Thoughts for Thursday: Moving Away/Relocating

I have lived in MN nearly all of my life.

I hadn't always planned for it to be that way, in fact I had dreamed most of my life of living in Tucson, AZ.  I made the dream a reality for a short amount of time in 98-99 when I lived and taught on the Tohono O'Odham reservation (I also lived with my aunt Patti in Tucson for part of that time).  I loved it so much that I planned to live there permanently and found a job teaching special ed at the high school in Nogales, directly on the AZ/MX border.  I had planned to live in Tucson and commute the 60-90 minutes (one way) to work each day.  I put money down on an apartment, ordered my one-way UHaul, and had a couple of my friends who were going to drive me down  purchase their one-way tickets from AZ to MN.  Everything was set to go and then.....

6 weeks prior to the move I got a letter from the AZ Dept. of Ed denying my teaching license because I had not yet taken the 5 specialized tests that were required for my areas of licensure.  I could take the tests the following week for $100 each or wait two months when they would be offered again.  Say what??!!  I knew I had to take these tests, but I had been under the impression that I had a year provisional license.  Turns out that wasn't the case!

I had already been having second thoughts about moving.  I knew the commute to my job was going to get old real fast, I knew that I would have a limited support network in a very difficult position, all of my friends and family were in MN, and I had just started a relationship with a great guy who I really, really liked. (By the way, we're still together 9+ years later)

So about 5 weeks before I was scheduled to move, I decided to stay in MN!!

I have never regretted my decision (other than on the really cold days of winter!), but I know that the path of my life took a total different turn that what I always thought it would be.  I love different places and think I could probably live anywhere, but now that I am established here, it is hard to imagine uprooting my life.

Now that I have shared my story with you, I am curious to know who has moved away from their home state?  Can I ask what were the reasons for moving? What was the hardest part about moving away?  Are you happy with your decision? Would you like to move back?

For those of you who are stuck in your home state, where would you move if you could chose anyplace to live??

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Other TFT posts this week:

Kasey on summer plans and activites

Anne on door-to-door sales people

Denise on camping for an entire summer

Michelle on Noggin (Nickelodeon)

Kim on the little things we say and do

Jessica on bartering

Jenny on saving $ for kids

Robyn on gasoline

Comments

[jessica]

wow, AZ would be like night and day to MN!

i would have liked to live all over the place until having kids... after i had them i just wanted to be close to family so they would know their grandparents and cousins.

i'd have liked to tried living in colorado, hawaii, alaska, the extremes! i would miss minnesota's seasons though... fun post.

[Denise H.]

Ohhh, Great post!

I moved away from home to another state right after I graduated from high school. I had fun but missed home so much. It only lasted a year and then I was back. While thinking that I would love moving far away in the back of my mind I know that I would hate it. I am too close to my family to be that far away and to miss out on so many family things.

Right now I live 1 hour away from all of my family which seems more like a million miles away! I hate it and wish that we could move closer but being that my husbands career is here I won't get that chance until he retires. So, I had better get used to it! :)

Although, if things were different I have always wanted to live in either California or Texas.

[sarah]

Not only have I not left the state...
but I still live in the same town I was born in...and have my entire life.

I really can't imagine living elsewhere.
I love that I'm close to my family (we all live within 45 minutes of each other). I love that I'm close to the ocean (a MUST for me) but also close to mountains and desert.

I've often thought it would be exciting to live somewhere else for a while...but can only envision that as a temporary thing. I think I'd miss Oregon too much!

:)

[Nicole]

I've always lived within an hour of my family. After I graduated I went to college about 45 min away from home, and ended up transferring to a private university closer to home to finish up my degree. I've always thought I'd like the idea of moving away, finding a new city, establishing roots somewhere else but when it comes down to it I'm not sure I'll ever have the guts to do it now that we have kids. I've always been really close to my mom's side of the family and compared to my cousins who live in other states, there is a definite difference in the relationship I have with my grandma vs. their relationship with her because they see her only a few times a year. I want my kids to know their grandparents well, and to have that quality time with them. And, its just so convenient to have family nearby to rely on in a pinch when you need a babysitter or help with things (house, etc..). Maybe if we'd have moved before having kids it'd be different, but I think now that we have kids, even though we don't love the town we live in, we'll probably always live somewhat nearby our family- at least within an hour or two.

[Toni]

When I was 19 I met a guy and fell in love. About 4 months into the relationship. He was offered a job from the D.J company he worked for to run the Cleveland, Ohio office. Upon many talks. He decided he would take the job and I would go with him. We lived in Ohio for about 5 months and for some reason (he never said even when I asked) we moved back to Minnesota. I wished we hadn't came back cause I was sick of Minnesota and wanted to start fresh somewhere else. And, ever since I have said that someday I would leave Minnesota. Because, I feel that there are bigger and better things for me outside this state. And, the fact that I can not stand cold weather!!

