
Ask HN: Newly Remote Workers – Where Are You Moving? - temp_-_
If you&#x27;re in the fortunate position during this time to be both employed and able to move to another location--whether permanently or temporarily--I&#x27;m curious to learn where you may be planning to move and what factors are influencing this decision.<p>Stated more broadly to those who may not fall in this bucket: if location did not affect your career prospects and&#x2F;or economic wellbeing, where would you move and why?
======
jasonkester
For me, this is the number one reason that I work remote. Here was my thought
process:

\- Identify the thing you really want to do most in life.

\- Find the place in the world where you can do that the best.

\- Find a house there.

For me, as a rock climber, that meant moving to a little village near
Fontainebleau, France, where they keep the best Bouldering in the world.

For you, it might mean finding the best concentration of snowboarding, a
really good surf break that somehow has affordable houses near it (which
probably means Puerto Rico, from my research), a cheapish southwestern
Austin'y town with a good music scene, or if you're lucky in choosing your
hobbies, a beautiful, unknown trout stream way up in the hills.

It could also turn out that the place you want to be is "The Road". There's
something to be said for flying one-way to a strange corner of the world, and
slowly making your way through it while working from the laptop (3G is
ubiquitous nearly everywhere you'd expect it wouldn't exist). You might need
to choose your spot carefully this year in particular, but this was what I did
for 10 years or so before settling on that house.

The important thing is that it's actually somewhere you'd rather be spending
your time, so make sure you really know what it is that you want out of life.
Because if there's no reason to be near an office, it only makes sense to be
near something better.

~~~
sverhagen
But what if the place you really want to be is... wait for it... the office. I
get that's not a popular choice, but there's few things I love more than going
to work. I know, I'm in a niche, but it's a thing. I am a passionate
workaholic, I can do a lot of it from home, but I do my best work in the
office with others and, damn, do I miss it.

~~~
iso1631
That's fine, just dont expect everyone else to change their lifestyle to
accommodate you.

~~~
Ancapistani
This is a delicious reversal of common wisdom :)

------
throwaway93386
Chattanooga most likely. My company is doing 85% base salary with no
adjustment to RSUs. Tennessee is a great place to save money due to 1) no
state income tax, 2) no capital gains taxes, and 3) low cost of living. I
estimate I’ll be able to save ~$100k more per year than I currently am in the
Bay Area. Plus Chattanooga is known for having some of the fastest internet in
the country, rolled out by the city a few years ago. Signal Mountain has great
schools for when my kids are older, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s a naturally
beautiful place as well
([https://i.pinimg.com/originals/66/c2/24/66c22405229f125fea23...](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/66/c2/24/66c22405229f125fea23b1769c855c11.jpg)).

I’d really like to move to Asheville or Charleston, but the taxes make it a
bit too much of a premium over Chattanooga.

~~~
archon
Chattanooga and EPB (our aforementioned fast internet) are both pretty
awesome. I see a definite uptick in people from out of state moving here over
the past 6 months, which is stretching the area's housing supply. We also had
a tornado come through in April and damage or destroy several hundred homes.
So if you do end up moving here, just beware the housing market is a little
hectic at the moment.

~~~
throwaway93386
I’m sorry to hear about the tornado. That’s devastating. I hope the repair
efforts are going well.

------
bradlys
We tried to move to Santa Cruz. My significant other grew up near there and
desperately wants to be near her friends again. Turns out, all the Bay Area
peeps wanted to do the same. Rents haven’t gone down there and the competition
is really fierce. (“Honey, what if you got a job at Looker/Google?! We could
be in Santa Cruz forever!!!”)

Started thinking about moving to Denver...

But, I don’t really want to move yet. See - the thing is - I’m in the Bay Area
because I want to make it. I came here because I needed /a/ job. Then I got
sucked in and decided I wanted /the/ job. I want to get the big $$$ and be
able to afford that nice house in Los Gatos with a 911 in my driveway. Doesn’t
mean I would pull the trigger if I had the money - I won’t know until I’m
there. But moving away - well, it means that’s definitely never going to
happen. I’m not ready to accept that level of failure yet. After all, I’m not
even 30 yet. I got a few days left. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

~~~
kanyethegreat
What's "the" job? Are we talking founder or corporate ladder? How much does
this dream house cost?

~~~
goldenManatee
Pretty sure the writer’s being sarcastic.

~~~
bradlys
There's comedic embellishments in there but it's all painfully true...

