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Posted: 2/22/2020 1:48:38 AM EDT
I never in a million years thought I would be considering this, but how many, if any, of you have left and then moved back to California? We left the state after being born and raised in ca and spending the last 35 years there. I had always wanted nothing more than to leave and we finally got that wish and moved to CO. We have a beautiful house in a great neighborhood. At first it seemed perfect, the weather was awesome, our neighbors are great, but something is missing. I don’t know if it is not having any family here, maybe the winters, the abysmal food scene, but it feels like something is missing.
Lately I’ve had the absolutely insane thought to move back. I can’t really wrap my head around it. I wanted to leave all the bullshit of that state behind and now a year later I feel like I want to go back. Having back to back family visits doesn’t help the missing family feeling. So let’s hear it, how stupid is this idea? Have any of you left and then realized there was more to enjoy than you thought? |
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Sounds to me like you are mostly just "homesick" possibly tinged with a bit of "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" and even a bit of "wanderlust".
About the winters - take up alpine or cross country skiing to make the winters pleasurable for you. If the food scene sucks, take cooking classes. You'll meet new people and learn how to cook great food. Talk to the teacher about the lack of good restaurants. Perhaps the teacher can point out the quality places. |
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Quoted:
Sounds to me like you are mostly just "homesick" possibly tinged with a bit of "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" and even a bit of "wanderlust". About the winters - take up alpine or cross country skiing to make the winters pleasurable for you. If the food scene sucks, take cooking classes. You'll meet new people and learn how to cook great food. Talk to the teacher about the lack of good restaurants. Perhaps the teacher can point out the quality places. View Quote It just seems insane to want to go back, I hated the politics, the taxes, etc. I know I can’t be the on one that has left someplace and felt, at least for a little while, that they wanted to go back. |
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No, you are not the only one, that's why it is called "home sick".
What you may also be experiencing is that material things (like your nice, new house) are not as important as spiritual things (like kinship, family ties, etc). |
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My wife and I moved out of California the first time in the fall of 2000. Came up to Utah for a new job that I had. Wound up having our three kids here. Took a transfer back to southern California the summer of 2011 to work out of LAX. By the next May I knew I couldn't stay. Transferred back to SLC July of 2012.
Only went back to California to be around family. Both my wife's and mine are there. I couldn't believe how much the state had changed in the eleven years we were gone. And it was not for the better. I only went shooting 3x or so the 10-11 months we lived there. And that involved a two hour drive each way out to the desert. A bunch of my stuff was illegal there. Everything was more expensive, except beer. Electricity at 3x the KwH, car insurance up 40% because of the uninsured illegals and higher theft rates, ridiculous water bills. Rent was higher than our house payment in Utah for a place 1/2 the size. And miserable traffic. I figured it cost at least $1000 more a month to live in a place half the size I had in Utah in a far worse neighborhood. And then the people. In Utah, at least the majority are conservative and have no issue with guns. In California that's obviously not the case. Final straw was sitting in traffic for over 3 hours to do the 50 mile or so drive home one day. Off work at 245 and didn't get through the front door until after 630. Our renters moved out of our house in Utah and we went back. I have no regrets leaving for a second time. I suppose if you make $3-400K a year and can afford to live in near the coast in Orange County and don't like shooting or doing other outdoor stuff it might be OK. It seems everyday there is some new stupid proposal coming out of some politicians mouth there in CA. That along with property taxes that are 4xz what we pay in Utah and all of the other stupid laws CA already has on the books makes it rather simple to not considerate anymore. I had thought about buying a sailboat and keeping it at a Marina in Socal. But with that comes even more taxes and fees. And for what a slip would run per month to rent could make the payment on a cabin on land in Montana or Idaho. Unfortunately, all of the other Californians fleeing the same stuff I did are now starting to FUCK UP Utah. Fucking idiots just love tax increases. And hate guns. |
