Moving for that new job

You also make friends easier than I do, apparently.

 

Very true. I'm about 5 hours away from home, but it was a huge culture shock when I got here. Fortunately, I found a woman I really care about and that has eased things a lot.

And I agree with the person who said to think about where you are and where you're not. I'm still learning to do that.

 

Drink beer, Flash boobs ... instant success.

 

Hmmmm...I'll try that tomorrow night. But the guys at my new "local" are all about 50.

 

Yeah, but how deep are their pockets?

 

True dat

 

After half your stuff arrives broken in a gazillion pieces, make sure you tip the movers.

 

I moved for a sports writing/editing gig about 10 years ago. I live in the Midwest and moved about six hours from home. The challenge of discovering a new city, new job and making new friends was invigorating and I don't regret a single minute.

 

When you attend three different school districts during 13 years of compulsory education, and then attend college half a country away from the last stop, packing up to move across three time zones for that first gig out of college is no big deal. Nor is it a big deal to move great distances throughout a career in a generally transient business.

I wish I could sympathize with those of you cutting the cord for the first time, but I got into papers knowing it was a transient business and that I'd have to move wherever I found work, as opposed to finding work where you move. And the media racket involves going up to people you don't know and talking to them all the time, so it's ironic how socially awkward we are in the realm of making friends in an unfamiliar spot. In fact, you might not have "friends" per se, but co-workers you hang out with all the time, thanks to our odd work hours.

So I wish the original poster the best of luck. You're treading a familiar path, though, so don't hesitate to lean on us if need be.

 

A friend of mine was a sportscaster in a rural area.

Her friend was a graphic artist for live games based in NYC. This graphic artist worked out of the truck for college and NFL games, travelled everywhere, yaddity yaddity. This graphic artist was pretty good at what she did and had regular employment from all the major networks.

So the graphic artist convinces my friend the sportscaster to quit her job and move to New York City. "I'll introduce you to people."

After three months, my friend calls me almost suicidal. She was broke and couldn't even get a job as a waitress.

She eventually got the hell out of NYC and landed on her feet... But my assvice would be to have a plan.

 

That's a new one.

 

This has all been very helpful. Thank you.

I moved with a girlfriend to Texas when I was 22 and during a college summer break. I did it in hopes of staying there. She did it for a f/t job, I found a freelance gig and I was going to sign up for classes there. But her and I were on rocky ground (I went with her to know if we could make it work) so I always knew moving home was an option.

Because I freelanced, I didn't have a desk or was in the office daily. Most of the people I knew were at the ballpark or the few she met at her new job. I didn't call any of them friends. It was only three months before I moved home. A lot of it was because she and I weren't going to work but some was because I missed family and friends, and I didn't have any new friends there.

That was four years ago. I think I've did a lot of growing up since then, so that's why I'm hoping this potential move for a new job will be a-ok.