Would you move just because?

[PeacefulChaos]

I'm curious.

Let's say you just decide you want to move somewhere else. You aren't really 100% sure where you want to move, but the name of a place gets dropped, you've heard a lot of good things about it, so you look into it a bit and discover that the COL there is a little lower.

Now, let's assume you find a job there that is neither better nor worse than the job you currently have.

You would be moving to a different state, halfway across the country - to a place where you know NO one. You would be moving away from family, not nearer to them.

Would you do it? Would you even consider it?

[Dandelion]

I wouldn't. I feel connected here, have great friends here, and this feels like "home". I spent my childhood moving constantly, so I'm glad to finally have some roots. It would take a lot for us to move, and I can't fathom moving on a whim.

[Mrs_JWM]

I wouldn't, but if I were you, I'd rent a place there for a year before I made any permanent decisions.

[regentrude]

If we could get jobs there as good as we have here, and if it was a nice location fitting more of our needs, why not?

I moved to *this* place for a job when I knew no one, a few thousand miles away from family, away from a nicer place. If I could move somewhere nice, sure. But I would not move for lower COL unless the location had other attractive features.

[Guest inoubliable]

Absolutely.

[AK_Mom4]

I would consider it. There are lots of other factors I'd have to look at - weather, climate, homeschooling, housing, commute times, museums, park locations, availability of pizza delivery.... that sort of thing.

[Arcadia]

BTDT and would do it again.

[Catwoman]

I would LOVE to do it... but I don't know if I'd have the nerve. We've been thinking of making a big move for years, but we never actually do it -- and my dh would be retiring, so it's not even an issue of finding work in a new place. We also live in a high COL area, so almost anywhere else would be less expensive, yet... let's just say I wish we had a little emoticon of a chicken clucking... ;)

[caroljenn]

It depends. I wish we could move out of the rat race/loony bin that is Southern California sometimes, but this is home. All of our family and friends are here. I would miss wacthing my sister's grandkids grow up, watching my nieces and nephews grow up and I would especially miss big family holidays. Dh's parents are getting older and mine are gone, so we need to give our kids as much family time as possible right now.

 

That said, if I knew dh could get an equivalent job, and some family members have moved away or something, I would consider it. I would love to live somewhere else (NYC comes to mind) but we would have to win the lottery for that! Especially to be able to fly home several times a year for those family celebrations!

 

 

 

 

[BrookValley.]

Sure, if I felt the new area was a better fit and money (I.e., the cost of the move) wasn't an issue. We occasionally daydream about moving somewhere out west. I think we'd do it if we would have jobs and could afford to relocate our animals and whatnot (we currently have horses, goats, poultry, etc).

[DragonFaerie]

Definitely. Then again, I think I have a serious case of wanderlust. I love moving to new places, exploring new places, experiencing new places.

[Starr]

I would but none of my family would go with me. So I won't. :)

[bnbacademy]

I've been heard telling my dh that we should move out west just to give the dc the experience of seeing snow-capped mtns. Now, I am half-heartedly serious, because I grew up in the Northeast, until college, when my parents up and moved to Colorado and then to TX. A part of me wants them to see what a wonderful country we live in! The practical side of me thinks that we should stay in the jobs we like... Which argument wins varies depending on the day, so dh makes the call, and we are still here :001_smile: ...

[dirty ethel rackham]

I'd have to have a very compelling reason to go through the effort and expense of moving - better job, health reasons, social (to move toward something good or away from something toxic, etc.). So, my vote based upon your original post would be "no."

[Samiam]

Did it, though without a job lined up. Love the adventure of living in a new place. Would do it again Ina heartbeat, though with a job this time, lol.

[MissKNG]

Yes! We are actually in the beginning stages of planning such a move.

[Oakblossoms]

Yes. I have wanderlust.

[Jeannie in NJ]

as a child and also as a young adult (before meeting dh) I lived all over the country and even South America so I have no desire to live anywhere else. Plus all of dh's extended family lives within 10 min. of us. We love them dearly, all get along and get together with them all the time. Also I just love it here so no more moving.

