Stay in home state, move interstate or travel?

[chilblands]

Anyone else just wonder what is next?

Should one buy a house in home state, or move state or spend the money to travel?
Maybe a working visa.
New city new me?
Or nah I can not afford to move?

Your marital status would matter a lot, or your current job commitment and needs. If you want to move, what is stopping you?

[beetledragon3869]

I'm having the same questions. I can't afford to move, but simultaneously, I really don't want to be stuck in my hometown forever... I'd really like to travel, see different parts of the world, but I don't know how feasible that is right now due to personal location-based responsibilities.

If it helps any, and if you're interested in more short-term travel, I know there are different programs out there with au pair-like programs where people will house and pay travelers in exchange for work. Workaway comes to mind, you can find hosts that will help you travel in exchange for different types of work.

[Melooon]

I cant answer your poll directly, but this is a subject that's been on my mind a lot recently and it might be of use to someone thinking about the same things:

I traveled a lot when I was in my 20s, I lived in a new city almost every year, and I did a bunch of touristing too. I traveled enough to learn that although I enjoy travel, after a while it was no longer fulfilling to me. That is to say, travel is great for opening your mind and making you a fuller person, but for most people there is a limit to what it can offer you.

These days I find myself back in my home city (not somewhere I ever planned to be), and I still feel the pull of wanting to move, but I also know it's not really what I need now. Some part of me is ashamed of that. I feel shame to be in my home city, and I feel shame to have stayed in the same place for almost 4 years now instead of moving on - but those feelings are dead-ends; staying still has given me time to build big projects like MelonLand and to make friends and explore things that I could never have done while on the move. I'd still be happy to move now, but only if I had a reason or a purpose that helped me expand the life I've already started building; the act of moving is no longer going to do that on its own.

The deeper question is; what does it mean to live a full and happy life? Travel and moving can play an important part in having one, but it can also be toxic to it. No matter where you travel to, you'll still be the same person you were back home; but pieces of the places you visit do stick to you, and they enhance you and give you ideas to help you construct a bigger life for yourself. I think traveling when your young is ideal, but it can happen later in life too.

Living a full life is really about a mix of learning, building, creation and giving; moving and staying still are just acts that can help you do those things; but you have to figure out what things you want to work on and what you've done enough of for the time being 

[PurpleHello98]

I traveled a lot when I was in my 20s, I lived in a new city almost every year, and I did a bunch of touristing too. I traveled enough to learn that although I enjoy travel, after a while it was no longer fulfilling to me. That is to say, travel is great for opening your mind and making you a fuller person, but for most people there is a limit to what it can offer you.

These days I find myself back in my home city (not somewhere I ever planned to be), and I still feel the pull of wanting to move, but I also know it's not really what I need now.

I've found the same thing myself recently. I always thought I would move abroad, to Canada or the UK, for university and find someone there and live there. Then that didn't pan out financially, so I thought I'd study abroad, find someone there and move abroad after graduating. And then a few months before I finally did go abroad I met a guy and fell in love in my hometown, and while I largely loved studying abroad and I love London, it was a really hard thing to be so far away from my friends, family and boyfriend. And my boyfriend and I have only gotten more serious, and he loves our hometown and I've started to see the good side of it too. I've also gotten closer with some local friends, too. And long story short, I think now I'm staying in my hometown for the forseeable future, unless the statewide political climate makes it impossible for me to do so. And I'm pretty happy with that. Part of me still wants to go live in some big city with good public transport but ultimately my partner and my friends matter more to me. Even if I do love trains.

[memento]

i've lived in the same place my whole life and would really like to live somewhere completely different. midwest usa small town. this saturday i'm actually moving to another city in my state and i have mixed feelings about it. on one hand i need to get out of my hometown, on the other it is far from my dream city and i actually think i like it less than my current closest city. i've been really stressed about it but moving there is my best option right now. ideally i would really like to live in a place that is less conservative because i like to be visibly transgender, and i want to live somewhere people can get around without a car because driving gives me massive anxiety that makes me almost incapable of doing it. i'd have to move to a new state or abroad to do that and i would love that so much but i worry that it might just never be feasible for me. so i'm trying to get better at accepting that i'll just have to make my own happiness in a place i'm not happy with. but it's hard not to be bitter about it, i often feel like my freedoms are limited because i was born in a part of the world i'm not fully compatible with