Move away or not?

[jioptret]

Would you like to move to another city or even country? What is stopping you or what are you doing to move?

[captaintrolley]

I would love to move to Vancouver (ocean, mountains, clean air, soft water AND ♥ trolleys ♥). I had a small window of opportunity to live there for four (2012-2016) years and those were truly four of the most amazing years ever.

I moved back to Edmonton to help care for my mother (she was 96 then, and lived to be a month shy of 102 yrs old). She ended up breaking both her hips and requiring Long Term Care living. Also needed to get her affairs in (better) order.

I also moved back to Edmonton to be with family (son & his wife and three gorgeous ♥ grandchildren ♥).

I inherited moms condo in Edmonton.  This has been a lifesaver since I could never afford rent nowadays, let alone buy a place.

So basically the things that are keeping me in Edmonton (owning a residence and being near family)  are the things that are keeping me from moving to Vancouver.

[Bus_Medic]

Ditto. Would love to uproot and re settle in the lower mainland or Vancouver island. You don’t need to shovel rain.

In light of climate change apparently hitting the west coast hardest, Northern Ontario (Sudbury/north Bay) is a good plan B. Where my daughter chooses to remain when she grows up may affect things too.

I’m 11 years out from a full pension, so I’m stuck in Toronto until then.

[captaintrolley]

1 hour ago, Bus_Medic said:

I’m 11 years out from a full pension, so I’m stuck in Toronto until then.

I was 6 years away from my '85' points, but I took the pay cut. I had gotten an $80,000.00 inheritance when my aunt had passed away, so between that, bit of a part time job, and living frugally I managed to eke out four years of glorious living in Vancouver.  Mom was still in her condo and in fairly good shape with the help from her friends and neighbors, so I figured it's 'now or never' to experience Vancouver and  satiate an increasing Trolley withdrawal.

[jioptret]

And I'm not moving because of fear. I'm afraid of being alone in a foreign country. In addition, the financial issues are not so well established that I can safely leave. The truth is, I'm already starting to think about moving. Just within my city for now. I read what are the first steps to selling your home and mentally adjust. Maybe when the house is sold, I'll take a chance and move somewhere else. But for now, I'm just dreaming about it.

[9924]

Moved lots of times in my life, from City to City, Province to Province and Country to Country.

I go where the best opportunities are.

And when the day comes to retire, I'll find a nice cozy place in the desert somewhere and call it home.

[T3G]

I've wanted to move back to Europe for a very long time. I am much too far away from almost my entire family here. Seeing my grandparents is an unnecessarily rare experience, I barely know any of my cousins, etc. COVID has made that desire all the more acute since it was impossible for almost 2 years to travel back, and also all the more unattainable on account of the gargantuan economic crisis which Russia's aggressive BS in Ukraine has worsened. Will I ever end up fulfilling this dream? Only heaven knows.

[captaintrolley]

33 minutes ago, T3G said:

Will I ever end up fulfilling this dream? Only heaven knows.

Depends what you have keeping you here. I hope you fulfill your dream when things improve across the pond.

[9924]

On 5/27/2022 at 12:37 AM, jioptret said:

And I'm not moving because of fear. I'm afraid of being alone in a foreign country. In addition, the financial issues are not so well established that I can safely leave. 

Nothing to be afraid of - its an experience that can be very fulfilling in life.

20 hours ago, T3G said:

I've wanted to move back to Europe for a very long time. I am much too far away from almost my entire family here. Seeing my grandparents is an unnecessarily rare experience, I barely know any of my cousins, etc. COVID has made that desire all the more acute since it was impossible for almost 2 years to travel back, and also all the more unattainable on account of the gargantuan economic crisis which Russia's aggressive BS in Ukraine has worsened. Will I ever end up fulfilling this dream? Only heaven knows.

What brought you here?

Whats keeping you here?

If you want to go back, then go back - nothing stopping you.  Thats what I did when I moved back to Europe, just made the decision, set a date, packed my bags, was going to only stay for a year ended up staying for 10.

[MCIBUS]

Would deffently move out of the country and if I could afford it move either to a country in the South Pacific, Caribbean/Central-South America some where it's warm year round.(and by warm I mean it's 25C+ in winter)

[GTAmissions1]

I have considered moving to a different area. It is more of financial cost and other logistical challenges to make that happen.

Especially with the cost of living such as rent being expensive and hard to afford along with inflation increasing the cost of essentials such as food and utilities. It is a big uphill battle with managing what is going on.

