Anyone else considered moving a long distance and starting over at an age where you think of yourself as “older,” however you define that? (For context, I have a grey beard.)
I’m curious to hear what you decided, and how it worked out.
I can include more of my own story if that seems relevant… this is a question that keeps coming up for me right now.
It depends. I think I’d easily do it if I didn’t have a family. I moved to another country back when I was 26 and didn’t regret it.
Sometimes I’m thinking about moving to another country if the current one turns to shit (the tendencies of the last few years don’t look good), and that prospect is both exciting and dreadful.
the short answer is an unequivocal, ‘yes’. I’m not going to get into it as this is not the forum to discus geopolitics…I mean, what forum is with all the censorship. But sometimes running isn’t the answer…and sometimes it is. You have to make a prediction and stick with it as to how the outcome of your situation looks like and take action.
I moved 600 miles inside a country, a few years back. Just for a change. Sold my house, and traveled around until i found some place that fit. No family or friends in the new location. Moved as a single person.
Worked out well. I did have a cushion of being able to afford it, never a question of being caught short, otherwise i’d never have done it.
I still look, and think about doing it again, but it hasn’t caught me like it did. Don’t expect it will.
I emigrated from UK to Australia in 2010.
Im 44 now. I would not emigrate ever again.
Would I move ‘long distance’ ? Well shit what does that mean? 600km might be considered long distance in UK, here in Aus its pissall.
Move: absolutely, and will be doing so in a few years when my youngest goes to college and there’s no reason for me to be here in the ‘now handed over to silly kids with credit and the associated house-price spike that goes with that’.
Start over: Nah. I’ll do the same thing and take the overpricedness and pay cash somewhere else where I’ll be the ‘old guy with credit and the associated house-price spike that goes with that’ wherever.
no such thing as starting over when you are older. The die has been cast, and you take yourself whereever you go. There is no escaping yourself. My time in Chicago is coming to a close in the next year, and its time to roam again.
I am 48 this year, and I think Japan is as good a place to move to as any other. Okinawa. i am a Marine, and I want to be back on Base for a bit. maybe do something with the USO.
you don’t beat the arena
you leave the arena
you don’t leave on good terms
you leave on your terms
(i don’t want to live in an arena)
I’m not sure if it would be considered “older” or not but I moved country at 30 and again at 34 and I felt ancient at the time and a bit crazy doing it.
It was partly for career reasons but much more for just wanting a change and life feeling a bit monotonous and I now have 0 regrets for either move.
It’s definitely not easy, but feels like all the ups and downs were worth it.
are you escaping a situation for pastures new, or is it yourself that created the situation and will you recreate that situation wherever you end up?
If it’s the latter perhaps working on yourself could be more beneficial than changing the surroundings.
Not assuming this is true for the OP, at an older age there’s loads more variables and a complete change can be really revitalising, but seen it happen to too many friends in a life doom loop.
Waftlords weekly words of warning.©℗
I would flee from War in my country. And i can understand everyone that does it, no matter his nationality. If no one participates - there is no war. Wealth is temporary, dosent matter - no need for Pyramids.
I’ve moved 2 times in 40 years. About 5miles relocation. Im like the opposite of this thread.
I’m 50 and I have moved countries about every 4-5 years since I was 18. Diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, so I guess this explains it! The jury is still out as to whether this is a pro or a con of my condition!
Been in Oslo, Norway now for about 7 years - the longest I’ve been in a place since leaving the place I grew up. We are moving again this year, back to New Zealand where we lived 20 years ago.
I don’t think it’s ever too late to do anything, providing circumstances allow (family, health, finances etc.). Having a family (we have two kids, 11 and 1) definitely makes things more challenging, having to consider grandparents, schooling and stuff, but as long as everyone is onboard it certainly can be done.
For me, it keeps life lean and a little simpler - you cannot accumulate shit when you are regularly uprooting, and the novelty of being in a new place makes you see the world through different eyes each time. It also splits life up into memorable chunks. Many of my friends and people we meet talk about how quickly the past 20 / 30 years has gone by. I don’t really feel that.
For the cons, building / keeping friendships is hard. The hardest part is that my Mum is too old and frail to travel now. Norway isn’t too far away from Wales for regular visits, but New Zealand is another matter!
I don’t think this has to be true.
At the least you can leave whole reams of things behind, and forgotten, and add so much new that you wouldn’t even recognize.
I did anyways to the extent i wanted.
I moved from the place I grew up at the age of 33. I felt old at the time.
Maybe that’s just me but I found it challenging to ‘build a community’ when you’re out of your university years and everybody your age is having children and buying a home.
In the end I’m glad I did it, because I could grow new roots here. but I don’t feel like moving again (47 now) because it would probably take some time to build deep relationship with new people - and life is short.
This being said, some people are crazy quick to get acquaintances and make some friends, I guess. If that’s your case, it won’t be so much of a challenge as it was for me. I’m not the popular kind.
I don’t know about “starting over” (unless they can now do memory wipes) but after living in the same house for twenty years (at the end of which my beard would have been grey if I had one), I sold it and started spending more time living in major world cities, thanks to a new relationship and the flexibility of my job situation. I have progressively cut back on possessions to facilitate this. My last move was across an ocean to a country where I still can’t speak the language. Sometimes I look at the growing instability of the world and wonder whether I am sticking my neck out too far. But there may not be anywhere to hide in the end, and I’m having fun in the meantime.
Oh, and I also got into synths, and found a cool forum to hang out on.
It’s nice to see someone using positive words for a change when referring to Gearspace. Good on you.
I’ve lived in the same place all my life, traveled a bit to cities I thought I’d like to move to, but they never panned out, and I happily remain in the city I wad born in. However my recent travel to Vilnius has me thinking about the possibilities of moving to the Baltics. At least for the three months when it’s not cold enough to freeze my desert raised genitalia off.
If I had the funds I expand my current home to have a seperate space for myself, buy a small summer joint in Vilnius, and another little apartment in Rio De Janeiro during the winter season and Carnival. At least that’s how I invision it everytime I decide to buy a lottery ticket.
I think it’ll be more useful if you give us your situation a bit—do you live alone? Do you plan to move to a place where you know the language well or will you become a total alien there with no language, completely different look from natives, with different cultural societal backgrounds? What about income, are you settled for life or are you still depending on regular income, and if so, do you have any prospect in your new place? I asked because if it were me, I’d consider these things seriously. For example, I want to move and start over definitely. I’d do it immediately now if I were single. I’m not, so it’s not an easy decision. I lived in the US for a decade and I love it there dearly, but I wouldn’t want to move there now because there I’d be treated as an immigrant—I don’t feel any difference from them but they’d certainly feel that, I feel, so that’s not good for me. Things like these; I think you need to answer these questions with yourself before making any decision.
Ive moved countries a few times (UK -> Netherlands -> Switzerland -> Spain), it’s always been a positive experience for me.
but its never been about ‘starting over’ or about age, rather about opportunity (and desire) to experience something new. (both culture, and also what I do when I get there)
we get one shot at life, if you get the opportunity to try different ways of life, go for it.
however… not all have the same opportunities,
and for sure, some choices open doors, whilst the same choice may close other doors.
thats ok too.
In my experience, moving somewhere feels very different from visiting it. Even the places discovered in the first month in a new place, when I think, “I’ll be a regular here,” often turn out to be not the ones I stick with. Things shift with extended exposure. Right now, at least once a week, I walk past or am within a stone’s throw of one of my favourite restaurants when I was a visitor, but I haven’t been since moving here, and am not likely to. It now seems too expensive and I can get close for half the price at more obscure places I now know about.