Close to moving from Boston to San Diego!

[ChrisCst22]

San Diego has all of he same issues other big cities have, traffic, crime, very expensive and a different culture than you are used to living in in Boston. Don't kid yourself, the reason to move to San Diego is the weather! It varies about two degrees summer to winter, never really hot or humid and cool ocean breezes, very little rain and no snow which is great. Any job prospects lined up? that is a huge question. The Boston market seems pretty hot right now.

Oh I know San Diego isn't this magical kingdom where it takes fifteen minutes to get anywhere. I've been there before, and I loved it! Of course being on vacation and living in are two entirely different things.

As far as expensive goes, I'm finding it much, much easier to find things in my price range than what's available out here. I plug in my filters to various rental sites, and I'm getting about a dozen per town (La Mesa, Spring Valley, La Jolla). I take those same filters to pretty much the entire greater Boston area, and I get NOTHING. Seriously, there is a signficant increase in pricing comparing the two.

I do have a job lined up, I've worked with Guitar Center (please be gentle) for over 10 years, and I'm transferring to one of their busiest locations in La Mesa. My brother is waiting to get a job until he gets there, which is proving to make getting an apartment a little more difficult. We'll make it work, fingers crossed.

If I have to go homeless, I'll be the bum under the bridge with the hollowbody and mesa half stack.

 

[garrett]

Sounds like you guys are on it! In 2008, my wife and I moved to Australia from Florida with our 9 month old daughter. No jobs, no home, no family or friends. That was an adventure!

Good that you're keeping your job. You may have to take a smaller (or crappier) apartment than you'd prefer at first since your bro isn't employed, but that would only be temporary. You'll have time to explore and find the place you want to settle in. When I moved overseas, it was stressful convincing rental agents to lease to us with no jobs. We got in by showing evidence we had months of living expenses in the account, but that might not fly in America.

Enjoy the adventure! I'm sure the culture will be quite a bit different from Boston. I haven't been to SD, but in LA and SF this southern boy felt soooo out of place. It's very interesting to move around a bit and experience life in different areas. Even though it's the same country, you may be surprised at how different life will be.

 

[ChrisCst22]

Sounds like you guys are on it! In 2008, my wife and I moved to Australia from Florida with our 9 month old daughter. No jobs, no home, no family or friends. That was an adventure!

Good that you're keeping your job. You may have to take a smaller (or crappier) apartment than you'd prefer at first since your bro isn't employed, but that would only be temporary. You'll have time to explore and find the place you want to settle in. When I moved overseas, it was stressful convincing rental agents to lease to us with no jobs. We got in by showing evidence we had months of living expenses in the account, but that might not fly in America.

Enjoy the adventure! I'm sure the culture will be quite a bit different from Boston. I haven't been to SD, but in LA and SF this southern boy felt soooo out of place. It's very interesting to move around a bit and experience life in different areas. Even though it's the same country, you may be surprised at how different life will be.

Thanks Garrett for the encouraging story. A part of me does believe I'll be OK. I know other people have done it with a lot less resources than I have. But as you know very, very well, it's easy to start building immense anxiety. "What if I hate it?" "What if I regret it?" "Am I making the right choice?".

It's funny that I have a job already, my brother does not, yet he is cool as a cucumber and I'm the one extremely stressed out. He's having a good time making fun of me.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Flash back to high school.....finger down the throat so you can have more booze. That helps get rid of the moz sticks, thereby cutting calories.

My new dietician.

A part of me does believe I'll be OK. I know other people have done it with a lot less resources than I have. But as you know very, very well, it's easy to start building immense anxiety. "What if I hate it?" "What if I regret it?" "Am I making the right choice?".

If you hate it, move back. You won't regret taking a chance and having an adventure, at the very least you'll enjoy pumping gas in a short sleeve shirt in February and you never would've gotten to meet that girl you're hooking up with back in Boston.

 

[tabl10s]

After four months of planning (and at least four years of wanting to) on Sept 23rd my brother and I are packing up and driving to live in the San Diego area!

I'm psyched, I'm excited, I'm freaking out, I'm on the cusp of absolutely losing my mind, but it's all good.

I've lived here in Boston all of my 31 years. I....never have said I love Boston. I actually hate the place and always have. There's some great things about it for sure. But the traffic sucks, it smells like ass, and there's so many creepy jerks running around.

We've almost got everything planned out. We're taking my ten year old cat, Miller High Life (thats his name) and Miller High Life (the beer). We're renting a 16 foot Penske moving truck to take my two half stacks and tons of various guitar gear, as well as two sets of beds and bedroom sets, a couch and a few tables.

The one thing we still haven't done is found an apartment. It's a little difficult because a lot of the places I'm calling really want to meet us in person or have a laundry list of things they need from us just to see if we approved or denied. Anyone have experiences you can share with doing this? Luckily we have more than enough money saved up (about 20k) that we can use should we need to rent storage space while we stay in a hotel before we can find something there. That sounds like a plan right?

...I am so screwed, but I know it's going to be great.

Never lived there, but used to go every year for a weeks vacation via the Air Force. Downtown ain't s t as it's about six blocks wide. Being that it's right by the water, it gets cold at night and the base had its share of jerks with trainees on one side and active personnel on the other.