------
bstar77
I'm not newly remote as I made the move a little over 3 years ago. That said,
I moved to Northern Georgia specifically to work remotely. I have an
incredible (inexpensive) house that gets fiber internet, live in an
inexpensive area, have luxuries pretty close (Apple store, Wholefoods, Tesla,
etc), 45 min south of the mountains, live just off a lake and I'm only an hour
outside of Atlanta.

There are very few places in the country that can give me all of these things
I want at a bargain value. Even though I'm 100% remote, I always have Atlanta
to fall back on if remote work dries up. I can't stress how important that
peace of mind is (pun intended). I've lived and worked in the Pacific
Northwest and just couldn't make it work financially.

~~~
ido
It took me up to Wholefoods to realize you're talking about the US state & not
the country of Georgia :)

~~~
bstar77
I have family in tech that live in Serbia so I probably should have known
better.

------
newguy1234
Moved to Reno, NV. Already sold all my property in the bay area and went back
to renting. No state income tax in NV! and we have lake tahoe close by. I sold
my property because I'm figuring that the bay area is going to be less
appealing from a property investment stand point, so I cashed out while prices
are still high.

I honestly don't see companies going back to in-office stuff, at least not as
much as it was in the past. I could see meetings and stuff like that being in-
person. My company has already basically transitioned to 100% online and our
productivity has increased overall so no way we are going back to in-office
working exclusively.

~~~
laluser
What are you going to do if your company makes an adjusted cost of living to
your compensation? My company is already advising people to come back near our
address due to tax reasons.

~~~
treve
If you get a cost of living adjustment, you still live in a place with much
lower cost of living which gives you way more flexibility.

If 50% of income goes to rent, you burn right through your savings if you want
some time off.

~~~
simonebrunozzi
Or, you change jobs :)

~~~
mtnGoat
I would file my resignation immediately if my employer tried to do "regional"
pay. An employee is worth what they are worth, locale shouldn't effect that.

~~~
treve
What's your definition of 'worth' though. Dev salaries are way inflated in
very specific regions due to high demand and low supply. If location becomes
less important, salaries will normalize... which means down if you're from the
Bay area.

~~~
mtnGoat
I'm all for normalizing pay, then all the talent won't go to the Bay, stack
cash, then move back to middle America? Worth it determined by the market, of
course.

------
one2know
I moved to suburbs in a mountain state. In a few years may move to a rural
area if gigabit is available.

Most people have ZERO idea what this country is, how vast and unpopulated it
is. You can have a mountain to yourself in many areas. The west is essentially
empty. You can have 360 mountain views in a beautiful agricultural valley. You
can live on a uninhabited part of a lake or river. You can live in an area
that looks like a national park. Just need stable power, water, and internet
which is/will be easy with solar and sat internet.

~~~
jez
What do you do for groceries / food? Are there any restaurants near by? Any
problems with online deliveries?

~~~
one2know
I don't live rural yet, but I would just drive to the grocery. I would say
most people living rural live close to a highway. If it is interstate you will
be going 85 MPH, so even if the nearest grocery is 50 miles away it is 30
minutes away. I would probably buy $200-300 of groceries at a time. Rural
places are usually going to have a large freezer, backup generator, fuel
supply. Rural areas are probably not going to have many restaurants, but if
you are in a resort/vacation area such as around a national park like
Yellowstone there are going to be more restaurants. People I have known had no
problem with online deliveries if they are within a certain range of a town,
say 10 miles. I will probably deliver to an Amazon locker or UPS store and
pick whatever it is up there.

------
s1t5
Not moving at all because I'm remote temporarily and I'll likely have to move
back to a big city in a few months.

Another thing to consider is that if you're young and don't have a family yet,
moving to a remote location where you'll be completely alone just so you can
pay less for rent seems kind of dumb.

Yet another thing - nobody's job is all that secure right now. Even if
attitudes towards remote work have changed, a big city is still your best
chance of finding work. So if you're laid off in near the future, living in
the middle of nowhere will only make things worse.

~~~
stingraycharles
> moving to a remote location where you'll be completely alone just so you can
> pay less for rent seems kind of dumb.

I’m sorry but this just strikes me as an extremely black-and-white view of the
world. I for one moved to a village after college, work remotely for about
10y, and couldn’t be happier. I have a decent sized house, my backyard is the
start of a small forest, and I’m in a city in about 1h of traveling.

To each their own, I guess, but I can equally make a case why moving to a city
to pay high rent prices seems kind of dumb.

~~~
s1t5
> but I can equally make a case why moving to a city to pay high rent prices
> seems kind of dumb.