[mommymilkies]

Yes, and we have several times. I feel a kinship to Pa Ingalls. ;)

[creekland]

BTDT and would do it again.

 

Same here. Loved it - absolutely no regrets!

 

Definitely. Then again, I think I have a serious case of wanderlust. I love moving to new places, exploring new places, experiencing new places.

 

This is me too. We did settle down here in PA (no family around at all) so the boys could be raised in a hometown and have a single place they could say they grew up in. It could be important to them later on... BUT, youngest graduates from high school and will move on to college in a year in a half. Hubby and I are already talking about where we want to go at that point. We've informed the kids that we'll be selling the farm (would sell it now if prices were decent, but we'd still stay in the area until youngest graduates). None of the boys are upset. I think they inherited my wanderlust. The same place, after a while, gets boring to me. I like it, and I don't regret moving here one bit, but I'm just ready to move on.

 

We've lived in NY, NC, VA, RI, FL, and PA. PA was definitely the best (for us) raising kids, but like I said, I'm ready to move on now. Nonetheless, we have a year and a half left...

[LibraryLover]

No.

[Parrothead]

Yes. I've done it so many times I quit buying the t-shirts.

[DragonFaerie]

Yes. I have wanderlust.

 

Oh, good! Glad it's not just me. ;-)

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

That's almost exactly what we're doing in 3 weeks, only the COL is a LOT lower, but dh will be taking a slight pay cut. Another state, somewhere I've never been, far away from any family. (Except that dh's parents might move in with us 6 months later...) But it is worth it to get out of California!

[LibraryLover]

No. I have to make a move, and my heart is not into it. I only make this move out of necessity.

 

I love to travel, but I also love where I live.

[Unicorn.]

I voted maybe. With the ages of your dc, yes I would. My oldest is in ps HS, and the other two will be going to ps for high school next fall. At this point, no, probably not. I might consider it after they graduate though. :D Then again, dh is fed up w/ his job, so if someone wants to hire a history/science teacher, burned out by the administrative ps system....we might! :lol:

[Laura Corin]

Cost of living would be one factor. We previously lived in London, which is expensive. It's also a big city with the pluses and minuses entailed. When we were planning to live in the UK again, we were glad to be moving somewhere cheaper and with more access to the countryside. That matters more to us than what the city has to offer.

 

So COL was one factor, but there had to be others.

 

Laura

[Night Elf]

No. I think this sort of thing requires an adventuresome spirit and neither my DH nor I have that.

[Ewe Mama]

I love moving, so I would go in a heartbeat.

[Joker]

We've done it several times. If we ever moved again, it would be near family. We feel like we're pretty settled where we're at now because dds are older and have lots of friends. Dh and I have both said often that we wished we had stopped when we were near family, though. It's hard to see everyone and it especially hard now that the girls are older. We have good relationships with our family though, so I might feel differently if I didn't.

[I talk to the trees]

I'd do it in a heartbeat. But my motivations may be different from yours!

 

I wish you luck whatever you decide!

[Danestress]

I myself would not move away from my widowed mom and MIL. Dh and I are their only kids in town, and they need us.

 

Apart from that sense of duty, I would.

[DawnM]

We kind of did that when we moved to NC. We moved 3,000 miles away.

 

I would NOT do it now, because I have teens who have friends here now.

[goldberry]

Did it when we moved to Colorado. Best choice ever. Be prepared for ups and downs though.

[MariannNOVA]

We did that kind of move, minus the lower COL, when we moved here to Va. We have been here 11years, and THIS is home.

[OH_Homeschooler]

DH and I are wanting a major change, but the problem is finding a job. So if he could find a comparable job (preferably in the Pacific Northwest) we'd move in a heartbeat.

[Ali in OR]

We did this when we were young and looking for a place to settle where we could afford to live (leaving the bay area in CA where we could not afford a house). But I wouldn't move easily at the age and stage of life I am in now. Would if we had to for a job, but not "just because".