[Julie]

I've lived in Minnesota all my life and I fear I will be here for the rest of it. I have dreamed about moving to a warmer climate for many years now. I HATE winter. I HATE the cold. I HATE the snow. I want to live where it doesn't snow and doesn't get this cold in the winter. I'm a family girl though and my family is here in Minnesota so that is why I stay. I don't know that I would survive (mentally) without being close to my Ma and Pa. It just wouldn't work, they are everything to me. So until I can get the entire family to move I am stuck here... which will be forever, the rest of my family likes the winter.

[Dana]

Ya know. I'm not one for change. If we did move, it would have to be somewhere where I knew people. Kev has said he wants to move far away... Canada, or somewhere warm. We've even talked about moving to Minnesota. But with Jasmine... it wouldn't be easy. I'd have a really difficult time adjusting though. So, for now, we aren't going anywhere! :)

[jenny]

i live in the same small town i grew up in. my husband is from here too (he lived out in the country though, not in town). we both lived an hour away when we went to college, but then returned home - as we both landed good jobs here. if we would not have been able to find good jobs, we might have moved, but we enjoy being close to our family. we also have good friends that live here as well. it just worked out that way for us. :)

[leslie]

I've moved away from my home state 3 times now. I think you know me enough by now to know my husband is in the Air Force so we move every few years to a new place. We've moved from Oklahoma (home state) to Alaska, Utah, and on June 2nd we leave for Italy. The hardest part about moving first is leaving the friendships you've made behind. The people you spend your time with most on a base become your family when your real family is so far away. Sometimes you'll see them again if you get on the same base again in your many moves and other times you may only have email contact or none at all. The second part about moving that I don't like is not knowing where I'm going to live and unpack my stuff. Unless you plan on having a home already in line to buy or rent you have to start looking or wait until a base house opens up (and those aren't always the best homes...but they are free too so you can't complain too much on that). The packing isn't so bad since the Gov't hires a company to come in and do all that for you; its the unpacking I dread a little.
I don't regret any of our moves. We wanted to go to the places we've been and always made the time to get out and discover what it had to offer us for fun and stuff. We love to travel so moving for us every few years isn't something that bothers us much. Would I ever move back to Oklahoma? Doubtful. Aside from this year that I've been here while DH has been in Korea I don't plan on ever living in OK again. It's not someplace I could see myself forever. The only way I'd come back here is if it was a nessary thing for us...it wouldn't be by choice. I can hardly wait to see what Italy has in store for us!

[Robyn]

I really had wanted to go to college out of state. Univeristy of Minnesota was my first choice. I was extemely excited to leave everyone behind and start fresh. Well, my dad talked me into going to UW and I really regret it. I'm fairly happy with what I have, family wise, but I think I could have obtained more going where I wanted to. Anywhoo, I live 4hr from where I grew up and am happy with that it could be farther for all I care. But my DH had to buy property up there.
If I could, I would love to live in NYC. I just love it.

[Mel]

I still live in the state I was born and raised in. However, I'm still "single" and don't have any kids so if the opportunity presented itself, I would move. I get REAL sick of winter, real quick around here. I'd have issues with being so far away from my family, as most of them are within 3 hours driving for me, but I think I'm the kind of person that could survive, and honestly there are some days when I feel like I NEED to move, but only time will tell.

[trav]

hmmm...moving away from home. i was an air force brat until my dad retired when i was 11 so moving was already kind of in the blood. germany 2 yrs, minnesota short time, virginia 2 yrs, vegas 7 yrs, minnesota again 7 yrs. so after graduation from h.s. i was accepted to the air force academy prep school (and eventually the air force academy itself) out in colorado. spent 5 years there there and then 3 yrs in utah. we've been here in ohio for almost a year now. so lets see, 7 moves in 27 years...not bad for a military brat. i still consider minnesota my "home state" since that's where my folks still live and where half my family is. obviously i moved away to join the military (and for free school :) haha) and i also believe there's a lot to be learned about yourself by moving away from home. i don't regret my decision one bit and i don't plan on moving back home anytime soon (even though i miss friends and family terribly). eventually we'll get back to minnesota, but we're enjoying what the rest of the country has to offer and making the most of our trips home. one thing i will say about living in a few different places is that every single place has a zillion reasons to love about it and every single place has a few reasons to hate living there...it's all about what you choose to focus on. and the most important part is to never forget where you came from and the friends/family that are still there who love you.

[michelle]

Well, if it weren't so damn expensive, I'd move to northern cali, wine country! It's gorgeous. Or to the northern coast out there. Pure beauty and tranquility!

[Dana Sterner]

I have never moved out of the state or even very far from where I have grown up. I am a Minnesota girl most definitely and am proud to live here and I will never consider moving out of state until retirement age. There is so much of my own state that I feel like I have yet to discover. I love the ocean and warm weather but I think I might not appreciate the vacations we take to these places as much since most of the places I have visited around the country are different than Minnesota and that distinction is important to me.