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My wife and I moved out of California the first time in the fall of 2000. Came up to Utah for a new job that I had. Wound up having our three kids here. Took a transfer back to southern California the summer of 2011 to work out of LAX. By the next May I knew I couldn't stay. Transferred back to SLC July of 2012. Only went back to California to be around family. Both my wife's and mine are there. I couldn't believe how much the state had changed in the eleven years we were gone. And it was not for the better. I only went shooting 3x or so the 10-11 months we lived there. And that involved a two hour drive each way out to the desert. A bunch of my stuff was illegal there. Everything was more expensive, except beer. Electricity at 3x the KwH, car insurance up 40% because of the uninsured illegals and higher theft rates, ridiculous water bills. Rent was higher than our house payment in Utah for a place 1/2 the size. And miserable traffic. I figured it cost at least $1000 more a month to live in a place half the size I had in Utah in a far worse neighborhood. And then the people. In Utah, at least the majority are conservative and have no issue with guns. In California that's obviously not the case. Final straw was sitting in traffic for over 3 hours to do the 50 mile or so drive home one day. Off work at 245 and didn't get through the front door until after 630. Our renters moved out of our house in Utah and we went back. I have no regrets leaving for a second time. I suppose if you make $3-400K a year and can afford to live in near the coast in Orange County and don't like shooting or doing other outdoor stuff it might be OK. It seems everyday there is some new stupid proposal coming out of some politicians mouth there in CA. That along with property taxes that are 4xz what we pay in Utah and all of the other stupid laws CA already has on the books makes it rather simple to not considerate anymore. I had thought about buying a sailboat and keeping it at a Marina in Socal. But with that comes even more taxes and fees. And for what a slip would run per month to rent could make the payment on a cabin on land in Montana or Idaho. Unfortunately, all of the other Californians fleeing the same stuff I did are now starting to FUCK UP Utah. Fucking idiots just love tax increases. And hate guns. View Quote The question has become, where and when do we go, not IF? |
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My wife and I moved out of California the first time in the fall of 2000. Came up to Utah for a new job that I had. Wound up having our three kids here. Took a transfer back to southern California the summer of 2011 to work out of LAX. By the next May I knew I couldn't stay. Transferred back to SLC July of 2012. Only went back to California to be around family. Both my wife's and mine are there. I couldn't believe how much the state had changed in the eleven years we were gone. And it was not for the better. I only went shooting 3x or so the 10-11 months we lived there. And that involved a two hour drive each way out to the desert. A bunch of my stuff was illegal there. Everything was more expensive, except beer. Electricity at 3x the KwH, car insurance up 40% because of the uninsured illegals and higher theft rates, ridiculous water bills. Rent was higher than our house payment in Utah for a place 1/2 the size. And miserable traffic. I figured it cost at least $1000 more a month to live in a place half the size I had in Utah in a far worse neighborhood. And then the people. In Utah, at least the majority are conservative and have no issue with guns. In California that's obviously not the case. Final straw was sitting in traffic for over 3 hours to do the 50 mile or so drive home one day. Off work at 245 and didn't get through the front door until after 630. Our renters moved out of our house in Utah and we went back. I have no regrets leaving for a second time. I suppose if you make $3-400K a year and can afford to live in near the coast in Orange County and don't like shooting or doing other outdoor stuff it might be OK. It seems everyday there is some new stupid proposal coming out of some politicians mouth there in CA. That along with property taxes that are 4xz what we pay in Utah and all of the other stupid laws CA already has on the books makes it rather simple to not considerate anymore. I had thought about buying a sailboat and keeping it at a Marina in Socal. But with that comes even more taxes and fees. And for what a slip would run per month to rent could make the payment on a cabin on land in Montana or Idaho. Unfortunately, all of the other Californians fleeing the same stuff I did are now starting to FUCK UP Utah. Fucking idiots just love tax increases. And hate guns. View Quote |
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Just visit. Often as you can I suppose. Fly or drive and spend a week every 4-6 months or so. Have your relatives and friends come out to visit as well. Or meet up somewhere like Vegas..
With the money you save living in Colorado you can probably pay for a bunch of hotel rooms if needed. This time of year makes it a little harder if you can't get outside and do stuff with the cold weather. I always start thinking about warmer places every year at this time. Come April I don't have those thoughts.. |
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Moved to Arlington Texas for a job in 2006ish, when the crash came I got a call and was told I had 24hrs to clear my shit out, and the 26 mechanics working for me too. That was Friday at 8pm. I lost one of my toolboxes to a shady tow truck driver, and we lost almost 700k in parts and shop tooling that we couldn't get out in time.
