I took a trip to Colorado this summer and it was the first time in my life I ever really left the south. It just blew my fucking mind. I love where I’m from, but there’s just so much fucked up shit that I just thought was how it was. I’m a white cishet, so I’m not vulnerable to the worst of the south, but it absolutely blew my mind seeing somewhere that you didn’t just have a background level of distressing shit in view at all times. The most striking thing was how there weren’t any ruins around. You get used to seeing overgrown, dilapidated buildings dotting the side of the road pretty much everywhere you go. It was wild to me how rare that was, comparatively, once you get to the other side of Texas. There’s a million other things, but honestly I didn’t spend enough time there to really know if all of them are the norm or if I’m just making shit up. As shitty as I feel saying it, it would also be nice to try dating somewhere there weren’t quite so many ““country”” girls.
My only regret would be leaving behind all my friends and family. That’s just such an insane leap to me, and I have no faith that I’d be able to find new friends elsewhere now that I’m out of college. I know I’m experiencing a massively cliche impulse and all that, and that there’s lots of problems that will follow you wherever you move, but how do I know if I’m insane or not? Does anybody have advice for trying to find a job somewhere you don’t live? I’m sick of all these damn pine trees.
I have no faith that I’d be able to find new friends elsewhere now that I’m out of college
If you want to do a masters degree: Norway, Switzerland and Iceland have free universities for everyone who applies. You’ll even find English-spoken programmes. Those universities are also often the way to very cheap housing.
Just a suggestion, in case you’d be open to move even further.
I love the south but the apartheid against black people there makes me want to do things that would shorten my life span.
Also yes country girls are the worst.
I moved from a big California city to a “big” Southern city for school and can say that the South sucks in a lot of ways and can be unexpectedly great in others. I’m a white cis het man so I’m not subjected to racism, but I am subjected to other random white people, who I do not know, saying racist shit around me and then expecting me to nod or agree and not , which was fucking surreal to experience. The infrastructure is dog shit no one knows how to build a fucking road the concept of a turnout for busses is foreign to them and the drivers down here are the worst in the world and actively rundown bicyclists. “Southern nice” is bullshit from anyone under 80 and even then it might be, they detest their neighbors and will absolutely not help them when fucked by a natural disaster. Also the cost of living being lower is largely bullshit the produce down here is way worse than CA and is 50% more expensive, car insurance is 3x what I was paying in CA, and cars are the same price. Gas, housing, and eating out (except for “exotic” food) is less expensive but not by enough to compensate everything.
The good does not outweigh the bad, but the food scene and startup businesses thrive better here because the cost to rent a building is cheaper, there is higher turnover because so many don’t make it but the variety is nice. There are also a ton of businesses (bakeries, pizzerias, BBQ) run out of homes where you get food to go, which is neat. There’s a decent sized group of anarchists and communists who run public fridges throughout the city and we were able to get community garden going in the poor part of downtown because the local government doesn’t give a shit.
the produce down here is way worse than CA and is 50% more expensive
Wonder if it’s got to do with California being an agri state. Produce doesn’t have to travel far, which means higher quality and lower price.
People crow about how the heartland is where all the food comes from, but it’s all bullshit corn and soy that’s mostly animal feed. Seems most of the real human food comes from Cali.
That’s what I and other California transplants have concluded. A bell pepper here is $1.5-2 on sale and up to $3 when not. The avocados are rancid and expensive. Tomatoes need to be refrigerated or they’ll mold in a day or two. A good amount of the produce in the grocery is molded so you have to inspect thoroughly when it comes to cherry tomatoes, berries, etc.
leaving behind all my friends and family
This is the fukken killer. It’s really hard and you’re going to have to put in effort once you get to where you’re going to break out of your bubble, but I wish you luck all the same. For finding work in another state, it’s easier than its ever been, since every HR department in existence has learned how to use Zoom - hell I got my current job over the phone, no video conferencing required. Just apply to a lot of jobs on every job search website you can in your free time, and expect it to take a while.
I did want to move down South for a bit in my younger years, but the jobs I was applying to never materialized so I stayed in the boring Midwest. Probably not the worst thing ever, mind you. Specifically I was eyeing up Louisiana, tempted by food, music, and maybe hunting nutria for the local DNR.
