Off Topic: Has Anyone Here Moved Somewhere Far, Completely Alone?

"sellphones2493" (sellphones2493) 01/09/2015 at 21:45 • Filed to: None

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So I'm about to graduate college, and I'm actively searching for jobs. I've deviated a lot from my home friends, and I've come to the revelation that a lot of my college friends are 100% most likely staying in New England (go to school in CT - from MD). The thing is, I don't really want to stay in MD, I don't want to live in NYC or Boston, and I don't want to live in DC. To be honest, I'd prefer a place where I can own a car.

Ever since I was around 16, I've always been interested in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle or Portland). I don't know what it is - maybe the decent weather, good coffee, local brews, or just the mentality. It ultimately just seems like the place for me.

So, here I am, applying for jobs in a region where I don't know a single sole, without a support network that I've had in the past with every other endeavor. To be honest, the idea of moving like this scared the shit out of me, but I feel like that if I don't do it, I'll regret it for the rest of my life.

Ultimately, has anyone here moved somewhere completely alone?

Thanks for your time.

Here's a photo of my Vo the day I bought it (for your time):

Vimto > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 21:47

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I moved to Pensacola 600 miles away from my parents in south FL when I was 17. No family or friends here, but my job transferred with me so I started meeting people straight away. I couldn't ask for a better network of people and I've been "adopted" into a family here where I spend all of the holidays.

TheHondaBro > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 21:48

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Yep.

Grew up in California, moved to Oregon alone for college. My closest parent is 500 miles away, 9 hours by car.

You'll get used to it very quickly. I did, even though I don't like this town very much.

CB > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 21:48

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I moved to a new city about 450 kilometres from home town for university, and only knew three people here (one of which I hate). It's definitely an interesting experience, but a hell of a lot of fun and pretty exciting. Plus, no matter where you move in the States, I guarantee that there'll be at least one Opponaut who you can meet up with.

jkm7680 > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 21:51

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How do you consider yourself socially, 1 Being an introvert, 10 being an extrovert?

I'd say it's whatever you feel comfortable with, I've made fresh starts in the past. I've wanted to start over massively tons of times, Alone or not. Personally for me, The scariest part is trying to fit in and pretty much turn to a blank page.

PowderHound > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 21:53

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I moved from western NY to Utah, but my brother already lived out here. Just find someway to stay active and around people. Utah it's ridiculously easy to meet people on biking trails, rock climbing, on the slopes, or anywhere. If your biggest concern is meeting new people and you're a shy person and you aren't very active, places like seattle and portland will have all sorts of different…social group activity meetups (better words are escaping me) to meet people. If you really want to get out of the area DO IT. Travel to a new part of the US and start new. I love my decision every day.

pdx107 > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 21:55

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Portland is awesome.

Moved from Portland to Reno alone for uni, only "knew" one other person from my HS there and didn't see her till my 3rd year there.

Then moved back to Portland

I own dead car brands only > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 21:56

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this is something I am planning on doing after I finish my Masters. I want to move to Oregon. I student taught there and I loved it so much.

Only negative, teachers of the Deaf jobs doesn't pop up often. I'm still hoping there'll be a position when I graduate.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:00

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So where are you right now?

Spaceball-Two > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:02

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Born and raised in Washington moved to Utah to go to school. Didn't know anyone. Stayed for 8 years before I moved back to Washington. I still go back twice a year to hang out with some of the greatest friends I've ever known.

yamahog > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:15

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After college, I moved out to LA for my first job without knowing a soul. Between motorcycles, my gym, flag football on the beach, and other engineers my age, I had no problem making friends. I just hated living there for many other reasons and moved back to Michigan anyway (basically starting over again since most of my college friends had moved and I'm an hour from Ann Arbor and 10 hours from my family). Much happier here :) Good luck with the job hunt!

Orange Exige > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:17

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Not yet! But I'm in a really similar situation to you.

I'll be graduating college in May. I've lived my whole life in NY and live at college 45 minutes away but I decided last year that I want to move to California because I'm really sick of this climate and I kind of wanted to just start anew. Not that I am dissatisfied with my life or made bad choices, but I just want some change and this is just a good time to do so.