Spent 2 weeks hunting for work, but I did such a specific niche that it didn't translate well, and couldn't find a job that could cover my bills. Got offered a job back in Ca and took it. Took a long time to dig myself out of the mess from 08, but now have a wife and 3 kids. Cant stand it here but I cant take the kids away from my parents. They cant move anywhere soon, if at all. Would love to leave for TN or OK, but it's not happening for a bit. |
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Quoted: Excellent post The question has become, where and when do we go, not IF? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Just visit. Often as you can I suppose. Fly or drive and spend a week every 4-6 months or so. Have your relatives and friends come out to visit as well. Or meet up somewhere like Vegas.. With the money you save living in Colorado you can probably pay for a bunch of hotel rooms if needed. This time of year makes it a little harder if you can't get outside and do stuff with the cold weather. I always start thinking about warmer places every year at this time. Come April I don't have those thoughts.. |
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A few times.
My folks brought me to Anaheim to live from 1962 to 1966. I came back on military orders for boot camp in 1981. I think the military bounced me in and out three times finally leaving me here in 2004 when I had enough. I'll be leaving next year and will only come back to visit from time-to-time. |
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... It also doesn’t help that I work from home so my interaction with adults besides my wife are close to non existent. View Quote Join a church. Enroll in a University and attend night classes. They are MUCH more working adult oriented than the day time classes. Join a local range. Be one of their event coordinators, match director, range officer,... <-- the title changes with the discipline. Join a sports team through the local Recreation & Parks department (softball, volleyball, soccer, ...). Join a local bicycling club (healthy, outdoor activity) that does weekend rides and things. Heck, ride on your own to get exercise, fresh air and sunshine. You know, DO STUFF! |
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Quoted: Ah!, now we are getting to the heart of the matter. Join a church. Enroll in a University and attend night classes. They are MUCH more working adult oriented than the day time classes. Join a local range. Be one of their event coordinators, match director, range officer,... <-- the title changes with the discipline. Join a sports team through the local Recreation & Parks department (softball, volleyball, soccer, ...). Join a local bicycling club (healthy, outdoor activity) that does weekend rides and things. Heck, ride on your own to get exercise, fresh air and sunshine. You know, DO STUFF! View Quote |
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I do.
With kids, you take them with you and do stuff they like. Alpine skiing (have them take lessons, we started at five), cross country skiing, ice skating, sledding or tubing, snow ball fights, build a snow man. It's fun stuff and it gets you out of the house. Well, you know all that. |
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I've known multiple people who have come back, usually at a loss.
None of those folks were hard core gunnies. |
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I've known multiple people who have come back, usually at a loss. None of those folks were hard core gunnies. View Quote |
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I came back. I was gone for 16 years. As soon as I got back realized why I left in the first place. We stuck it out for five years but had enough, so we left again (I lived in CA three times. My wife grew up there).
It’s really disappointing. CA has so much potential, but it’s just a big mess. |
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If you want a good laugh go to the Budget Truck rental website and price out a rental back into CA. It's probably only a 1/4 of what you paid to move out.
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We've thought about leaving Utah for a number of reasons. Possibly moving to Phoenix. It would cut the drive in half from 10 to about 5 hours to visit family.
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Quoted:
We've thought about leaving Utah for a number of reasons. Possibly moving to Phoenix. It would cut the drive in half from 10 to about 5 hours to visit family. View Quote |
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No.and hopefully never. Even with Meridian/Boise already starting to show signs of going full dumpster fire like Cali in the future, still prefer to be here. I was hardcore into surfing, lived in Huntington Beach a mile from where I surfed. Don't really miss it. Found substitute activites. Food here is not as good. Oh well, I grill that much more.