On the plus side, Mexico is a train-ride away, the zoo is up the hill and there's is a large guitar shop downtown.

 

[G-Man]

Sounds like a plan! Good luck. When you get there, check out the gas light area. Used to be really cool nightlife.

 

[garrett]

Thanks Garrett for the encouraging story. A part of me does believe I'll be OK. I know other people have done it with a lot less resources than I have. But as you know very, very well, it's easy to start building immense anxiety. "What if I hate it?" "What if I regret it?" "Am I making the right choice?".

It's funny that I have a job already, my brother does not, yet he is cool as a cucumber and I'm the one extremely stressed out. He's having a good time making fun of me.

Sergio has the right outlook. If you think of at it as a life experience, you won't regret it even if you hate it there and move back. You'd appreciate Boston that much more. Or, find a new place to try. Give it two years, minimum.

I can relate to the dynamic you have. It was my idea to move overseas, but I balked at actually MOVING. So many unknowns. My wife totally pushed us along to have faith and take the chance. And, two years later, who pushed us back to the States? SHE DID. :laugh: But Atlanta was totally new to us and it has worked out great, so I can't argue the results! :top:

 

[ChrisCst22]

If you hate it, move back. You won't regret taking a chance and having an adventure, at the very least you'll enjoy pumping gas in a short sleeve shirt in February and you never would've gotten to meet that girl you're hooking up with back in Boston.

Thanks for the advice Serg. I don't know you that well, but your obviously a good dude. Hit me up if your ever in the SD area.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Right on, Chris! Keep us posted on the move.

 

[John Beef]

San Diego is great! Love it there.

 

[alantig]

My new dietician.

No - you have to use your own finger! :top:

 

[tip]

SD is great. I would target North County. Carlsbad to Del Mar.
When I was 19 I knew I had to move out, growing up in Torrance, CA. I chose San Diego after dozens of great trips ( 2 hour drive South).
I saved for a year, 3$ an hour at a fry fast food joint, well I saved $1,300 (This was 1974).

I was on my way to Leucadia. But that summer I was driving around and a friend of mine showed me Santa Barbara. ( 2 hour drive North ).
Well I changed my mind. 09-07-1976 I turned 21 also coinciding with my first day in SB and my first day at SBCC.
And my first brown Heineken at 7 am on the way. BTW: Back then you had to wait in lines for your classes. All day lineups. While in line I met several long time friends and a great girl friend, too.

Back then there was no traffic in San Diego. It was heaven. Except the Sunday afternoon summer crawl back to LA. But by the late 70's the place grew too much for the 405. Now there's traffic.

Go For It!
But this winter when you email your friends that are making love to their furnace, hold back your sheepish joy.
You will be probably coming back from a insane out door gig, or some physical activity.

Hold your opinion because they will tell you your paying a lot for the weather.
Consequently if you say to many glowing things about all the beauty and activities they could be depressed.

And you will now be, what I have been for 60 years, perceived as a So Cal jerk.

 

[CVS]

After four months of planning (and at least four years of wanting to) on Sept 23rd my brother and I are packing up and driving to live in the San Diego area!

I'm psyched, I'm excited, I'm freaking out, I'm on the cusp of absolutely losing my mind, but it's all good.

I've lived here in Boston all of my 31 years. I....never have said I love Boston. I actually hate the place and always have. There's some great things about it for sure. But the traffic sucks, it smells like ass, and there's so many creepy jerks running around.

We've almost got everything planned out. We're taking my ten year old cat, Miller High Life (thats his name) and Miller High Life (the beer). We're renting a 16 foot Penske moving truck to take my two half stacks and tons of various guitar gear, as well as two sets of beds and bedroom sets, a couch and a few tables.

The one thing we still haven't done is found an apartment. It's a little difficult because a lot of the places I'm calling really want to meet us in person or have a laundry list of things they need from us just to see if we approved or denied. Anyone have experiences you can share with doing this? Luckily we have more than enough money saved up (about 20k) that we can use should we need to rent storage space while we stay in a hotel before we can find something there. That sounds like a plan right?

...I am so screwed, but I know it's going to be great.

I live 40 miles north of San Diego in a beach town - San Clemente and have spent a lot of time in San Diego. It is a great city with lots to do & experience. The weather is the best in the country if you live within 3 miles of the ocean. There is plenty of good music to hear, get involved with etc. If you like outdoors, you will love this town as you can do most outdoor activities almost every day of the year.

The only downsides that I can see are it is an expensive city to live in (apartment rents and real estate are very expensive), there is a lot of traffic to deal with, and utilities including gas for your car are expensive.

San Diego is a big city. Have you decided which part of San Diego you want to live in? As a general rule, the closer you get to the beach, the higher the cost (especially true for apartment rentals).

I hope things work out for you.

 

[ChrisCst22]

Just wanted to update on my move.

Well here we are. My brother and I are living in Spring Valley, CA. Right outside of San Diego. The trip went fairly well, it was a fun drive. And we got the apartment we were hoping for, and right on the day we needed to move in. So really everything went well.