No one moves to a city to pay high rent prices. The higher rent is a tradeoff
that you make for certain benefits of living in a big city (which may or may
not be worth it for each individual). My point was that when you move to a
remote location purely for the lower cost (which people do), you're making
another set of tradeoffs that are often ignored.

~~~
wasdfff
It seems the people making out most are the ones moving back in with their
parents. Rent free and social interaction.

~~~
pb7
I don’t think social interaction with parents is what young people are after.

~~~
closeparen
Social interaction outside one’s household is banned and will remain banned
for a long time. You could meet people illicitly but I’d expect a selection
bias against conscientiousness in the pool of people up for meeting strangers
right now. That doesn’t bode well for stable relationships.

~~~
pb7
What area are you in where you're not allowed to meet your friends? It's not
banned where I am. You're just supposed to wear a mask and maintain distance.

~~~
closeparen
San Francisco. Some outdoors activities are permitted if you wear a mask and
maintain distance from other groups, but within your group it's only supposed
to be members of your own household.

Obviously no one is going to check whether a couple is actually cohabitating
or whether a group of friends are actually roommates. Compliance is low. But
that's why this mess is dragging on forever.

~~~
pb7
There are health officials (I don't know what to call them) going around
Mission Dolores Park handing out masks to groups sitting together that don't
cohabitate. Banned implies they would have park rangers instead going around
issuing tickets like they do for having glass, etc.

While I agree that lackadaisical response is making this drag on, I don't
think San Francisco contributes much to that.

~~~
closeparen
The public health order says "recreating only with people in the same
household" [0]. I have seen similar signage for outdoor dining

Prioritizing harm reduction interventions (e.g. handing out masks) over
punitive enforcement (e.g. tickets) is more of a general San Francisco policy.
Still illegal.

[0] [http://sfrecpark.org/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=June-1-Health-
Orde...](http://sfrecpark.org/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=June-1-Health-Order-
Facemasks-Required-N-21)

------
holidayacct
You would have to be insane to move because you've recently been given remote
work privileges, especially in the middle of a recession caused by an ongoing
pandemic.

Companies provide remote work options all the time and once you move they ask
you to come back into the office out of the blue thenlay remote workers off if
they cant come back into the office.

The other thing you need to keep in mind is a lot of the places you want to
live have people who don't want you living there. If they find out you work
remote and don't need anyone they will start screwing around with your life.

If you move and work remote be extremely careful, dont assume you're welcome
anywhere in the countrh a lot of places are filled with backwards luddites who
hate anyone in STEM fields. Yes, this is a real thing.

~~~
throwawaytx_mx
> If they find out you work remote and don't need anyone they will start
> screwing around with your life.

I've lived in po-dunk farmlands in flyover states and actual swamp towns of
900 residents during my time as a remote software developer, and have never
experienced any of this. I don't understand why it would ever come up. Can you
elaborate?

~~~
nitrogen
If you start a trend and the cost of living goes up, it will cause some
tension.

~~~
holidayacct
Exactly, a lot of people move into small towns and then unintentionally create
tension with locals because they have purchasing power that is 3 to 20x anyone
in the surrounding area. Most people don't factor in envy when they move
someplace.

~~~
giantg2
They also don't realize there could be some cultural differences and push for
changes that the original people don't want.

~~~
runamok
It's common sense but spending time listening and learning before spouting
opinions will probably help smooth relationships with the locals.

~~~
giantg2
Absolutely.

On a side note, I have a neighbor that decided to run for local office the
first year he moved to our town. I found it interesting that someone would
want to run for office before getting to know the people, not to mention
that's a pretty quick time to form opinions about the town's politicians to
the point of wanting to take their office. I guess it doesn't matter since he
wasn't elected.

------
jupiter90000
Either coastal Carolinas or Hawaii. We like living near the ocean and access
to good outdoors activities on land. Coastal Carolinas is much more affordable
than Hawaii and more access to certain outdoor activities (hunting and
freshwater fishing). Also not as isolated as Hawaii.

But Hawaii looks incredible. I hope to visit them both and make a decision
when more things are open in both places to get a feel for them.

I think both are probably close to tech wastelands so will need to have
employment that allows remote from those states to do it.

~~~
triyambakam
I live in Hawaii. I've found that even though most companies are used to
working across Pacific through Eastern time zones, they still want me to be
online earlier, even though they don't expect someone in California to be
online for an East coast morning. It feels unfair.

And you're right, it's definitely a tech wasteland here. And the predominant
culture of locals and hippies is anti-intellectual. But it's great to live
near the ocean, hiking trails and one of the safest places in the US (if
you're not directly in Honolulu)

~~~
raybb
Are you on the Hawaii Slack?
[https://www.hawaiislack.com/](https://www.hawaiislack.com/)

It's a small community but not totally a wasteland

~~~
triyambakam
Thanks I didn't know about that!