How's that California cripple for an AR you have? Love my SBR. Bringing that up as another benefit for me, not to rub it in. It's all how you choose to look at it I guess. |
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No.and hopefully never. Even with Meridian/Boise already starting to show signs of going full dumpster fire like Cali in the future, still prefer to be here. I was hardcore into surfing, lived in Huntington Beach a mile from where I surfed. Don't really miss it. Found substitute activites. Food here is not as good. Oh well, I grill that much more. How's that California cripple for an AR you have? Love my SBR. Bringing that up as another benefit for me, not to rub it in. It's all how you choose to look at it I guess. View Quote |
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Yeah when we were leaving the prices were ridiculous. We used a pod and I’m sure we paid a premium for that too. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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We've thought about leaving Utah for a number of reasons. Possibly moving to Phoenix. It would cut the drive in half from 10 to about 5 hours to visit family. Pods were not less expensive. I think the pricing has turned them into nothing more than a gimmick. |
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Quoted: The least expensive way to move is to do it all yourself - pack it, load it, drive it, unload it. It's still not cheap (many * $1k) but it is way less than paying people to do it for you (many * $10k). One thing you get in SPADES with a DIY is convenience. You are not tied to their pick up and drop off schedule. Pods were not less expensive. I think the pricing has turned them into nothing more than a gimmick. View Quote The POD worked for us because we had sold our house and moved in with my in-laws for a couple of months as we found jobs and a house in Colorado. I didn’t have the time to move everything into a storage unit and then load it all into a truck and drive it out here. It allowed us to load everything. They then stored it at their facility locally so we could access if needed, and we had it dropped off at our new house the week before we got there so it was waiting for us when we arrived. |
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The POD worked for us because we had sold our house and moved in with my in-laws for a couple of months as we found jobs and a house in Colorado. I didn’t have the time to move everything into a storage unit and then load it all into a truck and drive it out here. It allowed us to load everything. They then stored it at their facility locally so we could access if needed, and we had it dropped off at our new house the week before we got there so it was waiting for us when we arrived. View Quote When I looked a pods to move to California, it did not make any cost sense in the DIY-pods-movers trade space. |
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The price for a 26' truck from Budget with unlimited miles is just over $300 to go from SLC to the Corona area. Back in 2011 it was more than that.
It's almost twice as much to go SLC - PHX. |
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Coming back was on my mind alot because I didnt visit enough last year. But it turns out I was just a little homesick.
Visiting family once a year or just holidays is not enough for me. Also, visiting more often reminds me why I left. Fuck this traffic! |
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I never in a million years thought I would be considering this, but how many, if any, of you have left and then moved back to California? We left the state after being born and raised in ca and spending the last 35 years there. I had always wanted nothing more than to leave and we finally got that wish and moved to CO. We have a beautiful house in a great neighborhood. At first it seemed perfect, the weather was awesome, our neighbors are great, but something is missing. I don’t know if it is not having any family here, maybe the winters, the abysmal food scene, but it feels like something is missing. Lately I’ve had the absolutely insane thought to move back. I can’t really wrap my head around it. I wanted to leave all the bullshit of that state behind and now a year later I feel like I want to go back. Having back to back family visits doesn’t help the missing family feeling. So let’s hear it, how stupid is this idea? Have any of you left and then realized there was more to enjoy than you thought? View Quote |
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Quoted: I left CA 6 years ago, to this day, I get homesick, as it is always home. Anaheim will always be home, no matter how far I get from it, but you have to understand the reality of what is happening in CA. The first 3 years was the worst, I hated not being in CA, all I did was dream of going back, saved up, and even packed my shit up to go back. Then reality hit, it is not worth the struggle to go back. I miss my friends, and loved ones even now as I type this. A good friend of mine passed a week ago, and its killing me, and I will be on my way home for the funeral, but after a week of being there, I long to get back out of CA, and back to NC/TN. Everyone I know is trying to leave, and get out. Count your blessings my friend, and yes the hardest part is the lack of food, I miss my Authentic Mexican Carne Asada, Carnitas, and Al Pastor everyday, that struggle is real. I miss the weather, the beaches, and the lovely assortment of beautiful women, but as I'm now in a committed relationship, that part doesn't matter LOLOLOL. Everything you miss is part of what you consider your home, but give it a least a few more years. View Quote |
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I go back and forth. Bicycle racing mostly.
NorCal. Arizona is my home. |
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Notwithstanding the politics, the housing prices especially are warped, along with taxes. So it can be difficult to move to/move back. We were just in South Carolina (and the Charlotte area briefly) for a family funeral. We did see some "Mexican" food places. We didn't try them. Kind of scary wondering just what might be their idea of Mexican (or any of the broad range of cuisines we have out here).
Gas was $1.889 a gallon for regular! |
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I've been back and forth several times and I'm sure I'll be back again within a year. My folks live in Merced and I grew up there and in Santa Barbra. But now I have a place near Yuma to hang my residency so that helps tremendously. The salt water fishing and my parents keep bringing me back. That and Tijuana
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I left with my family in 1993. I miss my family and do regret at times being away from them but we have all stayed close.
