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Discussion on: Have you ever moved to a new state for work?

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flrichar profile image
Fred Richards

Yes! My wife and I have lived in three states in the last dozen years. We lived in NY, then SC, and finally GA in the Atlanta metro area.

When it comes to finding a job or opportunity, look for local groups with your same interests. I joined a Linux Users group in South Carolina before moving there, and met a ton of great people, virtually. When I finally moved to SC, it was in the Columbia area, not upstate where my new virtual friends were. I kept in touch with many of them, in fact they started the SouthEast Linux Fest, and I was able to attend a few times and meet some of them in person!

My move to Atlanta from SC was facilitated by conversations in the group.

Visit the new state as much as you can. We went on a trip to Atlanta, did some touristy stuff, and fell in love with the city. We now live 30 miles outside but still in the metro area.

Real Estate - my wife is a guru, it's really kind of fun for her, like an extreme hobby. She loves looking at houses and has a ton of real estate contacts. At one point we bought/sold three different houses in a year.

Many variables come from your own situation. My wife and I have no kids but had three cats at one point. When we were in between houses, we had to find an apartment which would accommodate three indoor pets. We did end up finding one. We also never spent more than a few months in any apartment. We were not afraid to break a lease. We often spent $1000 only to earn or save many times that somewhere else in a short time frame. The apartment with the three cats, we were there for two months, and gave our notice to move out the day we moved in.

Also, is remote work possible? I met my wife on a BBS 25 years ago. We were big into IRC and had hundreds of friends across the globe. To say we're good at making "virtual friends" and cooperating remotely, well that's an understatement. Today most of my work is done remotely in the middle of the night. Planning and preparation are done during the day, during "normal business hours".

Overall we're happy but we're still looking for our next big thing, and I wouldn't be surprised if we relocated again.

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lindakatcodes profile image
Linda Thompson

Thanks for sharing! Looking for local to the area groups is something I hadn't thought of - I'll have to look into that!