3 times, but never with a family in town.  That would make it a lot more complicated.

Found a job and transferred into in Florida. Left Missouri, just me and my dog. Started over here in a slightly different job. Was one of the best decisions of my life.

July of 2010 we decided fuck it, lets move to Texas. We moved that December.

Wife drove down ahead while I stayed back in Indiana and packed up the house. She dropped a few months rent on a shitty place, got a CNA job same day, and I brought what was left of the house in a UHaul truck a few days later. I picked up work when I got here. Worked out well enough I suppose.

Maybe getting ready to so curious to see as many stories as possible.

We just sold our place in worthless western shithole Washington and I’m aggressively applying outside of the state.  We’re eyeing Dallas area as it’s a major hub and not quite as hot, humid, or culturally enriched as Houston where my brother and his family live.  Arizona was a shoe-in until this election cycle, haven’t been there in a few years and used to love it, but now it’s iffy, still at the top of the list though.  A TON of my friends have already picked up and left the shitattle area and said they wish they’d done it sooner, not only for COL and politics, but also just how lame this place is, how shitty everyone is here, and the garbage weather.

Washington is a place where you can live next to someone 15 years and not even know their name, awful place to live for humans

Fresh out of grad school I moved from Toronto to Houston. A couple of years later I moved from Houston to Cleveland.

So yeah

I did it when I moved to Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Alaska, Oklahoma and Virginia.

It’s all part of the fun.

Many times in my younger years. Now I think it would be a challenge as nobody gives a rats ass about a a guy in his 50's.

Got out of nursing school,  moved to Dallas. Only knew one person there. Stayed for ~10 years. Good times.

Did many times as a kid, a couple of times when older post Army.

Literally now (the curse has struck again) will be leaving WA and moving to another state.  Near family, but no family there, nobody I know other than one guy from here I've messaged a few times.

You figure it out, meet new people, join new places, shop new places.  My first wife's mom lived on the same street her whole life other than 4 years of the in state college, the longest I've ever lived someplace was 10 years and I'm 46.

After getting out of the Navy, I moved to Denver to go to school.

I didn't know anyone, knew nothing about the area, no job, no place to live, nothing.

Found a place to live the second day there, started school and one of my classmates got me a job working at the NAPA Distribution center (his dad owned a NAPA store and knew people).

Graduated school and moved to Orlando for a job but again, I knew no one, no place to live etc.

I had never been to Montana and didn't know anyone here.

I was sitting at work one night and realized that I'd bitched long enough about needing a change. California was clearly a lost cause and I didn't want to live out our days hoping for a miracle.

One application, two flights, and three weeks later  we were here and I had a new job

At least 30-40 major moves. Some temporary, some permanent. Some with whatever I could fit into a car, some were large moving vans.  Different areas of the city, different states, different countries.  Never thought about it too much. More or less, my whole life has been spent moving around.  

I laugh at people that can't move away from 'muh-muh and dee-dee', either for a new experience or new/better opportunity. When I lived in SW Oklahoma for a time, I knew people that had never been further away than OKC, or never traveled over the state line.  My better half and her family have never moved from this area since the Woodland period (yes, she is a 'First American').  OTOH, I'll never feel like any place is home; I'll always be a visitor/interloper/outsider.

Several times, yes.

Moved to Des Moines in 2017 with my wife. She had a job lined up but I didn't. Didn't know anyone in the whole state.

It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Worth it.

As soon as I retired I started looking for property. Within three months we were out of Chicago and out of Illinois for good. Found a nice place in southern middle Tennessee. It's not as much land as I wanted but I have my own forest with running streams, wildlife, wild edibles, a nice view. We made friends with the family we bought the house and land from and I made shooting buddies right away. People are friendlier here and courteous too. It's a whole new world to us and the only thing we miss is the food, nobody knows what pizza is here or a combo Italian beef and sausage and we can't get Vienna hot dogs anywhere but I wouldn't trade it for all the food in Chicago. Oh yeah, no more three feet of snow either!

When I moved to AZ 15 years ago. Should have done it years before that.

Moved up to the White Mountains 4 years ago here in AZ, not knowing anyone. Wife and I have made some amazing friends and couldn't be happier with the move.

I was an actor and athlete in a former life so I was a bit transient.  That world gets smaller though once you are in the business for a bit.

I've lived here for 20+ years now.  Didn't know the area or anyone when moved here.

Yes. The day after graduation at 18 yrs old, I got on a plane for the first time, flew to CA where I knew nobody to get yelled at and my ass kicked. About five weeks in, they gave me a cool rifle though so totally worth it.