When I visit I find california extremely depressing.. The place, while so beautiful alas, is broken.. |
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Quoted: Yeah when we were leaving the prices were ridiculous. We used a pod and I’m sure we paid a premium for that too. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: We've thought about leaving Utah for a number of reasons. Possibly moving to Phoenix. It would cut the drive in half from 10 to about 5 hours to visit family. Yeah when we were leaving the prices were ridiculous. We used a pod and I’m sure we paid a premium for that too. There’s a lot of room for negotiation with PODs. We played Budget, U-Haul, and PODs against each other for about six months before finally settling on 2 PODs and a U-Haul trailer. PODs eventually cut their price in half competing with U-Haul and adding a veteran’s discount. Dimensions are important. Two PODs are longer than a 28’ UHaul, but not as wide or tall so need to take that into consideration. They staggered delivery, so a POD was dropped off in our driveway before we arrived, and the other showed up two days later. The original quote for two PODs from CA to TX was $10,000. We ended up paying $4,500. It was worth it. |
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Quoted: The POD was a lot cheaper than having an actual moving company move us. They drop it off at your house, you load it yourself at your convenience, and they drop it off at your destination. It wasn’t the cheapest option. Driving a big moving truck could have been cheaper but uhaul and the likes have really upped the prices when leaving CA. There was an article about it in one of the Bay Area newspapers even. Something like 2k plus to rent a truck going from ca to az but only a couple hundred to go from az to ca. The POD worked for us because we had sold our house and moved in with my in-laws for a couple of months as we found jobs and a house in Colorado. I didn’t have the time to move everything into a storage unit and then load it all into a truck and drive it out here. It allowed us to load everything. They then stored it at their facility locally so we could access if needed, and we had it dropped off at our new house the week before we got there so it was waiting for us when we arrived. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: The least expensive way to move is to do it all yourself - pack it, load it, drive it, unload it. It's still not cheap (many * $1k) but it is way less than paying people to do it for you (many * $10k). One thing you get in SPADES with a DIY is convenience. You are not tied to their pick up and drop off schedule. Pods were not less expensive. I think the pricing has turned them into nothing more than a gimmick. The POD was a lot cheaper than having an actual moving company move us. They drop it off at your house, you load it yourself at your convenience, and they drop it off at your destination. It wasn’t the cheapest option. Driving a big moving truck could have been cheaper but uhaul and the likes have really upped the prices when leaving CA. There was an article about it in one of the Bay Area newspapers even. Something like 2k plus to rent a truck going from ca to az but only a couple hundred to go from az to ca. The POD worked for us because we had sold our house and moved in with my in-laws for a couple of months as we found jobs and a house in Colorado. I didn’t have the time to move everything into a storage unit and then load it all into a truck and drive it out here. It allowed us to load everything. They then stored it at their facility locally so we could access if needed, and we had it dropped off at our new house the week before we got there so it was waiting for us when we arrived. So many people are leaving CA there’s a shortage of U-Hauls, which is why bringing trucks into CA is so cheap. They need the trucks. I’ve always moved myself including the move to CA in a U-Haul. I’m getting older with a bad back and arthritic knees, so had to take a different approach when I left. I don’t trust moving companies, so after negotiating a much lower price with PODs (have to give my wife all the credit for that) hired a mover to load the first POD. We supervised, but they did an amazing job. I loaded the second POD (including my safe with a pallet jack) myself, and unloaded them both myself but it kicked my ass. I’m not as young as I used to be. I was indestructible. Now I’m old and broken. With a little work, you can get PODs just as cheap as a U-Haul. You jut have to play hardball and they’ll cave. |
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Quoted: So many people are leaving CA there’s a shortage of U-Hauls, which is why bringing trucks into CA is so cheap. They need the trucks. I’ve always moved myself including the move to CA in a U-Haul. I’m getting older with a bad back and arthritic knees, so had to take a different approach when I left. I don’t trust moving companies, so after negotiating a much lower price with PODs (have to give my wife all the credit for that) hired a mover to load the first POD. We supervised, but they did an amazing job. I loaded the second POD (including my safe with a pallet jack) myself, and unloaded them both myself but it kicked my ass. I’m not as young as I used to be. I was indestructible. Now I’m old and broken. With a little work, you can get PODs just as cheap as a U-Haul. You jut have to play hardball and they’ll cave. View Quote I had no idea that was even possible, I’ll definitely keep that in mind if we ever move again. I was feeling pretty good about staying in CO for a few weeks but my job here is terrible and I’m definitely missing my family again. Can’t wait for this damn virus crap to blow over and reschedule that vacation we had to cancel. |
