go ahead and vent. ...

Any idea's?

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 03:22:50 GMT

We have to move four people + our stuff from PDX to STL
Uhauls only have three seatbelts.
Two of us are small children.
Rental SUV's don't let people tow ANYTHING!
Cargo vans are not allowed for one way trips.
I would like to bring more than a mini van would carry.
I would like to tow a u-haul trailor.
I don't want to separate my family and have half of us fly or take a train.
I guess the only other option is to buy my own stupid SUV and tow a rented trailor.
I don't want to, and I don't even know if I have the means to.

I am not the first person to want to do this! gah.

I keep moving

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:31:38 GMT

1987: Born in Winter Haven, Florida
1988-1991: Moved to San Antonio, Texas
1991-2000: Moved to Crystal River, Florida
2000-2001: Moved to Staten Island, New York
2001-2006: Moved to Lindenwold, New Jersey
Summer of '06: Helped my parents move back to San Antonio
A few days after that: Moved to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

We moved around the U.S a lot because of my dad's job. We went to New York, so he could find a place for residency (he's a doctor). He got accepted in Philadelphia, so we settled in South Jersey until he finished.
He went back to the Air Force and is now doing Pathology over there in Texas for the next 3 or 4 years.

I'm here in Dominican Republic to attend medical school. I'm living at my grandmother's house and almost all of my family. I'm not surrounded by people I don't know, but we have so little in common, they might as well be strangers to me.

My schooling hasn't started yet.

I didn't do well in High school at all, so my gpa is pretty low, but I heard that didn't matter if I went to school here. I went to the university that's offering medical school in English and they gave me the bad news while I was trying to register.
I heard there was another school offering medical school in English, but they need 5 students to open up the class and right now there's only 3, including myself. Hopefully the other two will pop up and I can begin in January.
If not, I can go to the school I was intending on and take classes in psychology (something I might pursue after I finish school) until my gpa is up to where it needs to be. In both cases, my classes won't start until January.
Meanwhile, I have to take an intensive course in Spanish to learn to read and write well. And speak, becuase I'm still too shy to practice with anyone.

I have a boyfriend I fell in love with a year ago. He's in medical school over in India. We've been doing good. No break ups in sight as he's been proving to me time and time again that he's just as serious about our relationship as I am.
I was hoping to go over there and visit him this winter, but school might get in the way of that...as well as finances- I still haven't found a job.
I should be able to see him this spring and that excites me for a million reasons =)

That's it. Sorry for the length.

Good day to you.

I moved to Sweden

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 17:14:53 GMT

Hello all, I'm italian, I lived in Sardinia for my first 22 years, then I moved to London (and I like it!!) but few months ago I moved to Sweden, Gothenburg, to live with my bf.
It's not that I don't like sweden, but I'm really not at home... and I don't know anyone here, just few friends that I don't see much.
Plus I don't speak swedish and even if most of the people here speak english, it's not easy to meet new people. I study online so I keep myself busy but .... it sucks!!
Is anyone here around who is from Sweden? Or even better Gothenburg? or moved there?

So How Long...?

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 14:00:44 GMT

Hello everyone!! I've just joined here, been reading you for a few days and it looks like a great community to support each other through the horrible times of change!

Bit of background info: I was born in England, and my family moved when I was 2 to New Zealand. 15 years later, I decided to cash in that British Passport and come back on my own, I've been living here since.

I still miss NZ, sometimes daily. I miss my Mom and Dad, and I miss the food and the weather, and I still think some things in England are sosososo wrong. Including the food: did you know they routinely eat OFFAL over here? URrrrrk.

Anyway, here's the good news:
It only took about 4 years to settle in. Which is to say, I don't get those horrible, bluesy days of "I want to go home" so much anymore. But I still don't like the weather

Things I noticed:
It took about 18 months to stop beginning every sentence with "In New Zealand, they have...."
When I first came over, I thought I saw a lot of people walking around that weren't who I thought they were. (example: I'm SURE I saw my big brother wandering around Newcastle in the first month. But I know for a fact he was in Auckland at the time)
The food doesn't get any better, but I get lower standards
I'm almost British now, I make tea in a crisis and everything.

