I've thought about it many times D! Me and my ex at the time. I still want to abandon ship. There's really nothing here, but my family! What's left of it anyways. I don't know what will happen in the future, but I sure as hell don't won't to live out my days here! Sometimes I wish I could just pack it up/ sell it off and go & hopefully someday I will!

Damaris wrote:

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Can you just imagine what the hell my parents would say if I went over to their house, sat them down and told them that I'm selling everything and moving somewhere... someplace I'd never been before... and I didn't even have a job?  HOLY SHIT!! That's what my aunt did.  One day she just sold all the stuff in her apartment, packed her clothes in her little yellow Nissan, and moved to California.  She ended up in Ventura, got an efficiency apartment there, and got a job as a bus driver.  She lived there for almost 8 years.... that's just her style.  She moves to different places at the turn of a dime with no plans at all, just because she gets sick of where she's living at the moment.  Needless to say,  she's the "black sheep" of the family and doesn't keep in touch with anyone.  Now, see?  I need some hot little honey to come along and give me a better reason to stay here... or better yet, take me with him somewhere else.  Alternatively, I could just find a job in another state and then I'd have a good reason to move.  My parents have always said they would completely understand if I got a job elsewhere and had to move, because they did it themselves... they just don't want me to move off with no plan.  So I wonder....?-- Edited by Damaris at 17:30, 2006-02-05

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My Gram was kind of like that too only she didn't go too far. One day my grandfather came home & found the house completely empty. She just had that itch to move & moved! LMAO! Maybe that's where I get it from. You too!

Damaris ...maybe you should try west coast ...lol

The question you asked was ...if we were afraid to let everything behind and move where ever we feel to go ?

If it's the question .....my answer is .........I am NOT afraid to move and come back or not ...I have nobody in my life really...even I would 'nt mind at all ..I did it so far I am from Banning and I am in Montreal right now and I don't know for how long!!!  I will be back to  Banning or maybe to my sister 's place at VeniceBeach some day....anytime LOL

Damaris wrote:

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She just... left him?  OMG!!  Yes, I have this HUGE desire to roam around.  My mom and her whole family is the same way (my aunt is her sister).  I've been looking for a job that lets me travel, but so far no luck. Right now my aunt is an internal auditor for Hardee's.  She lives in Virginia, but the company flies her to Georgia, Florida and Alabama on a regular basis to visit different stores and make sure they're following rules and guidelines.  I have no idea how she fell into this position, except that she got signed on with a temp agency to do financial administration work (and I have no idea how she got THAT job either, considering she's not even qualified or educated to do that) and they hired her full-time and gave her the auditor job.  It's weird how she gets stuff like that. -- Edited by Damaris at 17:36, 2006-02-05

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LMAO! She didn't leave him leave him, but yeah she left him!

But that is weird how your aunt got such jobs. I would love to be able to do something like that but without schooling or expirence nobody wants to hire you! You have to find out how she did it. Pass on her secret.

a_perfect_circle1678 wrote:

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LMAO! She didn't leave him leave him, but yeah she left him! But that is weird how your aunt got such jobs. I would love to be able to do something like that but without schooling or expirence nobody wants to hire you! You have to find out how she did it. Pass on her secret.

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Well, I have reason to believe that she... um... embellishes a bit on her resumè.  Wink wink, nudge nudge.

I've done it on a few occasions. When I was younger I just moved out of my Mom's and went out in the Everglades and lived in a old feed shack(no elect or water) with an Indian I was hot over. I lived out in the woods hunting and fishing for our meals, showering in a friends garden hose outside, and driving heavy equipment for some Indians pulling palm trees out of the glades for landscaping new condos...........hahaha. I was out there over a year until I got Impetigo (Florida sores that you get from swamp water etc) and had to come back to civilization. lmao.

Then a few years ago Danny went to North Alabama to get away from Florida. I went up to visit him and came back and packed up my house in like 2 wks, rented a big Ryder truck and just moved to N. Alabama not knowing a damn soul and with no job, nothing. In the winter time without any warm clothes even......haha. My family had a stroke, they couldn't believe I could just up and leave like that. I ended up working on an Emu Ranch of all things. Stayed up there for 5 1/2 yrs. Made more friends then I ever did in my whole life down in Florida. Those turned out to be the best years of my life.

If my grand parents hadn't died and I had to come back to help my Mom out, I would still be up there missing all these ****ing hurricanes. I plan on doing it again soon. My Mom has driven me crazy and I've told Danny and her that I am ready to just get my things and go back up there. Danny can join me later.....lol.

But it's not that easy.  You gotta find a job, sell your home, etc.  But I do see what you mean.

I used to work with this other woman.  She would literally move from place to place every three or four months.  No clue why.  She would roam into town, find an apartment that rents by the month, find some temp job somewhere and just kind of... camp out.  She didn't even buy furniture or groceries, just slept on the floor and ate in restaurants all the time. 