------
kanyethegreat
Left my $500k TC job because my remote offer got rescinded _mid-move_ when a
new VP abruptly took over our BU. He didn't "believe" in colocated teams. This
was right before COVID hit and everyone was forced remote. Wish I could laugh
in his face over the fact that the pandemic doesn't give a shit about his
opinion on remote workers.

~~~
coffeemaniac
I'm so sorry that happened, were you able to find something else in that range
quickly?

------
jmknoll
Staying in Brooklyn, but without a commute. New York is still a nice place to
live, and rent prices seem to have come down 10-20%.

Let’s see how things are looking come winter though. Could be pretty grim
without bars/restaurants to go to.

~~~
jdpigeon
In Brooklyn too and this summer's been great. Don't have to take the subway.
All the bars and restaurants have patios, and my friends and I can get
together for hikes and BBQs every weekend. However, I'm worried the QoL is
gonna tank once the weather stops being so nice because I every one of these
pandemic-resistant activies is weather-dependent

~~~
AndrewUnmuted
Wow - are we living in the same borough? Brooklyn has been a nightmare for me.
It's gone downhill fast in my area - horrifyingly dirty streets and sidewalks,
junkies laying around everywhere, there's even a pile of stolen belts being
watched over by homeless people on my corner. This is in an area where a 3BR
apt is at least $3k/month.

I can't wait to get out. Been here ten years, working remotely for the past
five. Can't really justify it anymore unless things improve quickly. Got
randomly assaulted outside my own building a few weeks back - the guy didn't
even try to take anything. Just punched me in the face five times and ran off.
I went through a similar wave in the late 80s as a kid, I don't like the looks
of all this.

It may get bad for you quickly as well. Consider being ready with a plan B.

~~~
throw_this_one
What do you think the reason is? I assumed this would happen.

------
throwawaytx_mx
We're now selling almost everything we own on the East coast. We're planning a
six month stop in Austin, TX, on our way to our final destination: Yucatán,
Mexico.

The financial leverage of USD is great there, and the last few years have led
me to believe I'm not a good culture-fit in the US.

~~~
triyambakam
That's very interesting. What made you choose Yucatán specifically in
comparison to other parts of Mexico or Central/South America?

~~~
throwawaytx_mx
My partner has family in the area, and the infrastructure (ISPs, city-wide
wifi, power grid) is supposedly some of the best in Mexico (which would
probably make it on-par or better to where I currently sit.)

Tourist and expat investments have brought money to the area, and the city
we're headed to is considered notably safe for North America generally, let
alone Mexico.

~~~
maerF0x0
Do you have any concerns about Crime and corruption on the rise in Mexico?

~~~
throwawaytx_mx
Not really.

~~~
sitkack
Doesn't the Yucatan have a similar topography to Florida? Are you concerned at
all about sea level rise?

[https://ss2.climatecentral.org/#7/18.579/-91.967?show=satell...](https://ss2.climatecentral.org/#7/18.579/-91.967?show=satellite&projections=0-K14_RCP85-SLR&level=5&unit=feet&pois=hide)

------
2data222
Newly remote here. I'm a "Sr. BI Programmer Analyst" working in Walnut Creek,
CA paying about $2,700/month for an apartment. I plan to move to Pittsburgh,
PA and move in with my little brother into his newly purchased house where
I'll make more money due to much lower state income tax and rent that will
fairly be about a third of what I pay now.

The motivating factors for me are money and family (though I would argue that
my brother more importantly means friendship to me).

~~~
pb7
4.5-6% (depends whether you’re within city limits or not) flat tax between
state and local is not much different than CA’s progressive (but stupid high)
tax, especially for incomes in the low hundreds.

------
ckdarby
Was working in Toronto, covid19 happened, moved back to Montreal, and work
agreed I could permanently stay there even after covid19.

------
heckerhut
I bought a boat and made the driving license right when the lockdown started
in March. Put solar panels up, big batteries and a 4G hotspot. Been living on
the boat ever since. Best decision ever.

~~~
surprisetalk
How cool!

Would you mind sharing your experience with 4G connectivity? Where do you get
service? Is it good enough for video conferencing?

~~~
heckerhut
Yes, completely. Running on a t-mobile world flat. None of the people I talk
to has any clue where I am. I tend to not show video.

------
ajdecon
I was already remote, but I’m moving from Seattle to Denver.

