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I know what you're going through, and this may come off sounding harsh, but I wish someone had said it to me earlier!!
What makes you think your life is magically going to change for the better, by shifting your situation 900 miles in another direction? Whatever has got you down where you are, can, and usually follows you if you move to a new area. From reading your earlier posts, moving to a new place blindly, with next to no money, assuming your beater-car can make the trip with you and your possesions intact, and trying to start over from scratch without a job to leave from, or transfer to, sounds like a dissaster already in progress. And jobs are not easy to come by, no matter where you live right now.
Unless you can put your finger on what's not making you happy. Is it your job? You don't have to disrupt your mother and grandparents, (and the rest of your life) just to find a new job. Is it your home? It's cheaper to relocate when you stay within the same zipcode usually.
Is it terminally winter where you live? I could sympathize with a decision to move to sunny CA, etc, for something like that.
Are you hoping the change of pace will open new doors for you to begin collecting scads of friends?
If you're not working, staying holed up and miserable might have a little bit to do with not getting out and socializing with anyone other than your immediate family.
I am not advocating sinking into a rut you've built for yourself if you're unhappy. But coming from someone that grew up moving every 2-3 years of their life. . . . you take it with you when you go. And your life is only as good as you make it, no matter where you're making it at this point in time. I've had them in the past, but I don't have any friends where I live now. And I can stand here and point the finger of fault only at myself, without needing to uproot and redo my life over it.
Redecorate - paint your room a bright new cheerful color. Get outside and find a new hobby. Do you have any pets? They work wonders for companions, and will change your whole outlook!
Don't live your life to please everyone else around you. You need to be happy, yourself. But don't go dreaming about a better world half way across the country, unrealistically, because in reality, anyone anywhere can be miserable, depressed, not have a job, or a nice car, and be lonely.
By moving to a bigger city, you'll be in the same category, just be a smaller statistic.
Last edited by Marylandkitten; 10-22-2009 at 03:59 PM..
Thanks for your post and all your information. I am aware that the economy is not good anywhere, but the economy has always been very weak in Pensacola. It's a small town and there are not many companies here and most of the jobs are military related (which I cannot get clearance for) or health related (due to the retired population here). In 2006, when the economy was pretty much at it's peak, it took me 6 months to find a job here. I was laid off in 2008 when my company downsized and I have not been able to find much work since, only temp contract jobs. I have pretty much been unemployed for 1.5 years now. In 2008 shortly before I was laid off and I knew something was up at my company, I was thinking of moving to Columbus and applied for a few jobs (3 or 5) and every one of them called me in for a interview and was even higher paying than what I was making in Pensacola and was also in my field of interest. Because I have been out of work for such a long period, I have pretty much lost everything and I am falling into bankrupcy at age 25. All my cousins have moved away from Pensacola, and the only ones that remain are my mom, my grandparents, and my uncle, but my uncle is planning on moving in the next few years when his wife retires as he hates it here as well. I have also lived here my entire life, and pretty much have done and seen everything a hundred times and I am just really bored with the area, it just isn't exciting to me anymore. I live 10 minutes from the beach and haven't been in years just because I don't enjoy it anymore. The area is very hot and humid and I would love to live somewhere where winter actually feels like winter and where you would have the four seasons.
The area here is just too small for my liking. I pretty much know all of the major companies and jobs in this area and even the local hotspots. We only have one club here and you just always see the same faces. The same goes with dating websites, I've been on pretty much every major dating website and it's always the same people and the same type of people, woman who want to marry a military guy (we have over 5 bases here!) I just don't like it here anymore, there isn't much to do and I feel like I have hit a dead end. I don't have a social life and never have my entire life living here. I've never had much luck with the dating scene either as most women as I said just wants to end up with a miliary guy or an attractive lifeguard, which I am far from. I've also always hated the job market here. In my field, one major job site only shows 13 jobs, but for Columbus, there are over 300 in my field on one site, and over 900 on another site, all in my field! My field is very popular in Columbus due to all the large companies that call the city it's home.
I have 2 close friends, believe it or not, that just moved away from Columbus, to live here in Maryland.
If you're used to hot and humid, I might suggest waiting for the winter to be over in Ohio before you try moving up there. It can be brutal, and very unforgiving.
I'm all for moving and kick-starting yourself into a better life if you want to. And I think everyone on here wants you to be happy, just keep in mind the afore-mentioned concernes. Sometimes, more often than not, it's not the moving that changes your life for the better when you land, but the outlook you cast when you shed your former self and have a chance to start somewhere new and fresh. If you have the means to get there, job opportunites lined up for when you roll in, and somewhere safe to stay in the interim, I would already be packing out of excitement
I don't know anything about Columbus, compared to Pensacola, so I won't be any help here.
beware those sites w/ lots of job openings..many of them don't really have openings, they are phishing for info and not even the company they say they are sometimes, or they are just stockpiling resumes.
Whatever you do, get a job BEFORE you move. I'm from Ohio and the economy is terrible there, worse than most places. I have seen SO MANY people move b4 they secure a job, thinking they could get one and it just doesn't always happen like that and they wind up worse than b4.
beware those sites w/ lots of job openings..many of them don't really have openings, they are phishing for info and not even the company they say they are sometimes, or they are just stockpiling resumes.
Whatever you do, get a job BEFORE you move. I'm from Ohio and the economy is terrible there, worse than most places. I have seen SO MANY people move b4 they secure a job, thinking they could get one and it just doesn't always happen like that and they wind up worse than b4.
Again, get a job before you move.