I am having an extremely difficult time with homesickness and depression. This is such a huge change for me and I am having a tough time dealing with it. The weather is great, the area seems nice enough though somewhat rundown in some places. It's definitely a more ethnic diverse area than I'm used to. Which is fine.

One of the hardest things to deal with is not being able to play my amps. I haven't played guitar in nearly 3 weeks. I miss it so dearly. Living in the house I was in, I could be as loud as I wanted and play along to my favorite artists. Can't do that here. I plan on picking up a Mesa Cab Clone soon, and will try to plug my Mesas directly into a mixer and try playing on headphones. Hopefully that will be adequte enough for me to start playing again.

Anyway. I miss my house. I miss my friends. I really didn't understand how hard this was going to be because you can't until you've done it. We signed a year lease, which then goes month to month. We are going to give it the year. If we don't feel like it's working out, then back to Boston we go. I'd most likely have to move into another apartment so it wouldn't really solve the guitar playing issue, but we'll see what happens.

 

[Blues Trucker]

Blackstar HT5R or HT1R. You should be able to get a good price on one with your GC discount.
Work hard and get promoted. I am planning on moving back eventually, and I might need a job.

 

[alantig]

Glad to hear you got there safely.

+1 on the Cab Clone - but you won't need a mixer right away to play w/headphones. You can plug them directly into the Cab Clone. The only drawback is no volume control.

The homesickness will pass, but until it does, it really sucks. At least you have someone there to help you go through it.

Hang in there, brother!

 

[bodia]

The homesickness will pass, but until it does, it really sucks. At least you have someone there to help you go through it. Hang in there, brother!

+1 on this. I moved from Iowa to Chicago when I was 20. Had the same feelings. I wouldn't play in front of my roommate because I was self conscious about my playing. This was back in the 80s, so I went the Rockman route. It helped. But, the homesickness was a *****. Granted, I was just 3 hours from home. I could drive back on Friday night and get up early Monday morning and drive back in time to be at work by 8:00. Here's the thing though, I eventually got tired of driving back home to hang out with my buds and do the same old thing we always did. It just wasn't that enriching. Actually, I began to find it rather stifling. That's when things started to turn the corner. I realized I could do the same things I always did here, with a new set of friends. Not that I turned my back on those I cherished, but I quickly found out who my real friends were.

No doubt, it's a tough transition, but hang in there. If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger. Life lessons can suck ass, but they're worth their weight in gold.

Good luck, and best wishes!!!!!

 

[CVS]

Chriscst,

Thanks for the update. I had never been west of the Hudson River before I moved to Ca with my parents in 1976 after I graduated from college with no job. (Yes I am old). I also moved to Germany with my family for 3 years when I was about 40 years old. I can relate to the feelings you are experiencing. They are natural. All I can say is stay as busy as you can and try to join groups of people who have similar interests as you and you will meet more people and form new friendships. You will also meet people at work.

Excluding this past September when we had what felt like the hottest September on record, you now live in a great place to do things outside (walk, run, bike, surf, golf, tennis, swim etc.) as well as musically.

Enjoy the journey.

FYI - The month of October can feature some very hot dry days (and brush fires - courtesy of Santa Ana winds) - be on the lookout...

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Are you working at GC? If you are, just roll up there and get loud! I mean, everybody else does.

As for the depression and homesickness, I'd get a Tinder account and/or a part-time job at a coffee shop... Man, I met so many people working at a coffee joint.

 

[garrett]

Just wanted to update on my move.

Well here we are. My brother and I are living in Spring Valley, CA. Right outside of San Diego. The trip went fairly well, it was a fun drive. And we got the apartment we were hoping for, and right on the day we needed to move in. So really everything went well.

I am having an extremely difficult time with homesickness and depression. This is such a huge change for me and I am having a tough time dealing with it. The weather is great, the area seems nice enough though somewhat rundown in some places. It's definitely a more ethnic diverse area than I'm used to. Which is fine.

One of the hardest things to deal with is not being able to play my amps. I haven't played guitar in nearly 3 weeks. I miss it so dearly. Living in the house I was in, I could be as loud as I wanted and play along to my favorite artists. Can't do that here. I plan on picking up a Mesa Cab Clone soon, and will try to plug my Mesas directly into a mixer and try playing on headphones. Hopefully that will be adequte enough for me to start playing again.

Anyway. I miss my house. I miss my friends. I really didn't understand how hard this was going to be because you can't until you've done it. We signed a year lease, which then goes month to month. We are going to give it the year. If we don't feel like it's working out, then back to Boston we go. I'd most likely have to move into another apartment so it wouldn't really solve the guitar playing issue, but we'll see what happens.

You'll get there, trust me. The first few months are the hardest. Once you make a couple of friends, things get better fast. Head out to some jams to meet some other music dudes. Tinder is probably a good call, from what I know about it. You have to get out in this new world, regardless of how.

Apartment living sucks as far as amps, that's for sure! I got into using sims and headphones. It was a hard transition, but one of those things you get used to. Amp sims are so good now, it's ridiculous. I still go that route nowadays if I want to play after the kiddo goes to bed.