Combination of family and a more favorable climate. The somewhat lower cost of
living doesn’t hurt, but it’s not like Denver is _cheap_.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
What about the climate in Denver is better than Seattle? Less rain, or at
least rain less often? (Not saying you're wrong, I just wonder.)

~~~
inson
The best summer in north west is in Seattle.

~~~
elevenoh
hence why they all vacation in Vancouver, BC, right? ;)

~~~
mtnGoat
Lived here my whole life, don't know anyone who goes to Van for the summer.
Must be a new thing?

------
ok_coo
I work at a non-profit and all back-end office workers are going to be WFH for
the foreseeable future.

My MIL has been living on her own for a while now, so my wife and I will be
moving in with her to help her out, be close to family, and save $.

My quick estimate is that it'll save us ~24K/year. I used to be able to
justify rent and other expenses but it's never seemed dumber to me. If/when we
move back to the city where I work, we will do so when we can buy a
house/condo.

We will use this saved money to pay off debt, save, and help out our family.

P.S. I should clarify that we are moving from a large city to a very small
town in a nearby state where COL is significantly lower.

------
vyrotek
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Phoenix yet. Folks are definitely flooding
in that's for sure. Housing prices were already climbing for years but now
they're rocketing. Maricopa County is the fastest growing in the US.

~~~
SPBesui
Phoenix is great for about six months of the year, but man is it hot in the
summer. It is a dry heat, yes, but 115 is 115, humid or not.

~~~
vyrotek
I think it's great 8ish+ months! Very hot right now but it's what kept things
great. But I think more people are starting to trade bitter cold Minnesota
winters for hot summers. It's also a quick hop back to California when needed.

------
fwsgonzo
I live on an island on the coast of Norway. It's kinda weird with all the bird
life and postcard-like views. Also, there is a family of grouses (is this the
right word?) living in the bushes outside!

A little bit lonely, too. But, the cities are too expensive and everything is
so compressed. Maybe if I could afford an actual house in a city that would be
OK.

------
kleinsch
Company offered permanent remote work, thought through career trade offs and
whether we wanted to stay in the Bay Area forever.

Picked suburbs between Denver and Boulder. Good tech jobs, similar sunshine
and outdoor activities as the Bay Area (but with snow also! we’ll see how that
goes), affordable housing and better COL.

~~~
maximp
Welcome to Westminster?

------
maerF0x0
No where. My company came out with remote pay tiers and it's much more
lucrative for me to stay put. They say there is a potential savings by moving
away to lower CoL but I can actually save more absolute $ per month by living
here. I'll move away _after_ I've stashed some money.

If location did not affect my career I probably would move around a lot. (Sans
covid19) I'd like to go to Mexico, Italy, SE Asia ... many places in the US
too.

------
ecmascript
I work remotely and have done so for a couple of years. Recently moved to the
country side of Sweden. I have fiber connection, cheap housing and lots, and
lots of space.

It affects my well being in a very positive way. I can walk my dogs without
breathing in polluted air. I sleep great since it's very silent and get to do
other stuff than just sit by the computer.

------
Trias11
Nevada. No state taxes. Friendly gun laws. Less BS.

Also - companies that are doing salary "adjustments" because employee wants to
move to another location needs to be publicly shamed.

------
dhwilder
Temporarily moved from Seattle to Camano Island, abt 60 miles N of Seattle.
Telecommute from my office with a picnic table and a wrought iron chair under
a soccer shelter served by an indoor access point sheltered under a green
plastic bucket. Walks on the beach instead of another cup of coffee. Heaven to
me!

------
acetoxy
If I could, I would move to Medellín, Colombia. It's beautiful modern city
with friendly people and there seems to be a lot of digital nomads there to
connect with.

And since I would only get to stay 180 days per year in Colombia, I would
probably spend a few months in Costa Rica and in the Peruvian Amazon.

------
shekade
Florida or TX, no state tax and relatively warm weather than NY where I stay
now.

~~~
hesdeadjim
There might not be any state tax, but the property taxes are nuts.

~~~
hourislate
15k a year for me. Approx 7.5 to the various Governments and the other half to
schools. Those 5 million $$$ sports complexes and artificial turf football
fields at the middle school (Grade 5-8) aren't going to build themselves....

Meanwhile they can't create a decent online curriculum so kids can learn from
home.