Vancouver is a nice place to live since you live along the ocean and have all the amenities there. I visited back in February 2018 and it was a big adjustment dealing with snow and only dealing with rain and a more humid climate. Reminds me of Vegas and how humid it can be with all the special stuff along The Strip. 

I personally prefer a place where I don't need a car to get around. Take public transit to get everywhere along with a reasonable frequency. I know Toronto has that along major corridors along with the Blue Night Network that covers most of the city overnight.

[T3G]

On 5/27/2022 at 9:04 AM, captaintrolley said:

Depends what you have keeping you here. I hope you fulfill your dream when things improve across the pond.

 

On 5/28/2022 at 4:34 AM, 9924 said:

What brought you here?

Whats keeping you here?

If you want to go back, then go back - nothing stopping you.  Thats what I did when I moved back to Europe, just made the decision, set a date, packed my bags, was going to only stay for a year ended up staying for 10.

I have absolutely nothing keeping me here. At this stage I'm waiting for the economic/geopolitical situation to stabilize so I can head on out, but it's very hard to set expectations for something you don't even know is going to happen. I would love to just pack my bags and leave, and were I in this same position in 2018 I may very well have done so, but I feel more than a little uneasy about the stability of the European continent to make such a move right now.

  

On 5/28/2022 at 12:54 PM, GTAmissions1 said:

I personally prefer a place where I don't need a car to get around. Take public transit to get everywhere along with a reasonable frequency. I know Toronto has that along major corridors along with the Blue Night Network that covers most of the city overnight.

This ^^ right here. I don't know what it is with North American suburbs and their car centric urban design. How are you supposed to make friends - and forget about dating - when you need a car to go anywhere and do anything? My local transit stops running at 10 pm on weekdays, at 7:30 pm on Saturdays, and doesn't run on Sundays and holidays. I badly need to live in a city with a decently usable transit system. Bratislava was a dream when I visited in September. Nothing like being able to hang out in the city centre late into the evening, and being able to make it back to my hotel within a reasonable timeframe.

[9924]

27 minutes ago, T3G said:

 

I have absolutely nothing keeping me here. At this stage I'm waiting for the economic/geopolitical situation to stabilize so I can head on out, but it's very hard to set expectations for something you don't even know is going to happen. I would love to just pack my bags and leave, and were I in this same position in 2018 I may very well have done so, but I feel more than a little uneasy about the stability of the European continent to make such a move right now.

  

This ^^ right here. I don't know what it is with North American suburbs and their car centric urban design. How are you supposed to make friends - and forget about dating - when you need a car to go anywhere and do anything? My local transit stops running at 10 pm on weekdays, at 7:30 pm on Saturdays, and doesn't run on Sundays and holidays. I badly need to live in a city with a decently usable transit system. Bratislava was a dream when I visited in September. Nothing like being able to hang out in the city centre late into the evening, and being able to make it back to my hotel within a reasonable timeframe.

Where about in Europe?

The one thing about Europe, the geopolitical threats will never change - granted, currently they're at a max level, but the threat is always on the doorstep - not that I see anything progressing worse than it already is.

Economically, anywhere in Western Europe and you'd be fine - probably do a lot better there than here in certain employment fields.

 

[captaintrolley]

41 minutes ago, T3G said:

This ^^ right here. I don't know what it is with North American suburbs and their car centric urban design. How are you supposed to make friends - and forget about dating - when you need a car to go anywhere and do anything? My local transit stops running at 10 pm on weekdays, at 7:30 pm on Saturdays, and doesn't run on Sundays and holidays. I badly need to live in a city with a decently usable transit system. Bratislava was a dream when I visited in September. Nothing like being able to hang out in the city centre late into the evening, and being able to make it back to my hotel within a reasonable timeframe.

Agreed. When I lived in Vancouver, it was a dream getting by on public transit compared to Edmonton.

[81-717]

My family moved to Toronto from Moscow way back in 2000 and we've been living here ever since. Last time I travelled to Moscow was in 2003 (my parents last travelled there in 2020/2021), and while I never seriously considered ever moving back (even though we still have citizenship & property over there, and under normal circumstances could travel & live there as local residents), I was really looking forward to being able to travel to Russia (and possibly Ukraine & Belarus) starting in 2023 (when I turn 28 and no longer of conscription age), but this year the tables have turned unimaginably  seems like travelling to any of those 3 countries within my lifetime was never meant to be. There are a lot of other countries & cities that I'd love to visit, but it's hard to pick a destination that would be the #1 choice for relocating. Toronto has always felt like a safe & comfortable place to live, but (& I hate to say this) that has changed, to the point where it sometimes seems like relocating (to some city with interesting transit & a low crime rate) would be the only way to escape the problem. But ofc that's easier said than done, as it would require abandoning what we have here & starting over.