[JessReplanted]

We just did it 6 months ago. There was more to the move than 'just because'. There were 4 specific things we were looking for in an area which were not present in the area we lived in.

 

At the same time, moving is HARD (for me, anyway). Six months later, I still feel very displaced.

[Farrar]

For me, no. But we're happy here and don't want to move. If I wanted move, then sure.

[misty.warden]

I did it when I was younger and it was the best decision I had made up to that point. I would do it if my SO was on board but I don't have any close family ties anywhere so I'm pretty adventurous that way.

[Tita Gidge]

I wouldn't, but I'm very close to my family. I intentionally choose to live near them and our paths cross multiple times daily.

 

If I lived close to my family but didn't see them any more than I did any other friend/neighbor, sure - I'd consider a move :)

[higginszoo]

I probably would. I was raised a Navy kid, so I don't usually feel that much of an attachment to places, I know I can put roots down anywhere. We kind of did that back in '01. Moved from Denver to Seattle just because. Dh didn't like it there, so after a year, we moved to Salt Lake City. Then we needed to go for a number of factors and are in Austin for now. But if a good job were to pop up elsewhere, I'd be willing to go.

[Elfknitter.#]

It's what my parents did.

 

My first question is are you adventurous? If so, go for it. If not, go for it anyway. ;)

[Squiddles]

Nope... never! I desperately need to be rooted deeply in a home town, and want to give that to my kids too! I have a hard time imagining moving out of our town into another nearby area.... I was born in this town 33 years ago, and never want to leave :)

 

However!!!! I am incredibly adventurous, and before marriage spent most my life traveling around the world, my longest stint away was 6 months, but I always had home to come back to.... when my youngest gets a bit older I want to start traveling more with our kids... but nothing permanent

[Desert Rat]

My vote is No. But, I'm not an adventurous person. At. All.

I've told dh I will follow him anywhere but that doesn't mean I'm in a hurry to be led away.

[NicAnn]

We are full time travelers so I'll say yes, of course. :)

 

[Runningmom80]

Yep! We did it 10 years ago, and we are doing it again in 6 months. We are actually moving to a higher COL, but one with more opportunities. :)

[MyLittleWonders]

I would, but dh and I have been fantasizing about doing that for a while. Our dream move, though, would take us near some family and away from other family. But the big thing we would need before seriously doing it would be knowing dh would have a job.

[LarlaB]

Did it when we moved to Colorado. Best choice ever.

 

 

Yep! :)

 

We moved for no reason other than we wanted to live here, and had the job flexibility to allow it. Granted, I did not want my kiddos growing up in the small world of Kentucky, but we visited family nearby on a trip and decided to move- because we could. :) Its the only move we've ever made to a place that we WANTED to move too- instead of dictated by job or university. Yes, we were moving closer to family BUT cost of living is higher here plus it means plane rides to see anyone in my family.... not budget friendly. But, I'd do it again in a heart beat. Best.decision.ever.

 

I don't want to move again- 3 states in the first 5 years of my DD's life is enough. Relationships are too important in these upcoming stages to uproot again without just cause...

[creekland]

Just musing this morning... for most of us, somewhere in our history our ancestors did just that - moving to North America from another continent. I know I had ancestors on the Mayflower and those who came just 3 generations ago (my Great Grandfather). I definitely have their genes. It is probably why we're even thinking of a "continent" move as a possibility in the future (politics aren't my issue - though the US debt level does add fuel to our desires).

 

It makes me wonder how a poll like this would compare in the US/Canada - perhaps Australia (pending voluntary vs involuntary relocation), vs Europe (considering many there were those who chose not to leave in the colonial days or later). How much is in the genes? If we could further define the poll based upon ancestors alone (vs generalizations on continents) would we see more of a correlation?

 

We opted to stay put once my oldest hit kindergarten until my youngest graduated thinking the boys "deserved" a hometown - yet now, none of them are attached to "here" anyway (even though they like it here). We traveled a LOT in their youth. They're ready to keep doing the same. I also wonder if they'll settle down to "raise kids." A bit of that will depend upon their wives/jobs, I suppose.