Background: I’m 28 years old, living in Dallas. After 5 years at a somewhat lucrative but incredibly dull corporate job, I decided I can’t keep doing it for the rest of my left. So a few months ago my girlfriend and I quit our jobs, packed our bags and spent 3 months driving around the majority of North America having adventures.
After some recouperation, we are going to move to Seattle (Why? We liked it best, and its as un-Texas as it gets). Actually, it might just be me, but either way, I’m loading up my car with a few possessions and heading up there to start fresh. I have no job lined up, I wont know anyone (besides the gf if she goes) and will basically be starting over (I do have a fair amount of cash saved up, so I wont be starving or anything), but I’m doing it and excited (and a little nervous).
I’m not running from anything, have no children, but will be leaving friends and family behind…
Anyone have similar experiences? How’d it work out?
I did something similar, but not quite as dramatic. I had a promising and financially rewarding management job that I hated. I quit the job to pursue aviation. In the process, I have moved 6 times in just over 3 years, and my possessions have dwindled from what would fill a small house, to what fills my civic.
And I don’t regret a bit of it. Best thing I ever did. I can travel on a whim. My next move is coming up soon, and I can get everything into the car in about an hour. I can live cheaply enough that I can afford to not be working constantly. Perfect for the business research I have been doing. Some friendships suffer a bit, but I can still visit now and then.
12 years ago, I quit my job, abandoned my house and mortgage, threw the wife and kids in the car, and moved from Texas to Wisconsin. Had very little money, knew nobody in Wisconsin, did not have a job waiting for me, had no idea what awaited me.
It’s the best thing I ever did for myself (and for the family)! We’re better off, happier, and life is more fullfilling.
BTW, I didn’t like Dallas, although I did meet my wife while working at the Redbird Mall, we’re going on our 22nd. year together. We were married in Ceder Hill.
When Dr.J moved to start his residency, I quit a pretty good job, packed up a huge cheap apartment I really liked, and moved 10 hours from my family (7 hours from my nearest friend.) We didn’t know anyone but a couple of people in the residency program we’d met during his interviews, and I didn’t have a job lined up.
It was most certainly NOT the best decision I’ve ever made. It took me 8 months to find a job, any job (trust me, after a few months choosiness goes right out the window) and I make less money than I did two years ago. I’ve made a few friendly acquaintances, but no real friends. We have a nice house with plenty of room, but that just translates to more cleaning for me to do. We have a fenced yard for the dogs to play in, which is wonderful for them, but it also means grass for me to mow and leaves for me to rake. On the rare occasions Dr.J is home at the same time I am (we work different shifts), he’s either asleep or plopped in front of the computer. Right now, it’s the middle of the afternoon on Thanksgiving, and I’m sitting here by myself, killing time until I go to work.
No, I can’t say that this is the best thing I’ve ever done.
In 1986 I moved from Gisborne (NZ) to Auckland.
In 1990 I moved from Auckland to Perth (Australia).
In 1995 I moved from Perth to Sydney.
At each move I knew 1 person at the destination, who put me up for a few weeks. No jobs, etc.
If I’d known then what I know now I would’ve just come to Sydney.
It’s hell ripping out your roots, leaving your security, your friends, your life, even if it is better for you in the long run.
Not yet, but I’m about to leave a substantial part of my life behind.
In the first half of 2004, I will pack up and move to the UK with a four year visa. I may come back to Australia after 12 months, or it could be years before I return home.
I will leave behind the city I was born in, the mates I’ve known since I was eight years old, my work, my ex-partners, and my family.
I’m arranging job interviews before I go, so I’m not entirely casting myself to fate. However, I won’t know anyone and will face some uncertainty about where I’m going to work and where I’m going to live.
I can’t wait. The prospect fills me with excitement.
I’ve done it several times–quit jobs, moved cross country for jobs or school, etc. If you want to do and think it right for you, go for it. You will always wonder if you don’t try it. Plus, you are young enough to start over.
I dropped out of college–and I was on a mostly-paid scholarship–to move to California. Worked out there for a couple months, then got caught in a bad landlord situation and moved out here to Atlanta with my (at the time) new girlfriend. And I’m STILL glad I got out of my parent’s house.
Seattle has alot less sunlight than Texas, so be on the alert for a depressive episode in the next several months. I had some lonliness that was compounded by the weak sun, but knowing what it was causing the depression helped manage it. It’s a lovely part of the country and you should enjoy living there.
Eventually, I had to return to the sunny side, though.
1982 I took a year off from University, $400 and a round trip plane ticket to move to Taiwan for a year. I had a place to stay lined up before I left and that was it. I had never been outside of the Western US before.
Done several changes to live in different countries like Hong Kong, Japan and China with little to zero connections…
1982 I took a year off from University, $400 and a round trip plane ticket to move to Taiwan for a year. I had a place to stay lined up before I left and that was it. I had never been outside of the Western US before.
Done several changes to live in different countries like Hong Kong, Japan and China with little to zero connections…
Ten years and two days ago, I and my then-GF picked up in the middle of the night, hopped in the car, and just left. No plan where to go, what we were going to do, nothing; just grab a toothbrush, leave a note for the roommate and parents, and GO.
Over the next three weeks we drove from Athens, GA as far as Portland, OR, and back as far as Boulder, CO. We stayed in Boulder working menial jobs for about six months, then returned to Athens to finish college.
It changed my entire life. It made me a lot more independent and self-determined. It made it perfectly clear to my parents (and to me) who’s in charge of my life and who’s not. I got a stronger sense of life’s possibilities. Lots of hippie-sounding crap like that.
And of course it royally pissed off my family and roommate; scaring my mom and leaving the roomie holding a lease are the only parts I regret. But Mom got over it, and the roommate got out of the lease easily, Athens being a college town.