[T3G]

8 hours ago, 9924 said:

Where about in Europe?

The one thing about Europe, the geopolitical threats will never change - granted, currently they're at a max level, but the threat is always on the doorstep - not that I see anything progressing worse than it already is.

Economically, anywhere in Western Europe and you'd be fine - probably do a lot better there than here in certain employment fields.

 

Slovakia would be my first choice, as that is where the overwhelming majority of my family lives. Economically they have done rather well for themselves in the 30 years since they've booted out the communists, even if COVID has jeopardized that to a certain extent, but they are heavily reliant on Russian fuel for heating and power and I'm a bit dubious as to how this winter is going to look on account of that.

Other places I have looked at are the Czech Republic (culturally very similar to Slovakia, but somewhat better off), or perhaps somewhere in Great Britain or Ireland. If truth be told I wouldn't be very bothered with any of those places, at the end of the day they are a hop, skip, and a jump away from Slovakia and they are all generally pretty well off economically, and GB/Ireland has the added benefit of not having any kind of language barrier. Switzerland or Norway was another idea I explored when I was younger, but I'm not sure how realistic that ever was due to the exorbitant costs of living. I guess it would depend on if I managed to land a decently well paying gig there. Which brings me to the other issue... I need to go back to school, because I am woefully unqualified for anything right now. I studied journalism for two years and while that was an interesting experience, it is in no way conducive to having an actual career. I've been waiting for COVID to die down so they'd stop faffing around with nonsense like online classes, so I'll have to start exploring my options soon.

[Wayside Observer]

Interestingly, this came up at work this morning.  The guy who took over from me had been contacted by one of our counterparts in a branch plant because they have openings and wanted to know if anyone based in Toronto would be willing to relocate.

The main selling point was "it's cheaper here", which is the first thing that anyone looking to pilfer staff from Toronto brings up.  Personally, that's come up twice before this when they've looked for staff because I've backfilled satellite plants for close to 10 years.  However, the problem is I've got my cost of living structured here pretty low which means that "it's cheaper here" in the other locations may be true compared to the GTA in general, but it's not cheaper than what I've got here and moving would result in an increase over what it costs for me to exist now.  The second half of the problem is I'm at the top of my payband and our wages are set nationally which means I wouldn't be getting a raise.  I'd be paying the expense of moving and absorbing an ongoing jump in the cost of living but I wouldn't be earning any more money so, no.  I actually did look into this pretty in depth about two years ago and found out the company's moving assistance is pretty stingy when they relocate employees.  One of the managers said I might get $500.  That wouldn't pay the cost of enough U-Haul truck rental to move house.  These days, it probably wouldn't even cover the gas for the U-Haul truck.  Much as I've grown to dislike the GTA over time, I can't make the numbers work better by moving elsewhere, at least for this company.  If I were to get a compelling job offer for a different position in-company or externally, I'd be willing to relocate.

[38 Highland Creek]

I'd probably move to London, England where it has lots of transport.  Heard the Elizabeth line began service just last week.

[9924]

11 hours ago, T3G said:

"COVID has made that desire all the more acute since it was impossible for almost 2 years to travel back"

"and also all the more unattainable on account of the gargantuan economic crisis which Russia's aggressive BS in Ukraine has worsened"

"Switzerland or Norway was another idea I explored when I was younger, but I'm not sure how realistic that ever was due to the exorbitant costs of living. I guess it would depend on if I managed to land a decently well paying gig there"

"I've been waiting for COVID to die down so they'd stop faffing around with nonsense like online classes"

Not that I'm trying to sound like a jerk, but to me, it seems like you're looking for excuses.  I only say that to offer my sincerest suggestions:

If you truly want to move back to Europe, then do it.  Doesn't have to to be tomorrow, but come up with a concrete plan, set a date and do it.

I get the whole Russia/Ukraine argument but in all honesty, Europe has been under that threat for the last 80 years, and before that, it was Germany, and before that it was France, and before that it was England and before that it was Rome and so on and so forth.  Even the Balkan States are constantly on the edge of conflict.  Europe has always been in constant threat of war and that won't change ever.

