Possible Move to Tampa - Looking for some experienced advice (Clearwater: new home, college)

[indianaICE]

Hey everyone,

I have received a job offer in Tampa. The money is good and we have friends in the area. My concern is that I have lived near my family my whole life. Particularly my parents. Maybe I depend on them too much, especially since my wife and I have a 7 month old son. But then again, I have never been happy living in Indiana, especially during the cold, gray winter months. I tried talking with my parents about relocating and of course got the crying and saying it would be hard because there is no family around to help.

While I know that could be a problem, I do have friends that live in the Clearwater area. So we would still have people around if we needed help with anything.

I guess my question to all of you is this: Did any of you have a close relationship with your family before you moved and it actually was a good thing for you to relocate.

I have a feeling if I don't do it now and let my parents win, I will regret it. I love my family, I love being around them, but I also want to be out on my own with my own family and take life by the horns.

ugh...why is this so hard?

Thanks for taking the time to read my venting... =)

[Lily Grace]

I can't tell you about moving to Tampa in particular but I can tell you that leaving family that you are close to in order to relocate is hard at first but you will make friends and build a community of "family by choice" to surround yourself & your wife with when you get there.

I lived in the same town I grew up in (Hope, Arkansas) until I was in my mid 20's then my husband, my 1 y/o baby and I moved 13 hours away to deep south Texas (Brownsville). The first couple of months were a little tough and I longed for the comfort of home and family but soon we made friends, had cookouts, learned our way around, spent time on the beach and settled into our new life and our new home. We lived there for over 9 years and enjoyed it very much. And living far away made going home to visit became a joy that we looked forward to but we/I learned to be more independent by striking out on our own.

I'd say it was the best decision I ever made. I no longer have the fear of the unknown and am looking forward to striking out from Alabama with my husband (#2) who has never lived anywhere but his hometown where we currently live and heading for Clearwater Beach (or along the outer island somewhere) at the first of May. No fear for me at all.

You guys will be fine. Have a little faith, follow your dreams and just go for it.

Wishing you the best,
~Barb~

[THEZMAN]

If the company is paying for the move ...I say go for it!
1. Life is meant for experiencing..why not experience being on your own-with your wife and child.
2. You can always go back for visits and they can come see you (those will be extra special times)
3. With phone and computers, you are really not very far away..
Live a little...

[gypsychic]

Go for it! My husband is also from Indiana and left right after college for a professional job down here, as did his best friend. Best thing either of them ever did. These days it is so easy to keep in touch with email, phone and flights. It's really not that far. Sure they are unhappy thinking about you moving, but believe me they WILL get over it. People leave their families all the time and some move much further than you will be doing. And as the poster above said, when you do spend time together it will all that much more enjoyable and special.

Good luck!

[MortonR]

We were in a similar situation back in the 80s. It was really bad, as we had the first grandchild, were close to the in-laws, etc. As difficult as it was, we made the move and never regretted it.

What it did is forced the in-laws to realize they didn't want to live in Indiana the rest of their lives, and within a year of our leaving they moved to Florida. Roughly 10 years later we did as well.

When we first told them my mother in law told me I was on the top of her "list". On the way home the wife explained to me that it was a list I didn't want to be on. I was able to resolve the situation when we moved to Florida, explaining that we had come full circle and if we hadn't of moved away from Indiana they wouldn't have moved to Florida.

They are very pleased to be here as are we. That first grandchild will be 24 this month and none of us have regretted the moves we made. Your situation will be similar, I'm sure.

And being a native Hoosier and having recently returned for a few years, I highly encourage you to move down here. You will not regret it. Absolutely.

RM