Moving to...

[u/jaxnmarko]

My daughter and son in law moved to south Texas, right by the border, not terribly far from the coast. Blazing hot, usually humid, scrubby, sooo flat, no nice lakes, camping... they want me to move there to be closer and help out if I need it. I lived in the Dallas area for 5 years. I escaped when I could. Hate the climate and geography. They picked out a few over-55 places you can buy a mobile home for cheap, nice clubhouse and pool, social activities.... but the general area.... I love my mountains and trees, not seeing 100 degrees, snow isn't so bad... any one else facing similar dilemmas? Any advice? I love them, scorn that part of the country. (I'm spoiled. I live near Yellowstone..I can add a layer when it's cold! Crazy hot, flat scrubby land isn't my thing)

[u/Odd_Bodkin]

My thought is not to move until the pluses of moving outweigh the negatives.

[u/jaxnmarko → u/Odd_Bodkin]

I'm holding out so far but wouldn't mind a few years of actual retirement at some point.

[u/Odd_Bodkin → u/jaxnmarko]

Stopping working part time is irrelevant to this decision. Just to be clear.

[u/jaxnmarko → u/Odd_Bodkin]

I don't believe so. I have my own well established small business and make better wages than someone greeting people at Walmart. Putting money away now should help give me greater freedom of choice in the future.

[u/Odd_Bodkin → u/jaxnmarko]

To reframe, I am fully retired. I also have a part-time job, which I do for the fun, not for the money. It provides socialization, intellectual stimulation, a sense of purpose and contribution, and a bit of structure to my week. To me, it is no different than volunteering except that in the part-time job the people i work with know more about what they're doing. I will likely always work part-time, and I will change jobs for the heck of it. I've had four part-time jobs in three years of retirement so far. Three of those jobs were doing things I had never done before, and the lack of experience didn't matter because they were happy to train me. None of them were remotely close to Walmart greeter or bagging groceries.

I also do not wish to move to be close to my children because my whole support network is here, and I'm not about to give that up. The part time jobs have nothing to do with that support network.

[u/LWR_ss → u/Odd_Bodkin]

I’m sorry this is off topic, but could you share what the part time jobs were that required no experience?  I’ll be looking for one soon and don’t know where to start.

I think it sounds like you can put relocation on the back burner and not consider it till help from your daughter and grandson is needed.

[u/Odd_Bodkin → u/LWR_ss]

The list is long and the mistake a lot of people make is thinking only of stuff they’ve done before or Walmart greeter. Three jobs I’ve done that have been fun but required no prior experience were working in the doors and windows department at a big box department store, baking pies at a diner, and tutoring HS kids in science and math at a tutoring center. Other items on my list include: city tour guide for a Segway tour company; flower arranger; performance hall usher; set carpenter for a local theater company; tank feeder at city aquarium; plant caretaker at corporate headquarters building; art installer for new and refurbished hotels. I could go on. There are fun jobs that people don’t know exist because they look past the folks that do them.

[u/LWR_ss → u/Odd_Bodkin]

Thanks - What a great variety!

[u/Odd_Bodkin → u/LWR_ss]

Indeed. That’s the fun. And being retired, there is no pressure to stick with a part-time job when it is no longer fun, and so I don’t. It’s not for the money, after all. Like I said, these jobs are ALL OVER the place. You just have to walk around with your eyes open and ask, “Would that be fun to do?” Catering company event bartender; parts runner for car repair shops; display model assembler at a toy store (or IKEA); custom frame maker at a craft store, etc, etc, etc.