Is the grass always greener?

[AlaskaHunter]

You will not regret it. I did see where some crazy forum member moved from AK to SD. Don’t do something like that. WY MT CO ID UT is where you want to be...

South Dakota would make sense if you love to hunt upland birds and waterfowl...different strokes for different folks.

 

[westbranch]

My wife and I were having this discussion back in 2015-2016. Trying to figure out what next. Life was good, making ok money in a low cost of living area. Short commutes, plenty of vacation time, business buy-in opportunity in the near future. Also had unlimited access to large chunk of private land with great deer, bear, turkey, grouse, and other small game hunting. I think the thing that frustrated me the most was that I felt like I had no reason to be unhappy, but I was. My wife did not have the unhappiness issues I had, but she was very interested in moving to the mountains and trying something else.

Decided to go for it in 2017 and the first year was tough. It started off well since we had the savings to relax a bit and she took 3 months off work and I took 5. Did a big driving loop through the west with nothing booked in advance, camping along the way. Found an apartment and had a few weeks to settle in. But the new job I found was big corporate gig that required a lot of hours and I did not enjoy it. My wife was working remotely and took a while to adjust. We told ourselves we would probably move back to MN in 3-5 years. We bought a duplex to remodel/rent to keep ourselves busy, I found a different job in Oct 2018. Which I was second guessing of course, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made. Put myself back into a similar position with the long term opportunity I gave up at my MN job. We have met more people, found a ton of things we like to do locally. Very short commutes with a good work/life balance. Now coming up on 3 years and do not ever see ourselves moving back.

Similar to MT Bound, I was surprised how much happier I am. Some things are tough, like all family is 1,300 miles away and we only see them a few times a year. My parents are quite a bit older and don't have the money or energy to travel much. But we are more fortunate than most with our jobs/lifestyle that give us quite a bit of flexibility. So I say go for it.

 

[Yooper906]

What part of the UP? My dad grew up in iron river, so we’ve been up there many times over the years for summer vacations, usually fishing a different lake or stream every day.

East end of the yoop

 

[HandgunHunter]

My wife and I were having this discussion back in 2015-2016. Trying to figure out what next. Life was good, making ok money in a low cost of living area. Short commutes, plenty of vacation time, business buy-in opportunity in the near future. Also had unlimited access to large chunk of private land with great deer, bear, turkey, grouse, and other small game hunting. I think the thing that frustrated me the most was that I felt like I had no reason to be unhappy, but I was. My wife did not have the unhappiness issues I had, but she was very interested in moving to the mountains and trying something else.

Decided to go for it in 2017 and the first year was tough. It started off well since we had the savings to relax a bit and she took 3 months off work and I took 5. Did a big driving loop through the west with nothing booked in advance, camping along the way. Found an apartment and had a few weeks to settle in. But the new job I found was big corporate gig that required a lot of hours and I did not enjoy it. My wife was working remotely and took a while to adjust. We told ourselves we would probably move back to MN in 3-5 years. We bought a duplex to remodel/rent to keep ourselves busy, I found a different job in Oct 2018. Which I was second guessing of course, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made. Put myself back into a similar position with the long term opportunity I gave up at my MN job. We have met more people, found a ton of things we like to do locally. Very short commutes with a good work/life balance. Now coming up on 3 years and do not ever see ourselves moving back.

Similar to MT Bound, I was surprised how much happier I am. Some things are tough, like all family is 1,300 miles away and we only see them a few times a year. My parents are quite a bit older and don't have the money or energy to travel much. But we are more fortunate than most with our jobs/lifestyle that give us quite a bit of flexibility. So I say go for it.

I like having the family about 24 hours away

 

[huronmtns]

East end of the yoop

The flat end of the UP for those that have never been through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

 

[Arctic_Snow_Seeker]

South Dakota would make sense if you love to hunt upland birds and waterfowl...different strokes for different folks.

True, you can do that in all the other states mentioned too. Mountains baby! Mountains!

 

[pre6422hornet]

We moved away from family in 2008. Hers was 1.5 north in Midland, Michigan ( FIL has 80 in the UP so yes I have been there a bunch) and mine in Toledo OH.
2008 Toledo to Chicago ( I declared I would never be back.... wait for it)
2011 Chicago to Kansas City
2014 Kansas City to ABQ
2015 ABQ to St. Louis
2017 St. Louis to Chicago ( haha.. never say never)

So I/we have lived a lot of different places. We would move back to Kansas City in a minute. Great town, Awesome people, Awesome food. I met friends there that will last a lifetime. Great whitetail hunting and there is quite a bit of public land. 12 Hours from the Rockies.