Though I have a good family - and all my family is from NY (except for one family that is in MD) - I just don't have that deep connection with them that would give me an obligation to stay. And I'm honest with myself, while I will stay FB friends with some of my closest friends from college and hopefully still talk to them, everybody will be going in their own directions after college except for my girlfriend who I'm hoping (and we've been talking) about staying together. Like you, I'm just not as close to my old friends as I used to be. And there are only 3 of them (who I don't go to college with). Compared to (what I feel like is) most people, I don't have much tying me down to my location.

Seattle or Portland would be really nice actually, but too cold for me. I'm looking at the San Francisco Bay Area mainly and applying online mostly to jobs in that area though I wouldn't be opposed to southern CA, more San Diego than LA (because LA is meh).

So yeah, I'm really hoping I can get a job offer this semester because it's really just the first tiny step of many huge ones. If April comes and I still have nothing, it'll certainly be interesting because I'll really have to figure out adult things like finding a place to live and how to move 3,000 miles away. But I'm more optimistic that companies will be more responsive(/desperate) in the Spring semester than they were in the Fall. I'm a smart guy with a desirable degree (IT) so the odds are in my favor, but it's always a crapshoot with job applications and I always feel like I'm at a disadvantage because the west coast companies I would want to work for don't recruit at my school and in my area so I'm really limited to online applications.

But hey, this is what keeps life exciting, right?! Good luck to you! Go with your gut and do what your heart is telling you to do.

f86sabre > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:25

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Seattle to Atlanta when I graduated for a job. I'm still in Atlanta 17 years later. I had one college buddy who graduated 6 months before I did who had moved down here to work with Lockheed. He was the only person I knew. It's a challenge, but not impossible. Making friends isn't magic, you just have to work at it for a bit. New cities are fun and getting some distance from those in your life, if you have them, who are just content to keep on keeping on is not a bad thing if you have ambition. I was doubly lucky that my job allowed me to basically hop on a plane to anywhere whenever I wanted, so going home wasn't that tough or costly.

Having grown up in the PNW I can say you should enjoy it. It is a beautiful area with good opportunities. It can be expensive though. It also has its pluses and minuses. The weather is what it is. There are jerks and ugly spots just like anywhere else. The traffic in Seattle is some of the worst I have seen. If it were just about pure esthetic value I would go back, but I have built a great life here in Atlanta and it would be very hard to maintain that quality back home.

Some pics from my last trip.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/hard-to-beat-1…

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:47

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Upstate NY could always use some more people! Pretty good roads here!

Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:50

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Do it. Dont let life pass you by! If you are in an industry where you will be able to support yourself financially, all you have to do is make some new friends. The thought of meeting new people gives me anxiety, but I like to play soccer and basketball , which are great ways to make friends (really any hobby/past time works). You will probably make some good friends at work too. I am moving to the midwest soon, where i don't know a single soul, but I can't wait. From Tennyson's Ulysses (I like romance era poetry):

"All experience is an arch wherethro' gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades for ever and forever when I move."

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 22:53

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I grew up in a small rural community. Then I went away to university... 1000 miles away, in a city where I didn't know anyone. My parents literally put me on a train (I paid for the ticket...) 70 miles from home, said good luck, and left before the train got there. I spent two years in Oshawa, Ontario (think Detroit, only smaller and more depressing) before the big-city-esque life got too much for me. I only ever had three or four close friends there, all "local" small-town people, because I never really fit in. Then I moved to a city that was still 300 miles from where I grew up, where I knew only a couple people (who I was never close to and rarely saw) but it was a much better experience. Saskatoon is hands down the best place I've ever lived. I'm on my fifth province now, so... yeah.

I have family in the Pacific Northwest, both Portland and Seattle. Neither is a bad city. I don't think I'd live in either, but near to them wouldn't be bad. I've kinda digressed from my purpose, but basically I've completely uprooted my entire existence twice, putting not all that much thought into where I wanted to go (just knowing I needed to go somewhere else) and moved there without knowing much about the city or knowing anyone else who lived there. The first time it didn't go too well, but the second time it worked out pretty good for me. You can't ever really know until you pull the trigger either way... but in my mind, if you think you need to get out of where you are, then you probably should do so. If you move somewhere you don't like, it makes it that much easier to go somewhere else if you don't have many ties keeping you there.

sellphones2493 > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback 01/09/2015 at 23:03

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Upstate is way too cold for me! I was about to go to Syracuse for college but backed out (of an early decision - post acceptance) because the climate was just too much for me to handle.

sellphones2493 > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier 01/09/2015 at 23:04

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In Maryland (on winter break), but go to school in Connecticut.

sellphones2493 > pdx107 01/09/2015 at 23:04

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I put Seattle in the original post, but I'm pretty sure it's just Portland I'm interested in!

sellphones2493 > TheHondaBro 01/09/2015 at 23:05

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Where were you in Oregon?