Economically, to be honest, we're no better off here - not by a long shot.  While places like Switzerland do have a high cost of living, their wages reflect that so you can live quite comfortably there, again, probably better than here.  The whole European mentality towards work and affordability is hugely different than that in North America - there you live to work, you don't work to live like you do here.

Are you Slovakian?  If so, do you still have your Slovakian Citizenship?  If so, well then you could literally live/work any where in the EU - so that alone opens up a huge world of opportunity.  And as you said, Slovakia is just a hop away from anywhere in Europe and getting there is cheaper and easier than getting anywhere here.

As far as education goes, well, by saying that you're waiting for things to get back to normal, you just wasted 2 years towards an education - 2 years closer you would be to your goals.

Again, not just trying to criticize you or anything, just trying to give some helpful advice from someone who's been through what you posted - and one thing is that the more you delay today, the more you regret tomorrow.

[T3G]

16 hours ago, 9924 said:

Again, not just trying to criticize you or anything, just trying to give some helpful advice from someone who's been through what you posted - and one thing is that the more you delay today, the more you regret tomorrow.

Oh no, I totally get what you're saying, and I appreciate your input on this issue. When it's just me with my own thoughts it can be difficult to identify logical fallacies or flaws in my thinking. I do have a tentative plan in mind, I am aiming to go back by April 2023. I feel that that is a good amount of time to research my options and commit to something.

16 hours ago, 9924 said:

Are you Slovakian?  If so, do you still have your Slovakian Citizenship?  If so, well then you could literally live/work any where in the EU - so that alone opens up a huge world of opportunity.  

I do have my Slovak citizenship, which is lucky as dual citizenship ceased being an option for new citizens back in 2010. As I recall there are numerous locations in the EU where uni is free or at least available at a heavy markdown for EU citizens which is significant as well.

16 hours ago, 9924 said:

As far as education goes, well, by saying that you're waiting for things to get back to normal, you just wasted 2 years towards an education - 2 years closer you would be to your goals.

I know a lot of people who are in school right now and have seen them struggling big time with online schooling, so I consciously made the choice to defer going back to school until such a thing was much less widespread. I wouldn't say I've wasted those 2 years in total, though, I've been working since the outbreak of the pandemic and have saved up a pretty good amount of cash already which will come in handy down the line no matter what. I understand that there's a trade off here, but it's a trade off I felt was worthwhile - having an excuse to get out of the house and see real people has been hugely beneficial for my mental well being throughout covid, and having that money to spare will make it much less painful to relocate when I end up doing so.

Since things are largely back to normal now, it's time.

[Loud-Invero]

I'm hoping to settle into a trade or some other profession that will allow me to apply for a employment based green card in the US. While I'm very thankful I was born and raised in Canada, I rather live somewhere like Nebraska or South Dakota that better conforms to my ideals while living somewhere nice and quiet. I'm the oddity, but that is my future ambitious endeavor.

That's my easiest route, as I have no family in the US, I'm not really good looking to aim for a marriage based green card, and I certainly don't have millions to invest for an investing green card. It's a long shot, but certainly something worth trying for

[9924]

On 6/1/2022 at 9:03 AM, T3G said:

 

I know a lot of people who are in school right now and have seen them struggling big time with online schooling, so I consciously made the choice to defer going back to school until such a thing was much less widespread. I wouldn't say I've wasted those 2 years in total, though, I've been working since the outbreak of the pandemic and have saved up a pretty good amount of cash already which will come in handy down the line no matter what. I understand that there's a trade off here, but it's a trade off I felt was worthwhile - having an excuse to get out of the house and see real people has been hugely beneficial for my mental well being throughout covid, and having that money to spare will make it much less painful to relocate when I end up doing so.

Online schooling can be tough, totally understand where you're coming from. Still a much better option then when I was in college.  Back then, we did courses thru the mail.  You'd sign up for a course, they mail you the material, you do your work on your own, mail it to them and so on and so forth.

You young folks, y'all got it pretty darn good with your fancy internet and zoom calls I tells ya 

[Greatcoinz]

At this point, where the road takes me when I finish college. I'd love to move away from Calgary and just start off fresh, preferably a smaller city. While my family has lived here for 30 Years, I am just done with the cold winters and same old. The only thing I want if I move is still be close to family as they are getting older and I would rather stay close so I can look after them and I'm an only child. 

If I had to choose a city, I'd choose Kelowna BC. There's plenty of work in aerospace, it's a smaller city and less cold. Only time will tell however. Pay me good and I will consider the move and start off fresh.