ABQ had great views and we loved the outside things to do there and I was able to punch a bull tag in Oct 2015 then we moved away. While we didn't gel with the people in ABQ, we made friends there as well ( both families originally from the midwest). I spent a lot of time with NM Game and Fish officers and learned a bunch about backpacking, elk, binos on tripods, etc.. One of the officers is one of my best friends now and we hunt together any chance we can pull tags together.

Nothing in my mind is better than living in the west. I in fact am trying right now to move the family once again and the destination is out west. The mountains are calling and I must go.

PS.. being away from family isn't bad at all. We really like the fact that on Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.. we do what we want and don't have to worry about going here or there. It will make your marriage stronger too in my opinion.

 

[pre6422hornet]

East end of the yoop

Yoop my FIL's 80 is up near Rudyard.. I spent a lot of time up there 05-08. His cabin was the last one with electricity before entering the National Forest so his 80 felt like 8000.

 

[1_pointer]

Really, really make sure you're wife is into it for the long haul. Mine wasn't. Moved west for a number years than moved back to the midwest. Knowing what one is missing made (still does) it very hard for me to cope with...

 

[2rocky]

Long story short....If it is important enough to you you will make it work. Your first landing spot out west might not be the right fit but it gets you out there. My Great Grandfather moved from Michigan in the 20's and now I'm the 4th generation on the Family ranch. Glad he made the leap during the depression no less....

 

[bushman13]

I can comment on this as I am fresh from experience. Before moving to the Rockies, I spent one year on a tropical island. The answer is one we all already know, mountains in the summer, beach in the winter. The snowbirds have always had it right. The problem is, how do I live like this before retirement? I haven't figured out that last piece completely yet, but I am working on it.

 

[Phaseolus]

I would leave CO off the list personally.

If I was single with no children I would've moved to Wyoming 5 years ago. If I tried that now my mom would scalp me for trying to steal her grandbabies. I don't plan on leaving my small town or close knit family anytime soon. Instead I'll just make spending time exploring the western US, hopefully with a tag in my pocket, a priority.

Yet you settle for Oklahoma??

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

I get that that too, I hate my job and where I live but I've got a mortgage, wife and kids to worry about. The monotony of sitting at a desk 8 hours a day and having terrible hunting opportunities is a real grind. The wife and i want to move someday to the eastern part of the state. Endless mountains and deer, close to the coast for fishing. I'd love to get back outside for a career too, I make decent money but I've realised it's not worth the cost to ones mental health. Life aint long enough to deal with shit for a big chunk of it.

Before I met my wife I had every serious intention of eithet moving up to northern Australia, Alaska or Africa. But life has a way of changing your path. I'll always encourage and support my kids to follow their dreams that's for sure.

 

[MThuntr]

If you have a spouse you seriously need to have them on board and then visit these places for a few weeks in deep of winter. I've seen a lot of people come and go when their partner is miserable in the middle of a 7 month winter.

 

[Yooper906]

If you have a spouse you seriously need to have them on board and then visit these places for a few weeks in deep of winter. I've seen a lot of people come and go when their partner is miserable in the middle of a 7 month winter.

Yeah, winter can take tolls on someone. We are no strangers to long winters, as many start in November and don't break until early May/late april (let alone spans of negative degrees)

 

[WildWill]

Yet you settle for Oklahoma??

And have never regretted it.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I think it is always greener. I have lived in Wyoming my whole life but would love to move to florida, buy a fishing boat and fish salt water. But, I also know Wyoming is a great state to live in and I would be leaving a lot of great people and family. Its fun to dream though.

 

[LCH]

Like a few others here have stated, I would be living somewhere in the west if my wife were on board. I was a junior in high school and she was in college when we started dating though, so I never really had a chance

I've worked hard at it, and think I've found contentment here at home. Really, southern Indiana has great whitetail hunting, mediocre turkey hunting, fair small game hunting opportunities. I'm not much of a fisherman, but we've got that too.

One big part of my contentment is having a job with a good amount of PTO, and getting over my aversion to long rides in the car. I can leave my house in Indiana early in the morning, and be in Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana NLT midnight. I do it 3-4 times a year now.

 

[MTGomer]

After reading this, I have realized that people that live in UP abbreviate UP by writing Yoop. People that abbreviate abbreviations by making abbreviations longer, should probably look somewhere other than Montana… It is full

I’m joking.
sort of.

In all seriousness, you should definitely move. Nobody ever said ‘what makes this cold and snow all worth it is a summer without mountains’

 

[Steiny]

I do lots of traveling, but home will always be home. Hard to put a value on living where you grew up at around long time friends, family, etc.
You can travel extensively to enjoy other parts of the world, but it's still good to have home base. Will probably become more important as we get older.