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Quoted: ... but my job here is terrible and I’m definitely missing my family again. View Quote I moved away for a while, too, to work a job. I missed my family way too much and they could not come to me. So,... We are planning to leave, though. It is a matter of exactly when and to where. The "where" part requires OPSEC and is Top Secret. We don't want the rest of you savages to beat us there or follow after us. In fact, we're gonna sneak out. |
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Quoted: I moved away for a while, too, to work a job. I missed my family way too much and they could not come to me. So,... We are planning to leave, though. It is a matter of exactly when and to where. The "where" part requires OPSEC and is Top Secret. We don't want the rest of you savages to beat us there or follow after us. In fact, we're gonna sneak out. View Quote How long were you gone the first time and how long did you last back in CA before deciding to leave again? Edit: what part of CA? |
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I lived in Virginia for 4 years. It was a miserable experience. No decent food anywhere, the gun culture was grossly oversold, encountered a lot of fudd kickback against my ARs, and shooting my FAL you'd think I was out kicking babies.
I came back, settled in the valley, have not regretted it. There's no car culture (short of trucks and jeeps) in most parts of the country either. I love my German cars, and there is enough support via good independent mechanics and just the sheer number of cars that you can actually have a collection here. Californians are typically much more friendly in my experience as well. |
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Quoted: I lived in Virginia for 4 years. It was a miserable experience. No decent food anywhere, the gun culture was grossly oversold, encountered a lot of fudd kickback against my ARs, and shooting my FAL you'd think I was out kicking babies. I came back, settled in the valley, have not regretted it. There's no car culture (short of trucks and jeeps) in most parts of the country either. I love my German cars, and there is enough support via good independent mechanics and just the sheer number of cars that you can actually have a collection here. Californians are typically much more friendly in my experience as well. View Quote I could be way off base but it seems the gun culture is oversold in a lot of places. I know CO has a “mag ban”, supposedly, but other than that you can buy pretty much anything here. However, there’s no place to fucking shoot. All the public land is crowded with non gun people or being shut down because of asshole gun owners, and all of the ranges are membership only and pure fudd. Edit: I should have never sold my m3. I need to pick up a 996 or c5zo6 as a cheap track car. |
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Quoted: I could be way off base but it seems the gun culture is oversold in a lot of places. I know CO has a “mag ban”, supposedly, but other than that you can buy pretty much anything here. However, there’s no place to fucking shoot. All the public land is crowded with non gun people or being shut down because of asshole gun owners, and all of the ranges are membership only and pure fudd. Edit: I should have never sold my m3. I need to pick up a 996 or c5zo6 as a cheap track car. View Quote 996 would be a hoot! I've got a lot of shooting spots within about 30 mins in any direction. Desert place for blasting and screwing around, a outdoor range with 600 yard rifle line and skeet range, and indoor pistol and PCC that's open way late if I wanna burn powder late at night or odd times. None of them break the bank on entry, and none seem to be staffed by range nazis. There are some restrictions of course, mag lock or featureless ARs, and hi capacity magazines are banned from import, manufacture, transfer (but not possession). Still, there is a thriving gun community, and you'll actually be able to shoot. If you are into competing there are loads of 3 gun or service rifle matches around the LA area. The biggest thing you'll need to consider moving back here is cost of living. I have known a handful of people who left the state for a few years, then came back and really struggled because what seems like a lot of money in other parts of the country, doesn't go very far here. It's easy to become a slave to the rent/mortgage if you aren't careful. In my area I don't think there are any apartments under 1800 a month, and most are around 2200 or so. Houses are all 600k and up. |