It's a joke. Teachers and the School Districts get whatever they ask for
because voters are too stupid to figure out what it costs them. I guy I work
with doesn't even know how much he pays in tax every year since it is in
escrow with his mortgage payment. He just votes yes because it's for the kids
you know.....

~~~
kyleee
Not looking forward to the dystopian future when the econ theory of "price
discrimination" is adopted by state and local governments, and they target
people who pay property taxes through an escrow account. Once the mortgage is
paid off just bump up the property tax to match the amount of the previous
monthly mortgage payment and see who notices. Instead of a 30 year mortgage,
it can be called in infinite mortgage at which point 99% of people will all
effectively be renters

------
surprisetalk
Las Vegas, Nevada!

\- super cheap cost-of-living

\- no state income taxes

\- cheapest flights in the US

\- no natural disasters

\- close to Los Angeles (where all my friends/family live)

\- no grafitti or litter in most places

\- reasonable traffic

\- plenty of things to do (shows, Red Rock, conferences)

\- friends from across the US will visit once or twice per year

\- lots of open space

\---

But I guess the REAL reason I moved is because I wanted a chance to reinvent
myself. My friends weren't helping me grow, I developed some terrible habits,
I felt "trapped", etc.. Changing cities gives me another chance to be
intentional about my time, career, and relationships.

\---

If there are any other current/future Vegas locals out there, I'd love to meet
you! Feel free to reach out with an email or DM.

~~~
bobwernstein
I just dropped my group of friends of 25 years because all they talk about is
going out drinking. Even the one that just bought a house, is married, has
small child and another one on the way. All they want is to hanh out drinking
beers. like multiple times a week. That shit ain't normal lol. And I agree,
Vegas ticks all the boxes.

------
cbzehner
I moved back to Austin, Texas when this all started. Family, breakfast tacos
and more living space were all factors.

~~~
datalus
I moved out of Austin, Texas because it's pretty awful on rent these days...
$2100 for a 1 BR in the Domain... oof.

I mostly lived around the city center in a house until the high rise condo
developers came.

~~~
batt4good
Fucking hell, I grew up in NW Hills, are those garbage Domain Apts really
$2100 for a 1Br? That's absolutely bonkers!

I like visiting Austin, but after spending time in Boston and NYC Austin is
flat out boring and self-centered.

It pains me, but for the past 2-3yrs I candidly refer to my home-town as quote
"a shittier less cool version of LA that somehow manages to try harder".

------
room500
Staying in Bay Area for now. If I move away, I am concerned that my career
progression will stagnate - not just at my current company, but also the
opportunities that would be available if I decided to switch companies.

My plan is to work here for a few more years. If the trend continues and
remote working proves itself, we are dreaming about moving to Asheville NC.
Cheaper CoL, beautiful scenery, and a microbrew scene that is awesome. Also
close-ish to Charlotte if you want to go to a "big city" for the day

~~~
sciencewolf
Same here. Staying in NYC to have access to headquarters and better tech
opportunities. If remote continues after Covid passes, the Research Triangle
sounds fun.

~~~
reaktion
I've been working in the RTP area for a few years now. There are decent tech
opportunities, relative to the lower COL. However I got bored of the area
pretty quickly - my goal is to move somewhere closer to outdoor recreation
like AVL.

------
Bedon292
If it were just me and I could go anywhere:

In US, I would get somewhere with a lot of land. Montana, ND, Wyoming,
something like that.

Outside US, Probably Norway for a while. Would also love to try out New Zeland
or SE Asia.

~~~
plessthanpt05
Montana, ND and Wyoming are pretty seriously different than Norway or New
Zealand.

~~~
Bedon292
If I am staying in the US, want somewhere with a lot of land and outdoors.
With a real winter. And affordable prices so that's just geographically what
fits the bill. Norway is for family history, and New Zealand is probably
mostly appealing because of how well they have handled the current situation.

------
eliseumds
Probably Porto, Portugal.

------
Breza
I just drove home from cleaning out my office. I'm now officially remote. I
don't plan to move. I live in Washington DC, and I found a job that would let
me stay here after graduation. The rise of remote work opens up more job
opportunities for me, but I'm staying here.

------
betocmn
Coolangatta, Queensland - Australia. World famous surf spots + easy going
lifestyle + affordable real estate by the beach.

~~~
insta_anon
Didn’t expect to read this in this thread. I was there yesterday! Are you from
Australia? Why not Gold Coast further north?

~~~
betocmn
Born in Brazil, settled in Australia. Coolangatta is a suburb from Gold Coast,
but it does feel like another city. Just a different vibe, feels like a
smaller town, with all the perks of having everything close enough. I lived in
Sydney for five years and moved here a month ago.

------
mariojv
I'm not newly remote but have been remote since pre-COVID in San Antonio,
Texas.

Relative to the Bay Area and other major Texas cities, it has a really low
cost of living. We also have great parks, great food, less traffic than
Austin, and it's only about 2 and a half hours from the beach. In non-COVID
times the social life is pretty great too.

