has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

DH and I are faced with this right now. It's VERY tentative, nothing definite. But due to his job, we may have to move as far as San Diego ( ) or one of the "tech" areas of CA.

A little part of me gets excited thinking about it - just starting over somewhere else. Meeting new people and seeing where life takes us. Good weather all year round.

The downside of course is that my family (parents) is on LI and I would be hysterical when it came time to actually leave.

So, were any of you forced to move (to or from NY) due to a job? Or another reason? How did it work out for you?

Message edited 5/22/2011 8:53:00 AM.

Re: has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

We were just faced with this and decided to stay put. Just like you, we spent a few days in dreamland looking at real estate listings online and imagining how nice it would be to start fresh and new somewhere else. Then reality set in and there were so many more reasons to not make the move. Just keep researching and making pro/con lists and try to really imagine life away from here. It's a hard decision to make. Good luck!

Re: has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

I moved to NY to be with DH from MD, so not as far, but I did leave all my family and friends. I am very happy, but I def. have my moments where I wish we were in MD.

Re: has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

We moved to San Diego when DH was laid off in 2002 (post 9-11). Does he have a job lined up? while DH is a systems engineer, the IT jobs there are more biotech and communication jobs. The pay is not nearly like NY either. (DH worked for Network Insight in SD)

I really loved it there. But we moved back when I was pregnant with #1 and a former coworker (also laid off) offered him a job. Teaching jobs are even worse in SoCal then NY (for me). It came in good timing, b/c I wouldn't give up living near family and friends with kids - just the babysitting alone was priceless.

Re: has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

We did not HAVE to move due to a job, but DH was offered an amazing promotion in the midwest (he covered seven states and we could live in any of them.) It was a no brainer to us to take it. We had just gotten married and we moved to Chicago. It was the best decision we ever made. I won't say it's always been easy. 6 months after we moved we had our DD. That was hard to be away from family & friends. We just had twins and I'm sad knowing that most of our family will not meet them until their christening when they are 3 months old. But we love living here and I was able to be a SAHM, which I doubt we could have done in NY. we have a beautiful house that we love surrounded by great neighbors and wonderful friends.

Good luck with your decision.

Re: has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

Re: has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

We moved three hours away from our families for DH's job, and while it is not "far," it is far enough to make traveling to see them a weekend event, which easily cost $70+ in gas and tolls. The first night here, I cried hysterically.

There are pros and cons to living far away. The cost of houses are less here, but our taxes are similar to some areas of LI.

Because we live far away, we are not obligated to go to every little event hosted by our extended families. My sister, for example, seems to be attending events every Saturday and Sunday - she has no free time between our family and her DH's family.

Luckily, I was able to find a teaching job as we moved here right before things got bad - the only bad thing is that since people have been laid off, I am now the low man on the totem pole. Also - the pay difference is ridiculous! Yes, cost of living here is less, but not that much less.

Although we have lived here for almost 4 years, I have found it very difficult to make friends. I am friendly with my co-workers and do hang out with them outside of work, but I miss my girlfriends from home/college.

I wish you the best of luck in your decision. For me, I wish we could move closer to our families.

Re: has anyone had to move far away due to a job?

I'm in the running for a job in VA right now (we live out east). I'm going through the same emotions...never lived more than an hour from family but excited about the prospect of this new job & living someplace other than LI for once! DH's sister lives about 20 minutes from where we'd be so we'd at least have some family there. I try to just take it one day at a time and focus on the positives...