Tips needed for how to handel the possibility of a big move.

So last week I applied for a job in Utah. That is a long way away from Milwaukee. I was super excited about the job until I started focusing on leaving everyone & everything I know behind (well not my cats, they will make the move if it happens). The thing is I have no idea if I even have a chance at this job. I'm so freaked out about how certain friends & family will react I'm focusing on the scary part of moving. Maybe this is normal, but it seems like I should still be excited about the possibilities. I just applied for the job last week Thursday. I guess maybe it's because I've always lived in this area. Any positive thought & advice about how to deal with this would be great! Thanks

In 2006 I moved about 2200 miles away from my family and friends (3500 km) in order to join the lab I most wanted to complete my PhD in....I was really worried at the time. But I can tell you for real: its not that bad. Sure, your face time with family/friends will be greatly decreased, but Ive found my contact is still frequent and of a much higher quality being away. When I do go home for visits, none of the drama exists, because everyone is happy and excited to catch up etc. There are cheap long distance phone plans. There is the internet, and snail mail becomes a real treat, and a good way for you to reach out to friends and let them know you are truly thinking about them (vs just habitually spending time with them). I had a fantastic opportunity to come out west, and I dont regret it one bit. Also, nothing has to be "forever": after a couple of years if you have been unable to adjust, you can move back/elsewhere. Manytoes flew over with me, and he was just fine. AND, you will make new friends that you would have no chance of meeting home in Milwaukee, always good to expand your circles. good luck with the job

Originally Posted by Rang_27

So last week I applied for a job in Utah. That is a long way away from Milwaukee. I was super excited about the job until I started focusing on leaving everyone & everything I know behind (well not my cats, they will make the move if it happens). The thing is I have no idea if I even have a chance at this job. I'm so freaked out about how certain friends & family will react I'm focusing on the scary part of moving. Maybe this is normal, but it seems like I should still be excited about the possibilities. I just applied for the job last week Thursday. I guess maybe it's because I've always lived in this area. Any positive thought & advice about how to deal with this would be great! Thanks

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Wow! How exciting!!

I went through this last year when I got a job offer from a company in Utah. I lived in Maryland/worked in DC for the last 10 years (originally from Utah but moved to DC for school and ended up working at that university after graduating). This company contacted me after I was interviewed for a PR success story and convinced me to fly to Utah for a job interview even though I was very happy with my job and wasn't looking for a new job and basically was told at the end of the interview that I had the job! It was a very difficult decision for me to make since I loved living in DC/MD, worked at the university for the deaf (only university in the world for the deaf) and really enjoyed my job. However, I realized I was ready for a change, new challenges, etc and it'd be nice to be near family and old friends again (AND how often is it that the EMPLOYER WANTS YOU to work for them??) so I accepted the job. I had 3 weeks between the job offer and the move so it was a very hectic time for me. I worked the last 2 weeks at the university, then focused on packing.. I packed up everything and drove all the way from MD to Utah with 6 cats piled up in my car and my sister who flew in to help me with the move. It took me 3 days and 2 nights. It was a exciting and stressful move for me!

My advice to you as based on my experience with the move-

take all cats to the vet, get updated shots, etc and have them microchipped.

If your cats don't wear collars, get them used to it NOW (my cats don't wear collars but starting a week or two before the move, I put collars on them so they'd be used to it by the time of the move)

get some drowsy pills for cats just in case

map out the route you'll take and pet-friendly hotels on the way. I learned this the hard way since I reserved several hotels on the way that were pet friendly but since i left late, it meant I wasn't able to get to the right hotel in time so I ended up cancelling all reservations. My brother reserved new hotels and forgot to reserve pet-friendly hotels so I ended up having to sneak 6 cats in. I didn't sleep good at all since my sister kept waking me up in the middle of night saying she could hear the cats meowing and was worried that the neighbors would hear so I had to get up and hunt down all the cats and check them out before going back to bed. This happened several times per night! I was not caught luckily BUT I did get a bill later on from one hotel saying they knew I had cats because of litter pieces found in that room and due to this, they were charging me for the extra cleaning of that room. So be sure to identify petfriendly hotels on the way (have backup ready!)

Check the room before you let cats out of the carriers and make sure there are no hiding places they can get to that you cannot get to.

Be prepared to deal with irate cats- first night, one of my cats who is normally mellow FREAKED out and kept beating on other cats so I had to keep him in the carrier all night but after that he was fine besides growling a lot.

We all survived the move AND two more moves in town before settling into our new home which I just bought and moved into!

Feel free to post any questions you have and I'll try my best to answer.

Good luck and I hope you do get the job and move to Utah. It's a beautiful place..

Very good advice so far. I have moved halfway across the country with my cats twice, and several times state to state.
Once you get to your hotel, make sure you have everything you need, food, drinks, cat supplies, clothes, so you do not have to open your door again until everyone is back in their carriers and ready to go. I learned this the hard way when a very freaked out Fred escaped and had me crawling around under a semi with a flashlight at 4 a.m. No fun, especially when someone saw me and called the police. Thankfully Fred came out about then so I could prove I was only looking for my escaped cat.