If I were ever in a financial situation where I could do it, I would buy a Winnebago and a laptop computer, then take off across the U.S. and write about my adventures.  I'd hit every state in the continental U.S. (including Alaska, stopping in Canada along the way to check out the hot Mounties!!), then sell the Winnebago and fly to Hawaii.  After that, if I had enough cash, I'd maybe go to Europe or Australia.  I would roam like a gypsy, getting tipsy on wine and singing in karaoke bars all over the world.  LMAO. 

So... I told my mom and brother today.

We were driving around town with his fiancè, and we got on the subject of travel and jobs and stuff (I confess, I kind of steered it in that direction).  Then I started telling his fiancè about my aunt, how she took off to L.A. and didn't have a job or knew anyone there.  Then I told my mom that I wanted to do the same thing... but that I wouldn't do it without the family's blessing.  I told her I could sell the condo to my brother since he wanted it anyway, and since the value of my condo has gone up so much in the past 2 years I would have enough money to pay off my car and have extra for an apartment or whatever... and she FLIPPED when she realized that I wasn't just bull****ting her. 

Then I said, "You and Dad have always told me that I need to do what makes ME happy.... that's what you always said.".  And she got really quiet.  She just drove... and she said, "Yeah, I know.... and I do understand why you want to do it.  You get it from my side of the family.  I'm exactly the same way.".  But then she told me that it would break my dad's heart if I did something like that, and he would be sick with worry 24/7.  I reassured her that I wouldn't do it without their blessing, but also told her that they are the only reason I am staying here and that I would move if they gave the OK.  So now I'm thinking she's gonna tell my dad.  I hope she does.

I can't believe I'm doing this... I can't believe I'm going this far with it.  Life is not meant to be lived sub-par... I have to seize the opportunity to get what I really want in life and stop sitting on my ass dreaming about it!!!  Maybe it's a sugar rush from the chocolate-peanut butter chips I put in my popcorn, but I'm getting this sudden feeling of explosive need... the need to grab life by the horns and start taking steps to really make it happen instead of sitting around doing nothing.  I have to at least try, right?

I'm gathering up as many facts and statistics and information as I can to support my case.  I'm gonna find out how much apartments are going for in the smaller towns in southern California, what kind of jobs are available, roommates, the works.

-- Edited by Damaris at 17:05, 2006-02-11

GO FOR IT!!!!  It's wonderful!!!  And yes, a bit scary to leave what is secure, but really, life isn't secure anyway.  Roam, see, feel, smell, touch!!!!

So I announced my intentions to my dad today.

Much to my shock and pleasant surprise, he was totally cool with it!  He didn't even bat an eye... he said, "You're a free woman and an adult.  Nobody is going to stop you from doing that if that's really what you want to do.  Your mother and I will always love you no matter what, but you do realize that you won't have the family support readily available if you move away, don't you?  If you want to go off and screw up your life, that's your call."  (He said that last sentence half-joking).  I said that I understood that, but this is something that I've been aching to do for a long, long time now and have finally summoned the courage to see it as a real alternative.  He wasn't at all shocked that I wanted to do this, but he DID say that having a job waiting for you in California is completely different than simply selling everything you have, loading up your car and taking off for California without a game plan.  My mom was sitting there the whole time he was saying this, and she almost passed a brick!!  She didn't think he would react like that, but I knew he would.

Later on (a few hours later), he said, "You're going to start looking for a job in California now, aren't you?".  I just laughed and said, "Hmmm...you think?".  And he just said, "Yes, I know my daughter, and I know how she thinks.".  So now everyone knows that I'm seriously, honestly considering doing this.  My mother tried to just talk me into staying here in Oklahoma and traveling instead, but it's more than just the adventure.  It's the chance to strike out completely on my own and prove that I can do it without my family running interference.  I love my family very much, but they've always been my life support system and I appreciate them being around but I feel like I've never really "grown up", you know?  I've never gotten the chance to experience things the way other people have, and because of that I've always felt a little empty and stilted.  Life doesn't feel "real" to me.  Does that make any sense?

 

I am looking at various small to medium-sized towns in the same area code as L.A.  I don't think I could afford anything in Los Angeles, but perhaps something within driving distance.  After cruising through several advertisements for roommates in that area, I can see where that would be a feasible option, for at least a few months until I found an apartment of my own. 

The only problem with applying for work in California while still living in Oklahoma is, eventually they want to meet you in person.  That means I would have to fly there.  However, there is an alternative.... temp agencies.  I'm already signed on with Express Personnel, Olsten Staffing and AccounTemps.  If my information that I have on file here in Oklahoma could also be accessed and used in the branches in southern California, perhaps I could email people who work in those branches to see if my skills would be marketable to them.  If they are, then I can better gauge what kind of pay I could reasonably expect to receive. 

That's the big issue pressing on my mind at the moment... could I find a job fairly quickly there, and how much would it pay?  I know the cost of living is much higher there, but so is the pay.  And would car insurance cost more there?  What about health insurance until I find a full-time job with benefits?  There are many things to consider, and I know this won't happen overnight.  At best, I can expect to move there in a few months.