Considering moving away from area that we love to be closer to family
Hi!
I am really struggling with a dilemma. 3 years ago my husband and I moved away from the San Francisco Bay Area to upstate New York. My husband went to college nearby so we had some friends here already upon moving.
However, we have zero family around. My in-laws are 6 hours away by car and my family is in CA about 3 hours away from where we lived in the Bay Area. This wasn’t a concern the first few years being here.
But we had a baby this year and I am suddenly feeling major regret about moving here. My mom has visited several times and each time I am devastated when she leaves. I long to have a village and I feel guilty to my baby for not allowing him the opportunity to grow up around family and cousins and see them more than a few times a year. My grandparents are still alive and I would love my baby to have a relationship with them.
The idea of moving to be near my family (3 hours from where we moved from 3 years ago) keeps crossing my mind. It is a much higher cost of living than where we currently live, but we would be able to make it work comfortably. It is much more suburban than where we live currently and less walkable but the schools are significantly better and there is less crime. We both have remote jobs which would make moving easier. I have a few friends in the area from growing up there but we would have to work to create a circle of friends similar to what we have now.
When we moved we agreed if we hated it we could always move back. But I really do love where we currently live and although where my family lives is very nice, if they did not live there, I wouldn’t consider moving back. I have put the idea out there for family to move closer to us, but it is not an option. I worry that if we do end up moving back, we will be bored in suburbia and will regret it in 10 years. I want to make sure o think this through and it’s not the postpartum hormones talking. Has anyone been through something similar?
Thanks!