Tennessee for retirement (Memphis, Jackson: lease, to live in, club)

[pnwretired]

Originally Posted by LauraC

If you plan to fly home to the PNW you'll want to not choose someplace in East Tennessee because we lack an international airport. You'll want to fly out of Nashville (Middle) or Memphis (Memphis). Mt Juliet is close to Nashville.

Thank you Laura, No will not be flying back but daughter and granddaughter will be coming (hopefully) to visit us.

[theoldnorthstate]

Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry

I am a liberal, do not hunt (although I am not against it), and I am atheist Despite all of this I am pretty convinced that we will end up retiring in TN. Politics are not that important to me. Good people, beautiful surroundings, low cost of living and overall quality of life is much more important to me than how my neighbor votes or what he does on his Sundays

amen

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry

I am a liberal, do not hunt (although I am not against it), and I am atheist Despite all of this I am pretty convinced that we will end up retiring in TN. Politics are not that important to me. Good people, beautiful surroundings, low cost of living and overall quality of life is much more important to me than how my neighbor votes or what he does on his Sundays

You should fit right in, we'll leave the lights on for you.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

You should fit right in, we'll leave the lights on for you.

Hey again Double T, good to see you. My quest continues, next move is to bring by wife to JC for a visit.

[DaveinMtAiry]

I gotta say the thought of picking up, saying goodbye to your existing life, and setting up shop in an entirely new state scares the crap out of me and I admire those here who have done it. We are very outgoing and have always made friends easily but we've also had the same friends for 30 years. I am petrified that we will move to TN, discover we are bored and lonely, and kind of be "stuck" there missing home. It's also a long way from the beach.

[J&Em]

Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry

I gotta say the thought of picking up, saying goodbye to your existing life, and setting up shop in an entirely new state scares the crap out of me and I admire those here who have done it. We are very outgoing and have always made friends easily but we've also had the same friends for 30 years. I am petrified that we will move to TN, discover we are bored and lonely, and kind of be "stuck" there missing home. It's also a long way from the beach.

Dave it is a big step and everyone who has made the leap has pretty much the same misgivings, me included. There will be a period of adjustment and while you may have super friendly neighbors you won't have instant friends. But.... stay positive, it does get better. As long as you have some interests (hobbies) or can do volunteer work you will find new friends. It may take a while to have as many good friends as you did but it will begin to happen. The people who have done least well in the transition have always waited for people to find them and befriend them and often speak about how things were done in where ever they had come from. In other words they came across as negative. As my circle of friends and acquaintances gets bigger I find those who had already developed a hobby and/or those who got out into the community to work with others are the ones that will also tell you how much they love it here.

There is a lot to love about the area and I'm sure you will do just fine!

[Pam& Bill]

Originally Posted by J&Em

Dave it is a big step and everyone who has made the leap has pretty much the same misgivings, me included. There will be a period of adjustment and while you may have super friendly neighbors you won't have instant friends. But.... stay positive, it does get better. As long as you have some interests (hobbies) or can do volunteer work you will find new friends. It may take a while to have as many good friends as you did but it will begin to happen. The people who have done least well in the transition have always waited for people to find them and befriend them and often speak about how things were done in where ever they had come from. In other words they came across as negative. As my circle of friends and acquaintances gets bigger I find those who had already developed a hobby and/or those who got out into the community to work with others are the ones that will also tell you how much they love it here.

There is a lot to love about the area and I'm sure you will do just fine!

Oh, the wisdom of Auntie Em! I agree 100% with her.
Pam

[Ginsaw]

Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry

I gotta say the thought of picking up, saying goodbye to your existing life, and setting up shop in an entirely new state scares the crap out of me and I admire those here who have done it. We are very outgoing and have always made friends easily but we've also had the same friends for 30 years. I am petrified that we will move to TN, discover we are bored and lonely, and kind of be "stuck" there missing home. It's also a long way from the beach.

I have a theory. It is, if one is somebody who is friendly and likes people, you'll get along fine anywhere. People all over being basically the same. So, you already have the most important thing working for you.

The part about getting bored though is harder to say. And that depends on your interests. As a retiree myself (and I'm assuming many/most of those inquiring about moving are in the same situation), I know that one can face a practical consideration. Which is, what is the latest in life you can make a move to a new state or region.

And I say that having seen the process with others up in years. A husband, for instance, was the "explorer" who wanted to try every state, if he could, and just wanted to sample life in a new area. First one, then another. Now, the wife was "on board" with all this, but deep down wanted to be near the kids. And this moving around worked OK until she had a serious medical issue, requiring that the great adventure stop and a move back near family got real clear. So, there may be a "word to the wise" in that experience. Which is, I wouldn't try this after a certain age. For me, that would be about 55, coinciding with the start of some health problems.

But, there's an "on the other hand". I know of a couple who moved from a large city to a lake-resort area in their late 40s. It was something that seemed a good idea until they discovered there just wasn't much to do there. The scenery was nice, but you can sit and look at it just so long. And being on the lake in a boat is fun - for a while. Then it dawns, that it's people and conversation you really need. So, what happens. They move back to the big city. The explanation was, "we moved there too soon".

Anyway, it helps a LOT if you have a hobby interest that draws you to the new place. And that being the case, I'll let you in on how we are dealing with the retiree phase. We live in a large city in TN, but purchased a plot of rural land big enough to hunt on in another county. Then we discovered an intense interest in just exploring the place, learning all about what kind of trees we have and how to identify them, having soil tests done, having spring water tested, researching what nut and fruit trees to plant, considering putting in a small lake to fish on and how to build a dam for it, putting in food plots for wildlife and figuring out what grains to plant, learning how to drive a tractor, building a small cabin and with all that, guess what, we find we have more interesting "stuff" to do than we could accomplish in a lifetime.

Oh, and you also get to know all the locals and are around them a lot and are regarded as one yourself, even without trying. And all without having to leave the state.

And that's just another take on the retiree theme...

[pnwretired]

Ginsaw: Thanks for your insight.

[NY Annie]

We moved here from NYC 7 months ago and the only regret we have is the distance of the airports from us. We have a small town nearby - 20 minutes away and the nearest small city is Jackson, a 45 minute drive.

We love it - although I wish we had some better shopping opportunities. We are meeting people and actually busier now than before retirement. I'm involved with animal rescue in Jackson and going to jump in with helping my county set up some services for rescue/care/education in some way. I still plan to find some other volunteer activities but for now, as we fix up the house and property, It's enough.

We are enjoying and our only regret is the distance/expense/time to travel back to the northeast where our scattered family and friends still are.