The best (moving) advice I was ever given:
"Get hard or come home. And since I know you're not going to come home yet... HARDEN UP!!" (Thanx Tony)

Yeah, sorry about the length, I talk too much. (Or as I like to say, people just get tired of listening). I'm pleased to meet you all though!!

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 14:33:39 GMT

people of Africa i salute you!

i collect postcards sent from all over the world
and i still don't have a postcard from your continent
i appreciate if someone can send me one

in case you can help me i post my mailing address Pavel Tsapyuk "Telecom-Expert" company office 903, building 18 Yunnatov street Moscow, Russia 127083

have a great time, brothers and sisters!

Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:11:07 GMT

So...I'm new in this community.

I probably won't be in it too long.

But...Ok. I move a lot. &2years ago I moved from Indiana to Argentina.

Because my dad's from here.

Anyways. I went back to Indiana to visit a month ago. I was there for 3months.

I got a boyfriend. &well we made a lot of plans &made promises.

You guys don't really need to know this but...we lost our virginity to eachother.

&I found out a couple of days ago that he had gotten high &madeout with one of his ex-girlfriends.

&then with another girl 2nights ago while he was drunk.

I swear I said that he was fucking stupid about 2043854356times. Anyways.

I don't need him. He was the worst boyfriend I've ever had.

&I kind of sort of like someone.

Well. That's all.

♥

-Natalia

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:24:04 GMT

hi i moved to england in april and now we have to decide whether we go back or stay. i miss australia so much cos its my home and i had never even moved house let alone country before this but i dont know wwhat i want anymore. each day i change my mind and i've tried making lists but none of it works. ive got 2 years of school left and have to do them in one country so its not like i could stay another year and then go back. have any of you been in this position or do you have any ideas on how to decide, i feel so lost right now...

omg

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 01:13:06 GMT

i just moved from new jersey- where i have lived my WHOLE life- and moved to florida- i hate it here i moved after my freshman year and i HAD to leave all my friends and i had to start school where i didnt know anybody. i no that i didnt leave the country - like some others- but it is like the same experience- kinda- i hate it here! i just needed to let this out

College move

Sat, 27 Aug 2005 21:35:49 GMT

So how many of you guys have ever had to make a college move by yourself? My family's gone on to kiev while i'm stuck here in the states making the move to college basically by myself with no friends to help me as well. Right now I'm sitting at my computer (which was one of the first things to get set) feeling a profound sence of loneliness and well depression. My families gone, i'm at a school I don't particularly like being at, and right now... i'm sitting alone in my dorm room with piles of stuff left unpacked that need to be unpacked. GAHHHHHHHHHH

I just need to vent...

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 20:17:48 GMT

hey everyone.. this isnt so much a "i had to move" as it is a "i HAVE to move".

i have one more year of undergrad, and then i am moving the hell out of virginia! i have lived in this state my whole life and i definitely need a change. i want to experience the city life.. and im talking a REAL city (virginia beach doesnt count). so, i am planning to move to new york.

i just created a community specifically for people who want to move to new york: newyorkmove feel free to join if you share the same goal. :)

Moving Truck Comparison Shopping

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 21:49:44 GMT

I'm moving in September (that is if I can find a place to move TO *shudder*) and I'm looking at moving trucks. I have the option of either going with U-Haul or Budget Truck. Does anyone have any experience with either of the two? I need to call them and get a more exact estimate, but they're closed now, so I thought I'd see if anyone out there had anything to say. The quote I got for U-Haul is $110. Does anyone have any tips for getting discounts? I know that Budget Truck has a rent.com discount, but the website keeps giving me an error...

Moving Stats:
(Would need a one-way moving truck, not an in-town one)
Moving about 70 miles
Moving probably on a weekday
I have a studio apartment and could probably fit all my stuff in the smallest truck.

