Get the itch to move? (from the RTDNTOTO)

[Jaxspra]

Just looking through the APA jobs online....I am so getting the itch to apply somewhere and move. My best friend just moved to Pennsylvania and says its beautiful. There are a ton of jobs out there in small, quaint towns. I just hate to think of moving the boys away from Grandma and Grandpa.
Anyone out there pick up and move just to move? I mean if I were single (I mean without kids) I wouldn't hesitate, but the thought of pulling them away breaks my heart even though I know there are great cities/small towns we could live in and be perfectly happy....
I am just dreaming, I know I would never leave here again until the kids are older or gawd forbid my parents weren't around....on the bright side, I do have an interview a week from this Monday!! Its a job completely different from what I am currently doing...maybe I just need a job change, not an entire relocation....

(nerudite) I made this into its own thread...

[Zoning Goddess]

Anyone out there pick up and move just to move? I mean if I were single (I mean without kids) I wouldn't hesitate, but the thought of pulling them away breaks my heart even though I know there are great cities/small towns we could live in and be perfectly happy....

My job is rapidly coming to an end. I love moving to new places. But, right now my Mom would freak if we moved. My kid would, too. The good thing is, my brother and his wife are here and can cover for Mom if needed. I gotta go where the jobs are!

[nerudite]

Anyone out there pick up and move just to move? I mean if I were single (I mean without kids) I wouldn't hesitate, but the thought of pulling them away breaks my heart even though I know there are great cities/small towns we could live in and be perfectly happy.....

Oh yeah... I'm all about picking up and moving! Each job move so far has pretty much meant a change in locale. I went from Northern Cali to Northern WA State to Portland to Edmonton. I guess in the last case it was to move somewhere specific, but the other job changes were really because I needed a change of scenery and wanted to try a new area that I knew I'd like from previous trips.

[Richmond Jake]

....Anyone out there pick up and move just to move? ....

Yup--you know my story. From Idaho to Florida. What fit in the pick-up came with me; the rest, I'm pretty sure, is in a land fill (although, I miss my baseball glove). Best thing I ever did.

[noottamevas]

.....There are a ton of jobs out there in small, quaint towns. I just hate to think of moving the boys away from Grandma and Grandpa.
....

I just turned down a job down in JNA's neighborhood because of this. But also because our older kids are established in high school sports, friends, etc. The youngest "old" kid will graduate one year before the girls start kindergarden. If we ever move, it will be then.

[luckless pedestrian]

Jaxspra - we moved to Maine from Boston in 2002, not as far as some in here - but it was more complicated with a house and kids than when I moved to Boston from Syracuse in 1986 with stuff in trash bags loaded in a hatchback (see MZ's moving thread) - but after 4 years, it was a good move - the kids were 9 and 3 and then baby number 3 came after we moved our 9 year old still has stayed close with a couple of friends from Mass. but her new friends are awesome, I love having them around, and it was the best thing for our outdoorsy hippie child, now 7 years old

we are further away from family but you should always miss your family -

[donk]

Just looking through the APA jobs online....I am so getting the itch to apply somewhere and move. My best friend just moved to Pennsylvania and says its beautiful. There are a ton of jobs out there in small, quaint towns. I just hate to think of moving the boys away from Grandma and Grandpa.
Anyone out there pick up and move just to move? I mean if I were single (I mean without kids) I wouldn't hesitate, but the thought of pulling them away breaks my heart even though I know there are great cities/small towns we could live in and be perfectly happy....
I am just dreaming, I know I would never leave here again until the kids are older or gawd forbid my parents weren't around....on the bright side, I do have an interview a week from this Monday!! Its a job completely different from what I am currently doing...maybe I just need a job change, not an entire relocation....

This almost deserves it own thread.

I moved twice in a year. Best things i have ever done for myself. I am pretty committed to my current situation due to a tonne of commitments, but could not see moving anytime soon anyways.

[Michele Zone]

I lived in the same house from age 3 until, well, adulthood. Then I married some guy going in the army and, for about 15 years, anytime we were some place for 18 months or so, I would start asking "So, when are we going to leave again?"

[michaelskis]

Several years ago I had a second interview at a city that was over 1000 miles from where I lived. They offered me the job on a Wednesday and I accepted. I packed up everything and moved out there and started work the following Tuesday. One year later, I moved half way back.

This past summer, I moved to a city that is an hour from where I work currently because of some amazing opportunities for my fiancée, and depending on several factors in the next year or two, I may start looking for employment opportunities up there.

[munibulldog]

Every time I see a decent job in a place I would like to move to, the housing costs are way out of line.

I am thinking of putting together a map of the US showing the number of years of Senior Planner salary it takes to buy a decent single family home.

Where I live, it is about 3 years: $150K / $50K . Checking in on a job in Flagstaff, AZ for example, it is well over 4 years $300K / $65K , and I think that a comparable house might cost more than $300K.

[Budgie]

I grew up in the military... so consequently I get the itch every 3 years... give or take. I will have been here 3 years next month, but so far I am not restless to move just for the sake of change. I'm happy where I am and any restlessness I have I need to channel to learning new things to break the monotony.

[Tranplanner]

I'm in the middle of this right now. Fun stuff.

[bluehour]

Ohhh yes, definetly get the itch every 6 months or so. then i persue the job listings and school options (UK, Ireland and America), imaging all the lovely places i could move.

[Jaxspra]

You all make it sound so easy and it was easy the first time. Right now I would just really love to get out of Missouri for a bit and see what I could do on my own (without mom and dad around, I rely heavily on them for help with the boys). I don't know...I am going to see where this interview leads. Maybe all I need is a change in jobs, not an entire relocation...maybe I need to go on vacation/road trip for a week or two!!!