There aren't a lot of tech companies, but there are enough jobs for me not to
worry if for some reason I couldn't do fully remote in the future.

It's generally just a laid back place to be, and I enjoy living in a place
where the cost of living is low enough that people in a variety of non-
corporate careers can do pretty well.

The only downside for me is the brutal heat, but you kind of get used to it.

~~~
HeyImAlex
I've been in San Antonio for the past 5 years and love it, even the heat. I
actually got a job in NYC and was planning to move up, but my first day was
the day they started wfh.

------
guar47
I was on Bali when it all started and I am still here :)

Indonesian government allowed to stay everyone until the end of the pandemic
even though the country is closed.

------
LowLevelOperand
Saugerties, NY (already moved). Close enough to Boston, NYC, Philly to make
day trips if necessary. Cut cost of living by 50% over where I was. Employer
has cut 75% of office space in NYC already, holding onto remainder as hot desk
space.

~~~
petersellers
I'm jealous. My in-laws live in Woodstock and I love visiting that part of NY,
especially when it's not Winter.

~~~
LowLevelOperand
It's not too bad most winters, just either have 4WD or pick a place with
minimal hills / decent plowing.

------
ilaksh
I am not who you are asking about because I went almost completely remote like
ten years ago.

I am from San Diego. It took me awhile but I eventually got the courage and
circumstances to move to Tijuana a few years ago. I couldn't really afford to
stay in the US anyway unless I got a different job.

Its a tiny startup and very low pay but I have plenty of energy on the
weekends etc. for my own projects and it's low stress. Also have the ocean a
block away and convenience store downstairs and very low rent.

If I had a real salary I would probably move back to the US though. Somewhere
that they don't turn the water off multiple times during the summer.

------
godot
I started working remote 2 years ago. Last year I moved to the Greater
Sacramento area. I grew up in the bay area and worked in SF tech cos for 10+
years before this, so I still have lots of friends and family in the bay.
Sacramento is a great balance between moving away to somewhere with more
space, less crowd, less expensive, and still being close enough to drive to
see friends and family. COVID happened soon after I moved and sheltering in
place here is much easier than the bay given that outdoors/parks etc. have so
much less crowd.

------
remarkEon
Dallas. Have friends there, wife went to college there. I'm in the PNW right
now, and I'm not really that confident that this area will manage the
recession very well. Plus home prices in Texas are way more reasonable (and
logical, imo), and no state income tax as well. Have talked to a realtor, but
kind of hard to actually see something in the current environment. If I was to
pick my dream house and location it would be a ranch in South Dakota or
something.

------
sushshshsh
Montana would be nice however my company refuses to announce any firm dates on
when we possibly might need to return to the office which makes signing a
lease troublesome

~~~
funfunfunction
Bozeman is great if you can make it happen.

~~~
sushshshsh
Only a matter of time :) Thanks for the tip, it's exactly where we're
thinking!

------
tayo42
Hawaii if flying didn't feel risky(virus) and logistics were easier. The 2
week quarantine makes a hard move harder. I'm not sure I actually want to be
in a hotel. I am "settling" lol for Santa Cruz. I really thought I wanted to
live in so cal for awhile too but watching the reactions to blm and covid
makes me second guess that. Actually made me really unsure where I might want
to live. Also thought about Florida in the future.

~~~
lefrenchy
Isn’t Florida, in most places, worse than SoCal in terms of response to BLM
and Covid?

~~~
mynegation
Your definition of “worse” may be other peoples’ definition of “better”.

~~~
kyleee
but based on tayo42's initial comment they'd probably regard FL on the "worse"
end of the spectrum. It's fair to say much of Florida is Orange County, CA on
steroids (with all of the rage and none of the potential covid prevention
benefits)

------
a_t48
I moved to a different part of SF. Around the same price for rent, bigger
space (I have a home office now!), and it's not the TL. :) I'll have added
~15min to my commute when we go back in, but the other benefits are worth it -
especially the home office, it's good to be able to separate my work space
from my relaxation space. I don't want to move extra times, and I'd rather
just lock in the ideal place now.

------
TACIXAT
No where. My partner's job only extends her remoteness every 3 months and has
made it clear that there will be no full time remote available post covid.

I honestly would not be surprised if they do layoffs at the end of the year.
I'd flip out though. Ideally, we'd like to move to Austin to save $2k per
month on rent and 13% of our salaries on state income tax.

------
apeescape
To be honest, I'd like to move back to Europe from SF. The time difference
probably makes it a bit tricky to get the Silicon Valley money from there
though. If I had to move somewhere else in the States, I might go to San Diego
or Denver. Living in the middle of nowhere just for the money doesn't sound
too enticing.