Hi I'm new

Sun, 24 Jul 2005 06:07:43 GMT

Hi

I'm new to this site and this community. I'm also new to New Zealand. We just moved here about a month ago. We are in Napier witch is in Hawkes Bay. I was wondering if someboby could give me some info about the area.

Thanx
nzgrl

stupid workweeks

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 23:52:59 GMT

Oh, man. I'm usually super-anal about these things, but I just realized August 1 is a Monday. For some reason I thought it was a Sunday. I KNOW July has 30 days, but I must've looked at the calendar too quickly or something. I'm hoping our new landlord will let us move a day early, as we'd have like 12 people to help us on a weekend, and no one on a weekday. And it would suck to lose a week, too. I know this isn't unheard of and depends on things like the current tenants, but what do you think my chances are?

Thu, 23 Jun 2005 08:26:45 GMT

I wrote my personal essay on moving. If your bored or mildly interested, give it a try :D

Personal essay should be relatively easy. As long as you write about how you truly feel, it should not be hard for your opinions and analyses to flow out uninterrupted. It is slightly ironic then, that as I sat down to write this personal essay I had to debate with myself on how personal I should make this essay, as if there were different levels of absolute truth. In the end, however, I realized that it’s not personal unless it’s personal; that anything but the truth would render my essay clichéd and glazed over. It is a well-known fact that memories will mold themselves over time to how we want to remember them and because of that I cannot guarantee you that my story is one hundred percent correct, but it is one hundred percent correct to me. My story is one of change and movement and life and death and the evolution of myself.
In the summer before my junior year, I moved across the country from Belmont, Massachusetts to Saratoga, California. To say my life changed completely would be an understatement. I moved from just outside a big city to far from a big city. I moved from a predominantly white neighborhood to one where Asians were close to majority. I moved from subways to cars, from corner stores to In N’ Out, from snow to sun, from green to yellow. My best friend in Belmont lived off of the Federal Housing Authority. My first friend in Saratoga had three different Coach purses. In Belmont I lived with my mother, who was clinically depressed and took no part in my life, my grandparents whom I never talked to but who took care of my younger sister Jackie. A six hour plane ride later, I was living with my father who I had not lived with for the past two years and struggling to cook a decent dinner for Jackie. My life shifted in a day but I stubbornly did not.
I resented everything about my new town and my new life. Inside my house, I resented the fact that my dad could suddenly make rules and restrictions on my life after having not participated in it for over two years. I resented the fact that I had to check over my sister’s homework, help her study for tests, and feed her – responsibilities I felt were not for a sixteen year old. When I finally came to the realization that my mother was not going to move to California with us, I resented the fact that I allowed my life to be thrown against the wall and smashed into a billion pieces only to still have a broken family. Outside the house, I resented the lack of public transportation – I cursed my twenty minute walks to and from school. I resented the unfriendly students (though I will be forever grateful to the friendly ones) and I resented the fact that my old friends could move on with their life so easily without me.
For the first four months I was constantly angry. I took the energy that my anger gave me and concentrated it on school work. My parents have always pressured me to do well in school so I thought for once I would attain my goal of straight As. My tactic worked - I had a 4.0 G.P.A my first semester of junior year but I was far from happy. In fact, when I realized how far from happy I was, I became depressed. I felt worthless. My mom did not seem to care if she was part of my life or not, my dad was constantly busy with his work, and I had no close friends. It’s amazing how little things matter to you when you feel like you have no one to live for. I went from dreading school to having to force myself to go to school to sleeping through my first and second periods regularly. My grades dropped, my motivation plunged, and optimistic thoughts about my life were nonexistent. The normal person lives in a state of mind of content. The normal person becomes happy when good things happen to them and sad when bad things occur. A snapshot of me in January would not be normal. I was consumed by my sadness and living in a constant state of apathy. Nothing made me happy, and nothing made me sad. I fell asleep every night wishing I could disappear.
A snapshot of me now, four months later, would be normal. How I became happy again, I don’t really know. I visited my friends in Belmont in February and finally had to accept that our lives were going in separate ways. I met people I could connect with on subjects outside of schoolwork. My mom started telling me that she missed me. In April, I went on a “Wild Wild West” tour with my history class. We went on a biking trail that we were told was for beginners but turned out to be twenty miles long and scary. I have a distinct memory of myself riding down a very steep slope. I can remember the wind stinging my face, my aching hands squeezing the brakes harder than I have ever squeezed before, the beautiful canyons around me, and the two thousand feet drop below me. Most importantly, however, I remember fearing my life and being happy that I was afraid to die. I would not say that I am happy with my life now, but I am happier. I’ve met some of the funniest and smartest people at Saratoga. Saratoga has given me opportunities like Wild Wild West (which deserves another essay in itself), I’ve become closer to my father and sister, and I go to one of the top public schools in the nation.
I wish I could conclude this essay with some deeply insightful lesson on how to instantly make your life happier, but I can’t. What I have learned this year is simply that time goes on. I’ve learned that time will not wait for me to make friends nor will it forgive my stubbornness and unwillingness to accept the changes in my life earlier on. I’ve learned that happiness does not last forever nor does sadness. More importantly, I’ve learned that I will not stay happy forever nor will I be sad for the rest of my life. My experience moving to Saratoga has filled my life with anger, tears, laughter, shock, self-revelations, amazing new people, and unforgettable moments. Most importantly though, having made it through this year alive and healthy has taught me that hardships are normal processes of life and I have the ability to overcome anything that comes in my way.