The economy in Ohio is one of the worst in the country, I will agree 100% to that. However, Columbus is the one, and only exception to that. Columbus wasn't built around the rust belt as the other cities were, and Columbus is the youngest city, so most of Columbus is large companies, not steel plants and factory's. Columbus is the only city in Ohio that is growing as the other major cities are shrinking. Another thing is Columbus is the capital of Ohio, so there are government jobs there as well, which is a plus.
I don't have a job right now other than a work from home job which is only making me peanuts. This job can move with me thankfully as it's just work from home until I can land something better. The work from home job isn't going to last very well as it is something I hate doing and that I am not very good at and never have been good at, which is why I want to move because there are many more jobs in my field.
I am aware of bad job sites and whatnot. There is only a few select few that I use, I don't just go to google and type in columbus jobs, that's just asking for trouble. I have family in Ohio which has told me of several websites to go to and several companies as well. There are many more jobs there than here.
You aren't kidding. My car is a POS. As I said, I lost everything and had to get an old beater for a while, a $900 car... 1998 Chevy Lumina with 87,000 miles on it. Since I have had the car, I have put over $1000 into it. It has new belts, new tires, several oil changes, transmission flushed out, and coolant system flushed. The car has a gas leak, which I am getting fixed next week. The car has a bad fuel pump, so sometimes (not too often) the car has a hard time starting, but starts every time. You can hear a humming sound from the rear of the car which is the pump going bad and will need to be replaced eventually but still works. The engine also does need some work, but it is not major and is not causing problems at this time. I have not had the brakes checked since having the car, but it's not using any fluid and the brakes feel fine. The steering is slightly loose, most likely due to worn tie rods but again, it's not major just normal wear/tear.
I have been driving the car 70 miles each day for the past several months and have not had a single problem with it. I'm pretty sure the car will make the trip just fine and the only thing that does worry me is the fuel pump, but the car has been driven over 4000 miles in the past few months without any issues so I'm sure it could make a 900 mile trip just fine. There is also a slight chance it may not even be a fuel pump, it could just be a clogged fuel filter, but have been told it's the pump by two mechanics.
The economy in Ohio is one of the worst in the country, I will agree 100% to that. However, Columbus is the one, and only exception to that. Columbus wasn't built around the rust belt as the other cities were, and Columbus is the youngest city, so most of Columbus is large companies, not steel plants and factory's. Columbus is the only city in Ohio that is growing as the other major cities are shrinking. Another thing is Columbus is the capital of Ohio, so there are government jobs there as well, which is a plus.
I don't have a job right now other than a work from home job which is only making me peanuts. This job can move with me thankfully as it's just work from home until I can land something better. The work from home job isn't going to last very well as it is something I hate doing and that I am not very good at and never have been good at, which is why I want to move because there are many more jobs in my field.
I am aware of bad job sites and whatnot. There is only a few select few that I use, I don't just go to google and type in columbus jobs, that's just asking for trouble. I have family in Ohio which has told me of several websites to go to and several companies as well. There are many more jobs there than here.
Just be careful. I live in Charlotte, NC and you have NO IDEA how many transplants come down from NY/NJ thinking they can get a job because they see lots of opening posted on sites, which may be reputable sites, but the jobs are just feelers, or the job is already filled, etc, etc,..then they are screwed.
No matter how many job openings there are, remember we are in a recession and if there are 300 jobs available, they probably have 3000 applicants.
It is not wise to move someplace new in this economy w/out a job secured. That is my main point, and I hope you take it to heart as I say it w/ the best of intentions
He moved to Portland, a city where (apparently) he rides a bike to work every day, they're very green there. I think about it and want to shoot myself in the face sometimes, not having to pay a monthly carpayment, insurance, oil changes, new tires, registration, taxes, holy moly, gimme a bike already!
Granted, this only really works in areas that you could reasonably commute by bike or foot, given the weather conditions.
But back on topic, if you have family in Ohio, I can why you are leaning towards a safe haven there to start over, but I agree with the above. Finding a job is never as easy as it seems. Having enough money to live off of until you find something, anything, may be what makes or breaks you, when you're in over your head.
Just be careful. I live in Charlotte, NC and you have NO IDEA how many transplants come down from NY/NJ thinking they can get a job because they see lots of opening posted on sites, which may be reputable sites, but the jobs are just feelers, or the job is already filled, etc, etc,..then they are screwed.
No matter how many job openings there are, remember we are in a recession and if there are 300 jobs available, they probably have 3000 applicants.
It is not wise to move someplace new in this economy w/out a job secured. That is my main point, and I hope you take it to heart as I say it w/ the best of intentions
I do know. I have been unemployed for 1.5 years which is why I want to move. I was thinking about moving to Columbus a year ago and started applying for jobs and had several phones calls and even a job offer. It didn't take me long to find a job there, but here in Pensacola.. I have applied for over 200 jobs in 1.5 years and not get a single phone call, but in Columbus I applied for 3 or 4, and every one of them called me and one even gave me a offer after a phone interview.
I would be moving before I had a job, because I don't have a stable job right now and at least if I was up there, it would make applying for jobs much easier as I would be there to apply for them. I'm not doing anything with life here and I feel like a complete failure here. I know people here who have been unemployed for 2+ years, and the local media has called this town a "sinking ship" due to all the city leaders leaving, companies, and people leaving. Population has shrunk here whereas Columbus is growing.
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- paint your room a bright new cheerful color. Get outside and find a new hobby. Do you have any pets? They work wonders for companions, and will change your whole outlook!