------
adamzerner
[https://nomadlist.com/](https://nomadlist.com/) is a good resource.

------
elevenoh
Vancouver BC.

3/4 of the Engineers on my team have moved to the 'west end' neighborhood in
the last couple years. And i'm now the 4th. Incredible nature w/ healthily-
managed high population density & safety. And it's incredible being in close
proximity with your team (e.g. hike/ski-meetings)

------
peteretep
Sad irony that Thailand is definitely an amazing place to relocate, but also
it's currently not letting anyone in

~~~
stephenr
That’s more of a coincidence than irony.

But as I’ve said in other threads where this comes up: Working from Thailand
_legally_ is not the easiest thing in the world, and doing it long term is
even harder.

------
BeReADY
Think about America's heartland... Montana comes to mind, after two straight
months of detailed R&D I think I put together a solid picture that make it
very clear why it called America's Heartland, its perfect.. check it out
search sidneymontanapropertyforsale.com ... #sidneymontanapropertyforsale

------
pheen
Big White mountain village in B.C., after my work confirmed I could continue
to work remotely permanently.

------
dmode
Based on a lot of responses here, Santa Cruz seems really popular.:) I bet
surfer dudes are getting a little nervous. I actually moved from a SF to a
East Bay suburb in the Bay Area, and bought home on a 0.5 acre land. Great
school, only 25 mins to SF, and all the nature

~~~
hvmonk
which suburb?

~~~
dmode
Lafayette

------
mothinx
I work in Paris where i can't really do what I enjoy the most in life :
surfing and skateboarding.

My future plan is to identify a place where I can find good dev projects, next
to skateparks and surf areas.

Any recommendations are welcome !

~~~
_kyran
Les Landes?

------
replwoacause
I started off in Austin, TX but took a job just outside of Los Angeles about 6
years ago. When the pandemic hit I couldn’t move back to Austin fast enough!
CA just wasn’t for me...

------
AIX2ESXI
Ukraine or Colombia until Summer 2021, if I can't find a good deal in So Cal.

~~~
ta17711771
What are your requirements? Any chance of staying in the US?

~~~
AIX2ESXI
Honestly just hooked on dating foreign women and want to pay $1400 for a 2
bedroom space in a quiet decent neighborhood. Born and raised in So Cal, but
feel less connected and tired of the high cost of living here. Maybe if I had
a fiancé that was willing to run the race with me, but I can't seem to connect
to local women anymore after being international the last 6 years.

------
simonbarker87
Nowhere, my friends all live here and I like the town I live in.

------
blaser-waffle
Montana, probably one of the bigger cities or nearby. Already in the region,
but would like to be closer to the mountains.

------
throwaway-blr
Haven't moved yet but I am planning. Hopefully somewhere warm where the
cold/moisture/pollen triggered allergies don't have me pinned for months every
year.

I am in Bangalore so I guess I'd be Hyderabad or Chennai. On the plus side I
will also get rid of atrocious rents and traffic of Bangalore.

1-2 year plan also involves exploring options outside India. Somewhere where
if something like COVID-19 hits again I won't need a politician's phone call,
or a powerful bureaucrat relative's clout to get even a test done (though I've
neither), let alone a hospital bed. Yeah, it's that bad here.

Maybe years/months later when real numbers come out (if it happens) the world
will see on what scale it was going on in India. Is there a word for this -
something like a genocide but not really genocide in literal sense?

[NSFW/L] [https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/andhra-pradesh-
shocker...](https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/andhra-pradesh-shocker-dogs-
found-chewing-covid-19-patient-s-corpse-hospital-130587)

------
n_f
Moving to Santa Cruz temporarily!

------
jdkee
North.

------
cl0rkster
Ask HN: Newly remote workers... Are you so dumb as to make two major life
changes at once?

~~~
cl0rkster
Ask HN: Newly remote workers... Do you work an 8 hour day and give the same
effort 5 days a week, or do you lack discipline and are going on a spending
spree... Hopefully you don't have a family

~~~
krageon
I'm sure you're trying to make a point but it's pretty well hidden under a
mountain of what I assume is supposed to be sarcasm.

------
d33lio
If by February there isn't a vaccine or I don't have a physical office I'll be
moving back to Texas and live with my parents.

It's 100% worth the money IMO, however, I've also strongly considered New
Hampshire, Utah or Nevada.

------
hprotagonist
nowhere, i like it here.

and maybe the market will normalize enough for me to be able to buy in!

