askchapo

I left as a young bozo about 17 years ago. I've lived in 3 other states and worked in 4. never regretted it for a second, one of the best decisions I ever made was to get the fuck out. I lived in some places many would assume would be worse than Florida. none of them were. Florida is fucking awful.

I have family who live there and they have always acted like I'm crazy for hating the place so vehemently, but over the years that has softened to a general agreement, though they stay. supposedly this year they are agreeing it's time to finally go.

anyway, beyond saving what you can for the move, to me the critical piece of relocating is being hired into a job at your destination and targeting your search to geographies you want to live in. find the job, then find the housing. if you can get hired as remote to transition, that's ideal. but an offer contingent on relocation is great. an employer and coworkers can be a great instant-network to find housing and knowing what you'll make is clutch at targeting your housing search.

all that to say, it's such a pain to move and the lead up can be dispiriting, but think of it this way: outside of Florida, there are some beautiful communities and places in this world and you have a great many to chose from to build a future. you speak the language, you have citizenship papers, you can open a bank account and operate a vehicle... those are massive barriers to a lot of migrants and political refugees.

if you wait until it's harder to stay than it is harder to move, you waited too long.