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 09:25:54 GMT

Just a quick question that I need some help with..
I've moved around alot, but mainly when I was little, so i'm not so affected. I joined moved_ last year some time when i found out i was moving to new zealand, and I was angry about it aswell as upset. Since then I told myself to grow up and stop acting on the spoilt bratty role and realised its alot to look foward to, but now I'm two weeks away,, and I feel so sick at the thought of leaving what I'm so familiar to, and my friends, and my family and so much that I love. I just want to appriciate it more, but I can't anymore.
So, my question: How did all you guys cope with this?

Thanks xxx

...and by the way I know I haven't had to do this hardly as much as most of you, and experiencing it only once, I think you are all so brave xxx

dont feel alone

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 13:28:29 GMT

well i was born in a wonderful country named Germany.my whole life was there and i loved being there but wheni turned 12 the worst mistake that my mom made was move to Texas and let me tell you i was very pissed at her.but the longest time i didnt even talk to her.but then when i turned 14 we moved to South Carloina and that was a bigget mistake people picked on me because i didnt know english all that good and just the i look and acted.but when after that place when i was 15 we moved to New York and this is were i am and let me tell you people MOVE MOVE while you can because the United States is a hell hole.europe is so nice and purdy and very awesome and there are actually things to do.well then other sittting at home on the computer.but i think that my mom is thinking about moving back to germany and let me tell you i would be so happy.and oh im goin to germany for 2 months and im taking what little friends that i have too.

moving again

Mon, 16 May 2005 21:57:23 GMT

I'm might be moving again. Man, can't I just stay in one spot for at least a year? But it is not for sure, but it is pretty likely.

Sun, 15 May 2005 10:44:05 GMT

Hi! Just joined, and I have to say I'm really glad this community exists. Back in 1990 we moved from Englang to France because of my dad's job, when I was only 4. It was horrible, I was sent to a French school without even speaking the language, and I had no classes on the side to make it easier. Sure, when you're young, you can pick languages up quickly, but those first months were horrible, I really hated it. And I still do. Everything changed, I lost contact with good friends and I haven't heard from them ever again. I hated the neighbourhood we were living in, I was an outcast at school because I wasn't French. All I wanted to do was fit in, but I couldn't, they wouldn't let me. And no matter how much I asked, we never moved back to England and I was stuck there.