I moved from MN to New Zealand where I knew no one. Lived there for 5 years. Then moved to Kurdistan. Been here for 4 years.

Interested in the stories/tips as well as I hope to do it in 5-6yrs with the wife when I retire.  Move out of Michigan to TX, TN, MO, maybe KY, WY or MT.

We've been looking at Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri recently. We wanted north Idaho, but it looks like we're 10 years late. Lol

Yes, moved from Wisconsin to North Idaho. Has not been easy at all. Other than driving through Idaho in 91 have never been here. No family or friends here when I did. Top that off with a nasty divorce and low wage state. I like it here a lot, just wish life would relax for me so I can enjoy it more.

Packed up the wife, two kids and the dog and moved to North Carolina after accepting a job offer.  Didn't have a place to live lined up, didn't know anybody and had never been there before. The first couple weeks living at the Days Inn were rough but it all worked out.

Not sure how much of this applies.  Most of my moving was when I was a kid.  Dad was in the AF.  Longest we lived anywhere was 3 years.  We mostly moved every year as dad had a way of pissing people because he followed the rules even if it made someone look bad who had not been following the rules.  He had no issue talking to to people from the IG's "office" if those above him insisted on ignoring procedures and trying to force people to do things that were unsafe/might get people killed/lose aircraft.

I went to 13 schools in 12 years.

After I graduated I struggled finding a job around home (WV) I knew I needed a job/paycheck if I was getting married when my girlfriend graduated in two years.  I had a go nowhere job but needed a future.  So I volunteered for the US Army.  No need to talk about "moving" while in the Army, everyone knows about that.  Not long into it I knew the US Army and me just didn't match up.  I went in intending to make it a career, like my dad did in the Air Force.  But no.  Just not willing to put up the drunks, the addicts, the assholes and the politicians.  Got out and went to college on the GI Bill.

22 years old, married, and fresh out of the Army and going to college.  Good thing really.  More responsible.  More mature.  More responsibilities.  But not enough money.  Got a part time job which turned into a full time job.  So, the next four years I worked full time plus and went to college full time.  Took a year of searching, putting in resumes/applications and phone calls in WV for a mining engineer during that down turn in mining in the mid 80s.

Ended up getting an interview in another state for a job that had nothing to do with coal mining.   Got the job, moved again (wife and first son by then, too).  

And that was the last time I moved.

Would I have rather stayed in WV where I could do the things I enjoyed doing?  Hell yes.  But I had to do what was right for the future of my family.  

What you may find, some day, is that "home" isn't home anymore.  The people you knew/liked/loved will be gone.  Things will change so much you'll miss the way they were.  If I went home today I couldn't do the things I used to do without getting in some trouble.  Maybe a lot of trouble.  Things change.  Not always for the better.

Wife and I have done it 4 times now. Just like anything else, the first time you do it is scary but it gets easier each time.
We like where we are now (western WI) but aren't sure we're done yet. This is the first place where we've actually met people we like and would consider friends.
We still have thoughts and daydreams about western SD, northern ID, or western WA though.
Just do it!

I'm in western Washington. I love it here. Except for the politics and some of the people.

Huge homeless issues and looming gun control every session.  The demoncrats keep pushing for a state income tax too.

I would think about buying property here but prices have gone up so much in the last few years that it's not affordable anymore, even if I kept working where I am.

I won't lie. Two big motivators for me right now are the opportunity to be debt free and have some land.

I think that we can do enough "side" work and grow/produce enough food that we could get by with part time or easy/ fun jobs.

I traveled basically half of the time from when my kids were born until two years ago (missed a lot of little kid stuff. My oldest is 11 now and she wasn't born yet when I started traveling), so having some time to spend at home would be pretty great too.

My family traces its roots to Massachusetts in the mid 1600’s on my moms side and South Carolina on my Dad’s side in the late 1600’s....so yeah, people move around and survive. I’ve done it a couple times..... I think I’m finally where I’m willing to defend to the death.
Best to ya OP.

Many times, each and every time I had no family where I was headed.  I do not regret a single move, all have been beneficial.

we were settled in in Virginia good and hard.... then wife got offered her dream job in Tampa.  She flew down for a weekend of interviews, came back to VA and said "please, let's do this."  Without seeing the place, or the county, I said "yes."

A few weeks later they flew me and her down for a weekend to meet-and-greet her new co-workers.  It was late March and I was wearing heavy jeans and a heavy knit polo shirt.  I learned VERY quickly that that was the wrong uniform and the Tampa Bay area is fucking HOT from Valentines Day to Thanksgiving. Even indoors, I was sweating and sucking down water .

We got moved down here, figured out where stuff is, and 7 years later we're still having a blast.