[Michele Zone]

You all make it sound so easy and it was easy the first time. Right now I would just really love to get out of Missouri for a bit and see what I could do on my own (without mom and dad around, I rely heavily on them for help with the boys). I don't know...I am going to see where this interview leads. Maybe all I need is a change in jobs, not an entire relocation...maybe I need to go on vacation/road trip for a week or two!!!

I've done it so many times that now it is relatively "easy". And my kids are older teens -- the youngest is about to turn 17 -- and they have moved a lot and we homeschool so it doesn't disrupt that aspect of their lives the way changing schools would...and so forth. My kids have worked very hard to get us settled into the new apartment. I've worked hard too but this is the first time I had a job while making a move. I could be fired for taking time off during the first 90 days so I haven't taken any time off for getting settled in here. Between that and my health problems, I can't imagine how hard this would have been if my kids were not so capable now.

[Rumpy Tunanator]

I have the urge.

[dandy_warhol]

i lived in the same house from birth to college. my roots are deeply planted in my home town. but since college i've moved every year or so. the two years of grad school were the longest i've stayed in one place. i get the urge to move every few years but now that i have a "career" i wonder how that's going to be affected. for me a lot of the urges stem from anxiety and a desire to make a change to get rid of the anxiety rather than deal with it.

i, too, like to cruise the job listings and dream of life in different parts of the country and the world. but i'm too chicken to do anything but dream. i'm starting to think that one of the perks of being a planner is that there is a possibility of a job almost anywhere in the US. so there's the option of travelling to different places and experiencing new things.

[Suburb Repairman]

I hate moving. Not because I'm anal or scared of new things, but because its a hassle and annoying. The wife's parents are right down the street, which has a certain amount of appeal should any little Burb Fixers come along . However, we are not completely opposed to moving. We've tossed around the idea of moving to Michigan or Ohio at some point. Her parents said they would follow us up there since that is where they are originally from, but there's a part of me that is a bit resistant because I would have NO family up there and my brothers & I are pretty tight.

[Brocktoon]

I got a job in Dc in July and moved in August. The downside was my wife could not follow so she is still in Michigan .

I admit I have wanderlust, I am already thinking about the next place in the US I want to live. I am not sure how many more times I can move my wife before she kills me.

[imaplanner]

I get the itch to move alot. I also have moved quite a bit in the last 5 years. Its a very exciting thing and helps you to learn more things about yourself (and other things) that you may not have known. But its also hard to leave all of your acquantances and friends and family and start over.

[Planit]

I've had the itch for a couple years now and actually moved jobs, but did not move household. The new job is about an hour away from the house and I don't want to commute any longer than that and would actually like it to be shorter. However I cant really say that this job is THE job, so don't want to move just yet (plus Wee P, friends and family considerations). Figured I need to do something in the next couple years before Wee P starts school.

[cololi]

Iseem to get the itch every 6months or so. But when I start factoring in thetypes ofthings I need in my life, I end up staying put and am happy for it. Eeryone is different and enjoys different things and seeks out differentforms of experiences. Do what you feel you need to. It certainly does make for a tougher decision when you start adding kids to the mix.

[wahday]

My family and I think about moving a lot! Life in New Mexico is very challenging betwen the harsh elements, low wages and high housing costs (at least relatively so). We recently moved downtown from a semi-rural area to the south to reduce driving time and live a more compact life. We love it, but after 8 months of looking for a house to buy, we just can't afford anything here - and we're willing to do a lot of work for a fixer upper. Its then that our thoughts begin to stray elsewhere...

The kids, school, friends, job availabilty and housing costs are always the issues we return to in considering a new place. Right now we have been eyeing Pittsburgh which we recently visited while attending the National Historic Preserevation Conference (see the pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8264898...753148/detail/ ). We had a great time - industrial grit and all.

What is enticing about Pittsburgh are housing costs (very affordable, at least compared to here), excellent schools, a nice dense city and great cultural stuff (museums, kids, stuff, the zoo, lots of arts, etc.). I grew up outside of Philly and my wife is from Ohio, so it kind of runs the line between them. At this juncture in our lives, we are also intrigued by the idea of returning to where we fled from (its a mystical, full circle, vision quest sort of affair).

The hardest part is being realistic about what to expect in a move as it is easy to project all the hopes for something better into an unknown locale. Pittsburgh isn't perfect, for example. Fair amount of poverty (though we have more!), second cloudiest place after Seattle, tedious public transit (almost all by bus), and a shrinking population (though it seems this is largely in the older age brackets which Pgh has an excess of - young people seem to be staying and actually increasing). Its also hard to compare a place you know intimately with one you hardly know at all.

But then we usuallly come down to the feeling that, hey, we're up for an adventure, so why the hell not? We can always move again...

Its nice that our son, 6, is also excited about moving. He goes to a great school and has many close friends, but even he has the wanderlust and says things like "when we move to Pittsburgh...). The daughter is only a year old, so can't voice her opinion one way or the other...

[GISgal]

Three cities in five years. I am in the midst of a move right now. Finally sold the home and moving to a new one at the end of this month. Definitely an adventure, but I am looking forward to being stationary for a while. Also, since I have been married in the last year things are starting to tie us a locale.

[kjel]

I've also lived in 3 cities in 3 different states in the past 5 years. I guess that since my mom died in 2003 and she was my only "tie" to anyplace that I now feel free to wander. I am in NJ for at least the next two years, but after that who knows?