4 ms·

Maybe because I'm from an isolated part of the US where the initial leap to leave was easy but I've never had compunctions about picking up and starting a new l

Maybe because I'm from an isolated part of the US where the initial leap to leave was easy but I've never had compunctions about picking up and starting a new life somewhere. I left Alaska when I was 17, moved back, then again when I was 21 for Seattle, then left Seattle for Sydney when I was 26, then Sydney for NYC when I was 31 and been here for the last 10 years (though I went traveling with my girlfriend for 18 months a couple years back). It's good to shake things up and head for more opportunity, but it's also important to value the time you put in growing your community. After almost eleven years in NY I am reluctant to go somewhere else long term. Sure, a few months at a time but there's no way to speed up the process of making another decade's worth of friends. It's also important not to stop making friends, some of my closest are those I've made in the last five years. Speaking of five years, I kinda like making broad plans about my life in five year chunks. I taught myself how to write software in Seattle. Started a company in Sydney about five years after that. And five years back I decided I wanted to learn how to write so I pulled back to doing freelance and focused on fiction. Now I'm pretty decent! I'm also back into the startup game, but I picked up a new super power which is pretty sweet. I dunno, if you regret not doing something, do what you can to try it out—you only get one life. There are tradeoffs but I'm happiest not living with regret about what-ifs.

foobarrio 8y ago
Have you ever been ill for long periods or had to care for parents, siblings or other loved ones being ill? Many people do. Of course they can choose not to care for anyone and leave but many times other people come into the picture when making decisions on where to spend your time. It's hard to make any plans in situations where you have no idea on the health of those you're taking care of.
- weeksie 8y ago
  I'm not sure that having someone to care for would inhibit thinking of your life in five year chunks. Mobility? Definitely. But not everybody has the same situation, I'm surely lucky because I don't have those kinds of obligations but I didn't call it out because I am tired of the current fashion of ritual privilege self-flagellation. Cataloging all of my advantages and disadvantages feels oblique to the point.
  - foobarrio 8y ago
    It's the risk and uncertainty that changes everything. It's not just the mobility that changes. I have to take care of a sick family member and often times have to spend multiple days/nights in the ER/hospital. My current employer pays well, understand my situation and allows me to take days off pretty easily. Writing tax reporting software is probably the most boring thing I've ever had to do. However leaving that job and starting a company is a much much harder choice for me to make than a person with 0 responsibility to others. I will be competing with such persons too if I do decide to start company.

foobarrio 8y ago

Have you ever been ill for long periods or had to care for parents, siblings or other loved ones being ill? Many people do. Of course they can choose not to care for anyone and leave but many times other people come into the picture when making decisions on where to spend your time. It's hard to make any plans in situations where you have no idea on the health of those you're taking care of.

weeksie 8y ago
I'm not sure that having someone to care for would inhibit thinking of your life in five year chunks. Mobility? Definitely. But not everybody has the same situation, I'm surely lucky because I don't have those kinds of obligations but I didn't call it out because I am tired of the current fashion of ritual privilege self-flagellation. Cataloging all of my advantages and disadvantages feels oblique to the point.
- foobarrio 8y ago
  It's the risk and uncertainty that changes everything. It's not just the mobility that changes. I have to take care of a sick family member and often times have to spend multiple days/nights in the ER/hospital. My current employer pays well, understand my situation and allows me to take days off pretty easily. Writing tax reporting software is probably the most boring thing I've ever had to do. However leaving that job and starting a company is a much much harder choice for me to make than a person with 0 responsibility to others. I will be competing with such persons too if I do decide to start company.