Yes, several times.

Vegas in 2000 from SoCal. Lasted about a year made some good friends and have bounced back and forth ever since. There now and will probably never go back to Cal, although won't be staying here either.

Did it 5 years ago.  Had a job lined up before moving.  I regret nothing.  One of the best decisions I’ve made.

3 times....no job, connections or friends, just packed up and moved because the prior town/job/people sucked ass

CT to TN just this past year.  We did a lot of research online and talked to a friend that made the move, although to a different area of the state.  I also spoke with a nephew of a good friend who lives in the area and a freind at home who traveled here often for work.  Because of the difficulty with Covid restrictions on travel and the distance we rented first, which I would advise to get to know the area before deciding on a house, or where to buy in the area.  We like it here and have found a house.  The cost of living is definitely less than CT, with friendlier people and much more low key and less stress.  Obviously it is a much more conservative state with much better gun laws than Corrupticut and that factored heavily in my decision.  No state income taxes are a plus as well.

Own less shit. I’ve moved a half dozen times with just what fit in my car. Even from Texas to Ga. I had about a camping trip worth of home goods and a suitcase full of work clothing. Wife booked my first hotel while I was already half way there.

Very little of what I care about is things. I can fit a lifetime supply of guns in a single backpack and pictures in a jump drive. It takes a bunch of shit to live comfortably but if you sell and donate a ton you can just buy new shit when you get where you are. Cheaper than moving it.

I did that quite frequently from the time I turned 23 until recently. My last move I do know some people as my wife's family is embedded deeply in the area, but I know jack else.

In some cases no job either. Just showed up found work and learned as I went. I think it is kind of fun. Like deep immersion style exploration. One learns how to feel a room out quick doing it.

I have friends who are such homebodies they cannot leave where they grew up. They are too tied and are afraid to leave the safety net. I am not a very dependent person so I can manage things on my own for the most part. My mother complains that I am too independent.

But, but, ammo?

Ive never done it but Im sure I could do it and be fine. I can make friends at the drop of a hat so to speak. My sister says I could sell ice water to eskimoes if I needed to lol. It goes with the business Im in, you've got to be able to talk to people and find something you have in common.

Yep moved with a great job offer and did not know one soul Thousand miles away

Immediately after Michelle Lujan Grisham became the governor of Nuevo Mehico, wife and I started looking for conservative places. The problem was more difficult for us than for others because she's mixed race. (Nephew in Missouri warned us sternly about not moving there, for example.)

We were working with several realtors, when one of them (not even in the area we ended up) said "I know the perfect town for you" and steered us here. We found a terrific realtor who was very friendly and personable; she called us at about 10:00 pm to tell us that a place just like we ordered (1 acre zoned agriculture, older house, well water) had come on the market! We decided to bid on it and 24 hours later we were driving north. Decided that we wanted the place and the rest is history.

People here are super friendly! And I'm remembering just why I moved from my sister's horse farm back to the city!

Sort of. I moved to Indiana to attend Purdue University this past fall. Didn't know a single soul in this state; had never seen the campus in person. But I'm only going to be here until I graduate. Most of my belongings are in storage back in AZ.

We just up and moved from Texas to Northern Idaho a couple of years ago. Didn't know anyone, didn't have jobs lined up, or even a place to live. Very happy with the decision.

For you guys that went in blind(ish), did you rent houses or just camp/live in a hotel until you found a place?

What things did you look at to evaluate the state, county and town to make a determination?

I've hit a point where it seems like we could make all kinds of places work so it's difficult to try to narrow it down.

getting ready to do just that for work.

moving to TX without going in person first.

Usually rent first. Sometimes it takes more than a few weeks to really get a hang of the area

Wife had a job so she could show source of income and get an apartment. Im not sure what we would have done if she wasnt able to do that.

2008, moved from Michigan to Oregon.

I had an online friend that lived in metro Portland.  I flew out there for a visit, did some retarded things with him and his friends, moved in with him a few months later. Stayed there til 2016.

It was a great time and I visit those guys a lot still.

Moved back to the Detroit area. Brother did my house scouting for me over facetime. Mother lives about 30 miles away, so it’s far enough that she visits once in a while, but doesn’t try to stop in daily.

Yes, we did twenty years ago, moved to Florida from Alabama, 500 miles from home.
I didn't know anyone or much about the area.
And to top it all off my shit head employer tells me when I show up for work on the second day that the jobs they had have been canceled, WTF.
They try to place me in a office out of state, no luck, none of them need help.
So I sit at the apartment we just moved into trying to figure out what the fuck am I going to do.

I moved to America.