# Anyone ever just up and move? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761 "2004-02-23T22:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761/21 "2004-02-24T17:02:49Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > \One word of warning, though. I did have a rough time of it at the beginning. When I moved to England I was only 18 and spend the first few days crying with homesickness. After you have settled in and have a social life you tend to forget about that. So don’t be surprised if at the very beginning you find yourself at home on a Friday night with no idea what to do with the weekend. If you’re in anyway outgoing you get over that pretty quickly, but it can be a bit tough at the beginning. Good luck. Oh, yeah - I forgot about that part. Give it a good length of time before you call it off, if it doesn’t seem like much fun at first. Not being hugely social, I used the first month or so to catch up on all my reading. Then I started to get to know people, and the barbecues and parties started happening, and it became really fun. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761/22 "2004-02-24T18:40:37Z")
> [@micahjn](#): > > I’d really like to move out west somewhere: Colorado, Arizona, California, Seattle, etc. Has anyone ever just moved without a plan? I figure I could get some crappy retail job to pay my rent and ramen noodles for a few months while I looked for an actual job. Has anyone ever done anything similar to this? I’ve done this several times- both somewhat locally (Conn. to Mass) and across country (three times). It has always worked out really well for me. I have a few tips though: -Find someone to crash with/somewhere to live BEFORE you move. EVen if it’s just a temp couch, you’ll be glad to have it. -Use the appropriate Craig’s List for the city you decide on ([http://www.craigslsit.org](http://www.craigslsit.org)) to find good people, living space, jobs, etc. This will work especially well in the Bay Area. - Have a car or a damn good working knowledge of the local transport system. - Try and visit the place you want to move to, even if only for a few days, and “test the waters” by trying to meet people and put out resumes. - Have a bail-out plan, understanding parents, or emergency resources just in case. Good luck! Have fun. Life is always better as an adventure. Inkleberry ---
**Author:** ![jeevwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jeevwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeevwoman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761/23 "2004-02-24T18:54:47Z")
Moved to Chicago in 1998. Had been living overseas, bought a train ticket from NY to Chicago and called the one person I knew here. He offered me his couch. I got a temp job (office work) within one week and found an apartment by the end of the month. Got a permanent job about 3 months later and progressed from there. Now I am married, with 2 dogs, a full-time job that is actually a decent gig, and a condo. Took 6 years but I don’t regret it. It did help that I had a friend here, though. If I had had to pay rent that first month, I would have been in big trouble, as I had about $500 in savings when I arrived. It’s definitely worth the risk, though. Much better to say you tried than to look at your life in 10 years and think what could have been. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761/24 "2004-02-24T22:49:17Z")
I tried to plan my move to Los Angeles three and a half years ago but I couldn’t find an apartment or a job. I moved anyway. I got sick (strep) on the way there and spent the first week in a hotel with my parents (this was supposed to be their vacation) and the next at a friend’s house who happened to have extra space. That week, I found an apartment with some roommates who were also moving from the same town. Three weeks later was Sept. 11, 2001. I moved home in November and then back with my old college roommates two months later. I never did find a job. Just goes to show that you can’t plan for everything. That said, I think moving can be the best thing you’ve ever done. I don’t regret moving and I don’t regret returning. Best of luck to you. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761/25 "2004-02-25T04:15:39Z")
I haven’t done it yet, but in 4.5 weeks I’m going to pack my bags and head to the UK for a year or more. I’m 15 months out of university, debt- and relationship-free, so I’m not tied down to my home city. The time is definitely right. I don’t know anyone in the UK, and I won’t know where I will be working until I arrive and get set up with recruitment firms. I don’t anticipate having to work behind a bar and survive on ramen, but you never know. 😉 My UK visa will last four years; I may come back home in a year… or not until I’m old and ugly! 😃 All the best **micahjn** –whatever you chose to do. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761/26 "2004-02-25T08:12:16Z")
In 1996 I left Pennsylvania, where I’d lived for 7 years as a grad student (English literature, no particular prospects), and moved to Seattle with a bit of money in the bank and a friend’s couch to crash on. My second downtown-office-temp job led to a permanent job, then a promotion. Seattle is the only American city I’ve ever loved, and I hope to stay here a good long time. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761/27 "2004-02-25T13:15:05Z")
1984 - A friend of mine and I packed up and drove from NJ to Texas with no job, no place to live. We stopped in Arlington (half way between Dallas and FT. Worth), found a new apartment complex being built. Pulled-in, got a nice apartment. We both found jobs, albeit demeaning (Word Processing) for what I expect from myself. Stayed almost a year but decided to go to school in NYC and upped and moved back to NJ. DO IT! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-just-up-and-move/230761.md?page=1)