything and drove to Florida just before Xmas.
I've been here since, but am currently looking to move sometime next year.
(Florida's population is out of control, and the salary vs housing costs defy logic.)
I'm doing it in a few months. I'm going from Tampa to Los Angeles with no job and not knowing anybody. All I really have is a backpack full of stuff, mainly clothes. I'm 22, and the OP is right, young people are the type who usually do this.
My life is a non-starter here and there is absolutely nothing for me here. And in order to get my life going, I have to move. The only thing is, nowadays you have to have a bunch of savings to make a move like this. 10-12 years ago you could move with almost nothing.
Can't wait.
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