It doesn't matter that it's been 15 years, the pain's never really left. I've gotten used to France now, but every time we go to England, I'm happy, and then we go back and I feel horribly home sick, even if it was just a few days. And it annoys me that people think I'm so lucky to have lived in different countries and that because of that I can speak 2 languages fluently, I'm only their friend when we have an English test coming up. I don't think anyone can really realize how horrible it is until they experience it.

I think what makes it truly horrible is the memories, because I moved from the States when I was one, but since I can't remember anything, it doesn't bother me as much. But I remember being happy in England, and I hate remembering it all.

Sat, 14 May 2005 20:11:51 GMT

hey
I`m really glad to find this community `cause I`ve been suffering for..omg..6 yrs already since I moved...
I`m 19, living in Moscow now..
Almost exactly 6 yrs ago (May, the 19th) I came back from Namibia (South West Africa) after having lived there for 7 years. My whole childhood, all the places I loved, the people I loved, my friends and those dear to me were taken away in one 20-hour flight..
I cannot think of all those places and ppl without tears..it`s so unbearable..
Two summers ago I went back.. to find everyone completely different people, as I expected
but those memories still hold me..tight..
I have a strong love for Africa and from the psycological point of view it most probably can be easily explained..but I just can`t let go of my past..it`s easier now that I`ve seen it once more..It`s like a drug..I have to take it once in a while to let me live..

It's funny once it's all over and you're safely home...

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 19:19:04 GMT

as i said to someone in a conversation earlier...

imagine an airplane flight, 8 hours long. everything you know, everything you've ever known, is somewhere else. youre going somewhere that youve never seen before, where they dont even speak your language, and you dont know how long youll be there for, how long until you can visit, or even if you ever will. you basically spend the 8 hours with that feeling in your heart - you go through denial, like the belief that if i dont like it, i can go home - but you cant go home, and then before you know it youre in a weird place surrounded by a completely different culture with no friends.

i'd say its ok, that i'm going to visit paris again. but i'll never see this apartment again, i'll never feel the securities of the life ive established for myself here again. where i'm going is an alternate paradigm, with a completely different life, completely different options, completely different opportunities, completely different people.
but then i get the other thoughts. i was told, on leaving bangladesh, that i'd visit soon. to date i have never been back.
and what really scares me - i'm going to kenya without my brother. i have to establish a life for myself again, as i have done so many times before, redefine who i can trust and who i can't. but this time i dont have any old friends there who can really give me advice on anything. people really underestimate the role of siblings.

and is it normal to be afraid of settling down? be afraid of staying in one place too long because of the impending, inevitable fear of one day having to leave? leaving is something that only gets harder. every day, every hour, every minute in a place is that much longer of memories that will be left behind. quite possibly forever. is it normal to grow so attached to photo albums? to distract yourself with other things but then to write them off as insignificant? to live every day with the knowledge that all the blocks you lay to having a good life will get crushed into sawdust while you look on? and when you feel that rush that means takeoff, does this affect everybody the way it affects me, does it hold the same significance, the feeling of leaving everything, the reminder that someday it may be the last time you ever take off from a certain airport?
why do i always get attached to airports?
perhaps people who travel are the people who live somewhere up in the air, and thats why airports are so significant. there must be something making it matter. a life in which social connections are broken down regularly, either by your own departure or by someone else's, can't be based on social connections. a life in which after school activities become unavailable within the blink of an eye, can't be based on after school activities. a life in which all your efforts to suck up have to be renewed every year, can't make it feel like it's worth it to suck up. a life in which your hopes and dreams change with all the different perspectives you acquire through the places you see and the people you meet, can't be based on founded hopes and dreams. and a life in which planning ahead can be interrupted by a knock on your door from the movers will destroy any incentive to plan ahead. before you know it, you stand blindfolded in a huge airport with a suitcase full of memories - only bringing what you could pack - and your last attempt is to stumble onto the next airplane going nowhere.
even if you only stay at a short stopover.

i love you, my sweet stopover, paris... please buy me a bigger suitcase.

