moving?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Oct 6, 2016

Moving away from home can be a great learning experience -- you can meet new people, experience new foods and new cultures, see the sights. But before you pull up stakes and move away from Florida, you need to define what you want to move TO.

Do you want to experience a change in climate? Does winter fascinate you or frighten you? I lived in Wisconsin for many years and enjoyed skiing (anyone who can walk can learn to cross country ski), snowmobiling, ice boating, skating and sitting in the window seat drinking hot chocolate and watching the snow fall. But winter has it's downsides.

Do you want to live in a big city? Seattle is my favorite all time city. Where else can you go downhill skiing in the morning and sailing in the afternoon? Hiking, camping, scuba diving -- and symphony, five star restaurants, shopping. Seattle has just about anything you want to do and the culture is, in my opinion, much nicer than anywhere else. I used to joke that there must be Valium in the city water supply because the people are so laid back and NICE. New Orleans is a fun city but very, very different in climate, culture, activities and food. Then there is NYC, which I shudder to think of experiencing, but some folks love it there.

Do you want a smaller city -- how about Madison, Wisconsin? Spokane, Washington? Maybe storm chasing is your thing and Oklahoma City is calling your name. Maybe you've always wanted to experience Big Sky country. Wyoming, Montana and northern Idaho are beautiful.

Make sure it's some place you want to go TO, not just to get away FROM Florida.

petitDoc · Oct 6, 2016

Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it and surprisingly I was looking at Seattle just this weekend and you mentioned it on the list, the other state I was looking at beside Seattle is Texas.

BrendanO, MSN, RN · Oct 6, 2016

I think you might want to look at a smaller target than state-level. Within Florida, Miami's culture isn't really like Pensacola. In Texas, Houston, Dallas, Austin, El Paso, and Lubbock are all different worlds. New York City is nothing like Albany or Buffalo, even though they're all in New York state. Heck, the north and south sides of Chicago look significantly different!

I've visited 48 states and lived in 8 of them. Every one has good parts and bad parts. Like Ruby Vee said, what are you looking to move TO? If you want to be an hour drive from the beach, you can't move to North Dakota. If you want to live in or near a big city, that rules out 10 states right away.

petitDoc · Oct 6, 2016

Thank you for replying, in Texas it would probably be Dallas forth worth area or Austin. The things I am looking for would be diversity, I don't mind cold weather, I don't need to be near the beach, I would like diversity, a small town or living near a big city would be preferred.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Oct 6, 2016

Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it and surprisingly I was looking at Seattle just this weekend and you mentioned it on the list, the other state I was looking at beside Seattle is Texas.

Seattle is a city; it's in Washington state. Texas is a big state with lots of large and small cities. There is an enormous difference in culture, opportunities and climate between the various cities in Texas. I liked San Antonio, but Dallas-Fort Worth is just too big and Witchita Falls gets COLD.

You really need to think about what you're looking for in a new home. Outdoor activities? Cultural activities? Do you want to experience winter or just skip that altogether? Once you narrow things down a bit, I think you'll get far more useful suggestions.

I'm anxious to move away from where I am, too. I'm looking for a smaller city with a college or university, good health care, outdoor activities and public transportation. If it were walkable, that would be a plus. I'm OK with winter -- born and raised in Wisconsin - but I'm not a fan of hot weather. I miss Seattle (people are polite, and friendly as opposed to the abrupt east coasters, and it's CLEANER) but I know I can't afford to live there anymore unless I want to work full time again. So perhaps Bellingham or something on the south sound. I like Oregon, too.

Come back with some ideas of what you're looking for.

petitDoc · Oct 6, 2016

Thank you, this really gave me a lot to think about and yes Texas is huge and I heard Seattle was expensive that's why I was thinking Texas for now because I would be a new nurse and Texas may have a broader range of opportunity and the living cost looked decent... but I will have to first have a list of things I would look for in a area I want to move to.

NICUismylife, ADN, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2016

Seattle hires new grads frequently too, which is another thing you'll need to consider as a new grad nurse.

petitDoc · Oct 6, 2016

Seattle hires new grads frequently too, which is another thing you'll need to consider as a new grad nurse.

Thank you I had no idea, definitely something to look into :cool:

BrendanO, MSN, RN · Oct 7, 2016

DFW is also a much shorter and cheaper flight than Seattle if you want to go back home to visit your family. All the big cities in Texas are pretty diverse, which is nice.

Keep in mind, when you're looking at cost of living, that pay rates for professionals in most places are often scaled to compensate. Check into both housing costs AND pay rates before you rule anywhere in/out. Also consider whether you'd be in a highly unionized state, which can have an upward push on wages (like California).

alamode · Oct 7, 2016

Young and single (maybe I'm just assuming? ) is the time to do an expensive city. Texas will always be there later.

petitDoc · Oct 7, 2016

Thank you for those suggestions, Texas is closer to Florida to visit the family also vice versa for family and friends to come visit.. I did keep in mind that the price of living is lower because it's probably base on income in the area's, I really appreciate your suggestions I didn't even think of that.