Have you ever moved away?

My house move over the weekend past went relatively well. It's amazing how much less stress is involved when you pay someone else to pack and move you.

While the unpacking is mostly done, there is still a lot of stuff to do. Ikea is dropping off my new wardrobes tonight, I have to install some shelves, figure out where our art will go (when we have a lot less wall space). That said, my commute this morning was less than 15 minutes.

I am confident that this will be a good move once all the junk is sorted. Mostly I am looking forward to using my bbq.

 

We moved quite a few times when I was younger, but my first major move was to Salt Lake City from the little town I spent the majority of the my childhood in. I moved to go to college, I was only 17. When I was 21, I moved to a small town in North Carolina, as my husband joined the Marine Corps. We moved back to SLC 7 years ago when hubby's enlistment was up.

I miss NC. NC is the only place I've truly felt at home, even though I've lived most of my life in Utah. I despise most of Utah and wish we'd never come back. SLC is tolerable I suppose, but there is no way in hell I'd consider living anywhere else in the state. I consider SLC my hometown, and not the town I grew up in.

 

I'm currently trying to relocate to San Diego. It will be the farthest I've been away from my family in my life. I have lived with my mom for far too long and it's time to move out. That and there are zero jobs where I live.

 

I moved "away" to college at 18.. but since it was <2 hours from home, I don't feel it truly counts.

However, I did move ~400 miles across 5 states to Northern VA when I graduated from college. While part of my experience there sucked, it was definitely worth my while. I started to really find myself and learn to stand on my own two feet and be my own support system. I was really evolving during my last 6 months or so, and that process continued when I moved back home to Ohio due to my father's sudden passing.

I moved away again recently to return to school in Columbus, OH. I love this city, and I love it even more now that I'm truly getting in touch with it. I feel like I only ever skimmed the surface of the potential in the cities and areas I lived in.. in the last couple years I've learned to appreciate community festivals and organizations a hell of a lot more, and now that I'm back in a walkable/bike-able city, I am happy as can be. I've attended at least a half dozen community events in the 7 weeks or so that I've lived back in this city, and I can't believe I never cared about them before. Knowing how to get somewhere by bus, bike, or on foot has put me in much closer touch with my "home" and I think I would be happy in this neighborhood forever, honestly. It's a great location and there are a lot of really fantastic resources nearby. I am extremely happy my living situation worked out the way it did, almost completely due to chance.

 

not sure where my 'roots' are these days. My motivation to stay in this area is mainly the kids now and when they get older who know? I am partial to both Florida and Oregon for numerous reasons.

 

I moved to Arizona from Ontario a couple of months ago, I've been moving away from home starting at 16 when I played hockey, never really miss the Ottawa Valley much to be honest, there isn't much there work wise, if you don't work at the military base or AECL you're basically just getting by, not too sure of the job outlook here either, but that's a couple of months off as papers still have to be filed, of course I miss my friends to a degree and my family, but moving far away has never bothered me. When I played hockey back in the day it was basically hockey season with a billet and once school ended back home, guess that contributed to my nomadic lifestyle, at least until I got married and settled down, now no more moves for me.

 

I moved to Salt Lake City from CT when I was 22 or so for about 6 weeks. I didn't really like being so far away by myself and moved back about 6 weeks later. When I was 30 I moved to NY for work and really like the area I'm in now (Catskills). I moved to Endicott NY for a year and a half for work and it was OK, but too flat for my liking. I moved to LA for 4 months for work and had a great time.

 

born and raised in northern illinois. at 18, I went to usmc boot camp in san diego, then stationed near memphis, then coastal north carolina for 5 years. after getting out, i moved back to illinois. it felt 'safe' being back home. didn't last long though. after some disturbing personal crap, i said to hell with it and left illinois. moved to new mexico for 2.5 years, then dallas tx in late 97. been here ever since. I do not miss illinois.

 

I've lived in Pennsylvania (3 different towns), Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

 

And basalt. Lots and lots of basalt.
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My latest move of my own choice was greatly influenced by employment, and proximity/distance from family. Turns out I'm about 5 hours away from either of the parentals, and about 2 from other family. Close enough to get to relatively quickly in an emergency, far away enough that I don't get guilted into visiting on my days off, or having my weekends completely destroyed by surprise visits.

 

I have pretty much lived in the same area all of my life. For 2 years, I was in a different place for college, but that is really all. I have moved twice, but stayed in the same general area of my state. There has never been any opportunity to move, although my ex and I had discussed it once, it never happened.

 

I did a lot of moving when I was growing up. And yes I definitely missed the places I left. I think in some ways we become where we live. Or maybe better put, it becomes us. We will always long for places of fond memories and really even places of less fond memories.

 

i was a kind of slow-motion nomad for a long time.

boston. philadelphia. upstate new york. paris. san francisco. paris again. philadelphia again. chicago.

at some point along the way, it occurred to me that i could keep going and never know my family. so when i decided to change direction, i came to tiny town, where they live. i'm not a nostalgic person, so that's how it came about. it's been a great experience so far. i'm really glad i did it. i don't know how long this phase is going to last, but i'm enjoying it while it does.

 

14 years ago I packed up everything and drove Los Angeles to Boston. I had a job lined up and was all set to start a new life 3000 miles from where I grew up. I lasted 3 days before I had a severe anxiety attack, packed everything back up and drove back. Since then I've moved 7 or 8 times, always staying in South Los Angeles county. I'm currently renting the house I grew up in from my parent's who just retired and moved to Oregon.

Moving locally doesn't bother me, I've done it every 2 or 3 years and I am currently on my 4th place in the last 5 years. On the other hand, since I just got married, I'm now looking to buy.

 

I'll bet it was a great place to live - been into Lajes many many times to refuel but never got to stay very long.

 

Similar here. Moving away from parental home to University was a 45 minute train ride away. The five other places I have lived were 20 minutes max from my parental home.

How did I feel about the places I left behind? As if they were a million miles or lifetimes away.

 

My first ever move, was 400 miles when I was 18. I moved in with my internet boyfriend, that was in the days of dial up!!

 

Being an Air Force brat, I grew up moving every two to three years. It's only fitting that I provide my kids the same experience now, right?

 

The biggest move for me was from San Francisco, Ca. to Amsterdam, NL. in 1983 at the age of 35.