i was just wondering if anyone related to any of the stuff i said there.
my name's sadie, i'm 16, i live in paris and am soon to move to nairobi... and before paris i lived in the suburbs of DC, and dhaka bangladesh. so thats just a bit of background info for you :)

New member

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:19:07 GMT

Hi,
I've lived in England for over a year and a half, but recently moved to London from Canterbury. I am an American and chose to stay here to do my PhD in International Relations after I finished my MA in the same subject at Cantab. I met a guy there, as you do, and since he's British, part of my reason for deciding to stay on here was to be able to be with him. This is particularly true because it would've been ever harder for him to move to AMerica. London being the anonymous city it is, I'm having a hard time making friends. I know this move was my own choice and I don't regret being able to be with my sig. other every day, I'm worried about becoming too dependent on him for a social life. I've adopted his friends as my own but I prefer to make my own friends. I plan on getting a job this summer to deal with my (not so cute) shopping habit, which will hopefully help, and I take yoga and pilates 3 times a week. Have yet to make friends in those classes, but maybe it'll happen. The thing that bothers me most I suppose is that I'm not a wall flower. I don't usually have any problems introducing myself to random people and I've been generally lucky to make good friends. Myabe once it gets warm here and stops raining, Londoners will be happier to meet an American who feels less affinity with her own country as each new Republican measure to control the world comes into effect. Thanks for creating this venting forum.

hi all

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 02:23:29 GMT

It's been about 2 1/2 years since i last moved but I figured i should post a little something.

It's hard moving back to ones "home" country after much time abroad, this happened to me when I moved back from Indonesia to the U.S. A country which had changed a lot in the 3 years I was away. I was in Indonesia at the time of 9/11 and didn't feel particularly moved by the tragedy. When I left America in 1998, Americans had this optimism, that life was at least essentially good. Bill Clinton was president a man many admired both in the states and abroad. When I came back it was completely different. Americans in the span of two years became overwhelmingly pessimist in my mind. We elected a "compassionate" conservative who proves to be exceedingly reactionary in his bearing. The country seemed to have turned starkly conservative in bearing as a whole. All of a sudden certain precepts I had taken for granted, such as the absense of church in schools, freedom of speach for everyone, science as science and not as something to be debated about by theologans; these things came to the forefront. In the area I live in, in the last three years we went from very few churches in the area to a plethora of them; overwelmingly so.

I've never felt at home in the U.S, I've spent more than half of my life overseas in various countries, but what happened after 9/11 was such an extreme shift. From openness and welcoming too extreme suspision towards all. I realize that all countries change with time, but I wonder if anyone else has had a similar reaction upon returning to their home country.

less homesick

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 15:20:21 GMT

hi peepz! just wanted to say hi to everyone and am back from my hiatus so i can update journals more often. I really know how it feels to move to another country and facing depression and being homesick. I've been living in denmark for almost 5 years now and luckily for me, i learned to adapt quickly. I went to the Philippines for a 1 month vacation last year, and that was some different experience even though i was born and raised there. I've lost communication with almost some of my really close friends back there and now, i don't have any news about them at all. It's really sad, considering that i really want to maintain the friendship. But i did enjoy seeing my relatives back there, it was nice to see some people i knew back then..

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 16:36:28 GMT

Hi everyone,

I"m glad to come across this community and find like minded people who arre in the same situation in life as myself.
I'm a Singaporean who moved to US becoz of my marriage to an American . Although, I love living in the States, I miss my family and my friends so much. I've always thought that I have a very adaptable and "cosmopolitan" mindset but the reality of being away from my roots and Home didnt prepare me for what overseas living truly has to offer.

I'm back in Singapore right now, for a 3 weeks holiday. I'm glad to say that being away has added so much kinship and value to my relationships with my family members and my friends. I used to think that Distance is a curse in my family ( since my brother also moved Down South) but it's going being away that had made me realised that it's actually a blessing in disguise for us.

I would love to meet anyone who had to move away from their Homes permanently and understands what I mean when I say, "Absences does make the heart grow fonder".

Tue, 08 Feb 2005 03:48:55 GMT