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.
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) 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!