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Quoted: 996 would be a hoot! I've got a lot of shooting spots within about 30 mins in any direction. Desert place for blasting and screwing around, a outdoor range with 600 yard rifle line and skeet range, and indoor pistol and PCC that's open way late if I wanna burn powder late at night or odd times. None of them break the bank on entry, and none seem to be staffed by range nazis. There are some restrictions of course, mag lock or featureless ARs, and hi capacity magazines are banned from import, manufacture, transfer (but not possession). Still, there is a thriving gun community, and you'll actually be able to shoot. If you are into competing there are loads of 3 gun or service rifle matches around the LA area. The biggest thing you'll need to consider moving back here is cost of living. I have known a handful of people who left the state for a few years, then came back and really struggled because what seems like a lot of money in other parts of the country, doesn't go very far here. It's easy to become a slave to the rent/mortgage if you aren't careful. In my area I don't think there are any apartments under 1800 a month, and most are around 2200 or so. Houses are all 600k and up. View Quote Oh I’m well aware which is one of the largest reasons the idea of moving back seemed asinine. We sold our tiny shoe box of a condo for close to 1m before we left. The only reason we could afford to live there was because we bought in 2012 when prices were depressed. The only way we would have been able to get into a larger house in the Bay Area was move further out and have a long commute. Even then, my sister and her husband paid more for their 3/2 fixer upper in the outskirts of the bay area than we did for our fully remodeled house here in the Denver area. And our place is more than twice as big with a huge yard. |
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In addition, other places have lower cost for food, gasoline, ... Examples would be beef at be 50% less and at better quality; gas at $2/gal as opposed to $4/gal,... stuff like that.
One thing that can run counter to otherwise low cost of living is automobile and homeowner's insurance. These are driven by break-in rates and uninsured motorist rates. These can be high even in otherwise low cost of living areas. |
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Quoted: In addition, other places have lower cost for food, gasoline, ... Examples would be beef at be 50% less and at better quality; gas at $2/gal as opposed to $4/gal,... stuff like that. One thing that can run counter to otherwise low cost of living is automobile and homeowner's insurance. These are driven by break-in rates and uninsured motorist rates. These can be high even in otherwise low cost of living areas. View Quote This is true for places that generally don’t have much industry. Denver area and the places we looked at in Nevada/Texas/Idaho before settling on Denver had similar prices for goods and insurance. Gas obviously being the outlier. That is most definitely cheaper everywhere else. |
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I go back for visits. It is a great reminder of why I left. I have thought a time or two of what it would take to go back. Something around a free house and double or triple salary might keep my head above water. And then I consider the guns I would have to leave behind. That is where it ends and then I get another beer.
I was lucky to have a ten minute commute when I lived there. That would be almost unpossible now. |
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We left CA 12 years back and we have never thought about moving back. We don't even like going back to visit anymore, to many self centerd peice of ship people there. The traffic in LA has gotten even worse than it was growing up.
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I find that native Californians have a tough time when they move away due to the weather. It seems like a trivial thing, but a lot of trivial things add up.
For what it’s worth, I am not from CA and have lived in many, many places—all over the US and in Europe. Ironically, CA has so far been the chillest and most relaxing place I’ve ever lived. A lot of that has to do with personal circumstances, though—my commute is short and I don’t have to deal with traffic. My auto insurance actually went down from what it was on the East Coast, as did my utilities (no need for A/C and heat all the time). Rent is insane though, so it’s definitely more expensive altogether. Obviously the gun laws in CA are terrible and getting worse, but practically speaking I’m mostly into handguns, so I bought what I wanted before I moved in. I have known a few Californians when I lived elsewhere, and I felt sorry for them. People in other western states absolutely hated them regardless of whether they were conservative or not. That may be part of the ill-defined unease OP seems to feel with interpersonal interactions in CO, not just general homesickness. It is usually a polite standoffishness people have with Californians rather than outright hostility, and it may even go unnoticed to some CA transplants that are less attuned to that kind of thing. |
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You can never go back. The California of 35 years ago no longer exists except in our memories with out-of-state people having ruined California long ago.
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I guess I should update this thread and my location. For better or worse we moved back. My mother in laws health is declining and the company I work for scrapped their plans to open a branch in the Denver area once covid happened.
Pretty much every reason I hated this place is still here obviously, but my son is happier than he has been in a year and the rate his cognitive ability is developing has been amazingly improved since being back. I don’t plan to be here forever. However for the mean time I have a much better career outlook, my wife and kid are happier, and we have family around. Right now that makes it bearable. |
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