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HomeEmploymentI Quit My Job and Am Moving Across The Country

I Quit My Job and Am Moving Across The Country

Awhile ago, Silicon Valley Blogger featured a guest post about relocating and whether you would consider doing it for love or money.

I don’t think I could relocate for the money. Leaving everything behind is tough, and I can’t even imagine traveling even 50% of the time, so relocating for money seems to be out of the question for me.

I’ve decided to move from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles, California in order to be with Lauren. Clearly love was enough to make me relocate.

To top it off, I just gave notice that I’ll be leaving my job and in 3 weeks will wake up on Monday morning without a job for the first time since graduating college. I knew that it would be nearly impossible to get a job in LA (anyone out there hiring?) while living 3,000 miles away, so I have been applying and will hopefuly line up some interviews in the first week or two I’m there.

Scared? Hell no! Excited? Yes! While I know getting a job right now is daunting, I think I have the skills that certain employers want and I’ll spend some time trying to find a perfect fit. If I can’t? I’ll move down my list from dream jobs to great jobs, and if it comes to it, decent jobs, and finally, any job, though hopefully I won’t get there.

In the meantime, I have this blog and some other online business ventures to support me. I have built up a very health emergency fund and my online ventures can pay my bills and then some, so I do have some breathing room.

Why not plan on blogging full-time?

I’m simply not built for that right now. While I work well alone, I like interacting with people, and after spending two days on my couch with my sprained ankle, I realized that working from home may not be for me. I like to get out, walk around, and interact with people. Clearly I’ll be getting a little bit of a better taste for that life in the coming months, so we’ll see if it’s something that I might one day enjoy.

The other reason is for security. With online ventures, they can dry up at any time. There’s no backup plan, so a job really is necessary.

Readers, would you relocate for love? Am I crazy for quitting with no job lined up?

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24 COMMENTS

  1. I was in a long distance relationship a number of years ago. I had no plans of moving but the girl had talked about moving to Michigan to be with me. It never worked out though. Good luck to you!

  2. While being hopelessly romantic, this is a huge step. I’m in the LA area, and I’ve been unemployedfor 6 months now, so it may be hard to find something. I hope it works out for you.

    • @20 and Engaged, What have you done to keep yourself on your feet? It sounds like it’s been a trying period, I hope it all works out!

  3. Congrats on the move – LA sounds like a pretty fun place. I’ve been in your situation – I currently live with my girlfriend, and when we were living in different states while I was finishing my degree, we were looking at jobs all over the country with the only stipulation that we be in the same city. It ended up working out, but I was without a job for about 3 months – it was not good because I was just out of school and had not really gotten my feet under me.

    • @Kevin @ Thousandaire.com, because she was living here! After graduating from college, she moved back home, so I’ll be away from her for all of…2 weeks. Not sure if I can handle it, but we’ll see ;)

    • She’ll be working, then graduate school, and this is where home is, so one way or another, she was set on coming here eventually. Either now or later so we said now!

  4. Congrats. I bet you will like California. My brother and his GF have been doing the distance things for 3 years now and it seems to work. Their goal is to end up in the same city once they are done med school but until then they Skype, text, and fly to see each other. It is the cost of love.

  5. Love would be the ONLY reason to relocate, and I would have to move somewhere that has what I need; rural living, rivers, mountains, lakes, and forest. I relocated for money and I’m not happy. I have a great job, but I’m 150 miles away from where I really want to be. Perhaps the only thing I want more than moving home is to be loved and in love.

  6. Hubby got a job across the country and we are on our way the end of the month. You are not crazy at all. We have moved 5 times together and the adventure is wonderful. You will get a job. LA is a big place. Plus you get to be near Len Penzo! Good luck!

  7. Daniel, welcome to SoCal! I forgot the field you’re in (is it tech?), but some fields have lots of jobs and others well….

    I’m looking forward to meeting you and congratulations on the move.

  8. Good luck! I came across your blog randomly, since I have been in a long distance relationship for more than 2 years now. I’ve been job searching in his area for a year now (he has the more stable job b/w the 2 of us) but can’t find anything and I’m at the tipping point where I might just bite the bullet and move. I can’t do the commuting and traveling anymore, its emotionally draining. I’m just trying to get over the fear of being jobless!!! What made you make the leap of faith? Please keep us updated on how it goes.

    • @Kiwi, Having a little backup plan definitely helped, and I’ve been working hard to build a healthy emergency fund.

      If I didn’t have it, I would have stuck here, at least for the next few months. I don’t think I could be in a long-term long-distance relationship and would have eventually just done it anyway. Good luck!

    • @Kiwi, you literally just wrote my exact situation. it might be time to just pack up and go!… hope all worked out for you!

      • @Stevie, everything did work out!! I decided to stick it out for a few more months and save money. After looking for a job for more than a year, I finally landed a new one. I actually work from home now and we live together. Despite all the stress and traveling, it was so worth it in the end. I am so happy and I truly believe that good things happen to those who wait. My relationship is stronger than ever, and we appreciate every minute together now.

  9. Moving in 13 weeks to be with Hubby in CA from GA! Excited to move and hoping to find a teleworking job.

    Here’s to Romantics!

  10. @Barb Friedberg,
    Help! I have been planning a move for over 2 years and now feel frozen in my tracks. I sold my house and quit my job 3 months ago. I was afraid to move 2000 miles away for a guy. I am 51 and divorced. But,the new location has a lot to offer that I would really like. But my kids are in college here and I am just plain chicken. is it abandoning them? I know that sounds ridiculous, but am having a hard time getting rid of the guilt. Their dad walked out 5 years ago and I feel the need to compensate?

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