For the past few months I’ve have been yearning move somewhere new. I played it smart, stayed home until I got a steady job and did not move out until I could afford to live on my own. I still have that safety net of my family near me that are willing to help incase I need help with anything. I got a pretty steady routine going and live comfortably. However that is the thing that scares me. I feel like I’ve been playing it safe and not living to my potential. I want to move far away to another state and make it on my own. I want to take risk and know what it is to truly struggle and find a way to make it. I want a new environment that I will have to learn to navigate and be force to meet mew people and network. I basically want a fresh start where I can reinvent myself where other people don’t know the old me. I feel it’s a bit idiotic to give up everything I have and move somewhere else and start over for the sole purpose of challenging myself and spread my wings so to speak. Some way moving away won’t solve your problems but I feel like putting myself in my new environment will force myself to reflect what I need to work on to become that better and successful person I wish to be.
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Moving to a new city was a huge change in my life, however I first moved when I was 18 and went from the Midwest to a major city on the east coast, so that’s a big shift in many ways. Since then I’ve moved a couple more times. Personally I feel that living in a new place can help you understand where you are from, as well as helping you grow, and I think it’s something that’s good for everyone to experience at least once in their life. On the flip side it’s much harder to make friends now and it takes much longer to get a good group, and it sucks to be far from family.
Probably most importantly why not go? You can always go back if you are miserable.
Yes. Moving to a new city definitely makes a huge difference. I did two major moves at 18 and 24, at those ages it was super easy to adjust and meet new people. I was still growing and learning what it meant to be an adult so reinventing myself just came naturally and not necessarily by choice.
I’m sure it’s a much different experience if you’ve got a more established adult life and better sense of who you are as a person you’re trying to reinvent. Watch out for a comedown a few months after the move, especially on holidays. It goes away pretty quick but each time I had period of second guessing and anxiety (homesick).
If you’re down to share. What’s the reason you’re looking to make a major change and reinvent yourself?
I joined the military when I was 17 and moved about every 2 years. When I got out of the military at 27 I moved to a place nowhere close to my family ( something that upset them ) and a place I had not lived before. Since then I have continued my trend of moving to a new place every couple of years. Obviously as the opportunity for work arises. So while I would not encourage you to move just for the sake of moving and “struggle” to make it, start looking for work in places that interest you and when the opportunity arises take it. You don’t have to struggle.
The “gypsy” style living is definitely a personality trait. There is plenty to see in this world and staying in one place with a routine is great for about 2 years, then uproot it, and start a new routine somewhere else. Don’t feel like you have to reinvent yourself however, just take on new things into your personality that you like about that place and take it with you to the next one. Add to yourself, don’t scrap what you got.
I think it’s important for people to move around if only to realize how different people in different places do things. I don’t even live in my home country currently, which is awesome. Its not forever, and that’s kinda the most addictive part to the lifestyle, is that nothing is ever Permanent, good or bad, everything is just always different. Really opens your mind and soul. Good luck on your journey
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I think it depends. I moved from a very small town in Canada to one of the largest cities in America (this was some years ago) and I found that my lifestyle actually didn’t change very much. I thought I’d be doing all these new and different/exciting things but I mostly just did the sorts of things I did back home. Ultimately it was a good experience but my lifestyle did not drastically change.
I think it really depends on the person and the circumstances. It’s not impossible to reinvent yourself where you are now, you can always choose to change. You don’t necessarily need to move to a new city where nobody knows you in order to do it (unless you are hiding from the MOB!)
My wife and I are blowing up our life to move to a new city next month. I’ll let you know!
Apart from the excitement of exploring a new place and creating new routines, what we hope to accomplish is to deprive ourselves of the joys of our current city, replace them with something new, and see what happens — if the outcome is “no, our current city was pretty great, we should move back there” then that’s awesome as well.
Yes. Moved within the same county but away from the crowds. Love it.
Moving from a suburb near a small city to a huge city 6 hours away completely changed my life for the better. Lots of the things I like to do are difficult to do in non-urban areas. I’m also fortunate that the city I am in is relatively affordable.
Do it!!!! Do it Do it Do it. Your reason for going is one of the best reasons.
At 28 I moved from my home city in Australia to London. Didn’t know how long I would stay or what I would do on arrival. I have a degree in healthcare so planned to do something with that.
When people here ask me why I moved to the UK from Aus I still don’t have a good reason to tell. I just wanted something different.
I thought I would stay for 2-3 years. It has now been 6 years in the UK.
I fell into locum work so I move hospital every 6-9 months and have lived in a few different cities here. Very happy I did it, it pushed me out of my comfort zone.
Worst case scenario is you don’t like it and move back home.
It changed my life dramatically, going without a safety net was the way to go for me! Moved from country to city at 21 made a life and a career. May move back when I retire
I was in the exact same situation four years ago. Lived near my parents in the midwest. Worked an average job. Played it safe.
My wife and I decided to try the PNW because we didn’t have a reason not to at least try. It ended up being one of the best decisions ever for all of the reasons you described.
I could reinvent myself. Make mistakes. And the move led to me trying other new things in life, as well. It’s worth noting too that we thought we’d move back a couple years later. We now have no immediate plans to move because we love it so much.
Every experience varies. But you never know until you try.
Also, I have no idea if this will resonate with you or not, but the whole “your network is your net worth” saying is true. If you move to a bigger city, you’ll open yourself up to meeting other people that are in similar walks of life as you, and mentors that can help you get to the next level of whatever you aspire to be.
Nobody does it “on their own”, not really. We’re all standing on the shoulders of those who went before us to some extent.
Some of us have received more than others, however. If that’s you, then, instead of throwing away your advantages, set goals that take into account your relatively favorable starting position, and consider helping those less fortunate when you are in a position to do so.
If you have reason to believe that you need to leave in order to pursue opportunities that simply don’t exist where you are, or if you need to escape certain obstacles that are holding you back, then move, but moving just to give yourself some kind of unspecified challenge doesn’t make sense. Becoming a “better and successful person” is too abstract. You can do that anywhere. If you set more concrete goals, you will be better able to assess whether you need to move and where you might need to go.
Maybe taking some trips to other states or countries will help you decide whether you really need to leave or are just feeling restless.
TLDR: What exactly is “success” for you? Figure that out, and you’ll know whether you need to move.