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:05

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Let me know when you're back in CT! I'd love to meet up.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:05

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Oh come on man, it's a lovely 16 degrees out right now! With windchill it's like -3! Sure you don't want this?

I'm also the weird kid that wants to go to school in Minnesota, so I'm going from cold to really cold hopefully!

TheHondaBro > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:05

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Klamath Falls.

sellphones2493 > jkm7680 01/09/2015 at 23:08

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I'm probably about a 6. Ultimately, I'm still figuring this out about myself. In grade school, I was a pretentious little prep-schooler, and my home friends reflect that. In college, I went about it all wrong and went for quantity over quality. I'd say I have about two to three good college friends, and my six friends from studying abroad I'd consider to be my best.

Overall, I'm pretty extroverted, I just have to be around decent human beings.

pdx107 > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:12

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It is a great city, couldn't really imagine living elsewhere besides London

jkm7680 > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:18

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Sounds like you should settle in well, As long as there are a decent amount of decent people in your work environment and such. There's also a bunch of Opponauts out there who should make you feel right at home in no time!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:19

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Twice. Grew up in a small Minnesota town. Moved to Wyoming when I was 19 to go to school, didn't know a single person. Moved back to Minnesota after a couple years because I couldn't find a decent job (some really shitty ones though) in Colorado after I graduated. Stayed there for a little over a year saving money to move. 8 years ago now I moved to Portland, the one on the left coast not the other side where people talk funny. Lined up some job interviews and a place to live via craigslist, packed up my car, and drove for two days. I love it here and can hardly imagine living anywhere else. Craigslist will be your friend for this. You should definitely do it, otherwise it will probably be a lifelong regret. Worst case it doesn't work out and you move again. But it's not necessarily easy and could be lonely for a few months, but it is worth it.

KnotThatBusy > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:25

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Do it. You will be fine. In that big of a city it does not take much to meet people. Plenty of specific groups you could find to meet up with.....cars, skiing, running, beer.. It's all good, so do it.

thebigbossyboss > sellphones2493 01/09/2015 at 23:45

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When I was 19 I moved from Vancouver Canada to Accra Ghana all by myself. I had a little help at first, but you'll be able to figure it out!

Jimmy Tango > sellphones2493 01/10/2015 at 04:30

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I live in Seattle, and I moved here 2008, from Taiwan. I dont even have citizenship.

You will be fine. I can be your first oppo friend in Seattle if no one claims the spot yet.

Stephen the Canuck > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee 01/11/2015 at 15:19

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I grew up in a small town of a couple of thousand people, and I've been in the Oshawa area for almost 4 years. It's not too bad. The last year and a half has been a smaller town just outside of it.

Stephen the Canuck > sellphones2493 01/11/2015 at 15:24

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I want to become a police officer, and I've looked at the RCMP. I have gotten interested in moving out to the left coast. My girlfriend is also interested in it so I wouldn't be alone, but it would be just the two of us. It's very interesting and kind of exciting.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Stephen the Canuck 01/11/2015 at 15:44

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A couple thousand people is not a small town. We're talking population 250 here. I had a grad class of 12. It was a 100 mile drive to the nearest Wal-mart. I can understand how Oshawa could have been appealing to some, but my experience there was mostly at the university, which was mostly populated by students from within the GTA. It was a huge culture shock, and didn't go well for me at all.

Stephen the Canuck > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee 01/11/2015 at 16:18

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I went to UOIT as well. I can totally see what you mean about the culture shock. I mostly just kept to myself there in class.

Jesus, that's barely a blip on a map. My highschool graduating class was around 180 I believe, and the kids in the school came from about 2 towns, and about 5 other smaller places.

It was 60 miles to Peterborough that had a Walmart.

I definitely prefer the small town. I would like to get back to it, but work options are limiting.

Amoore100 > sellphones2493 01/12/2015 at 00:40

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Awesome Volvo! Spaceball?