How far are you moving?

[Boxsterluv]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey, I'm curious about how many of us are making a big (or small) move to go to vet school... Are you going across the country or just a few states, how are you getting there, anybody going with you, are you nervous? What obstacles do you foresee?

My own answer, I am moving from Tennessee to California, a whopping 2200 miles! My boyfriend and I are driving a rental truck and towing my car behind us.. We think this will take about 4 days; it should be an adventure in itself! I'm nervous about being away from my family and about the cost of living out there, but am really excited about living in a new place and seeing how different the culture is out there compared to where I live now..

What about you?!

 

[birdvet2006]

Hey, I'm curious about how many of us are making a big (or small) move to go to vet school... Are you going across the country or just a few states, how are you getting there, anybody going with you, are you nervous? What obstacles do you foresee?

My own answer, I am moving from Tennessee to California, a whopping 2200 miles! My boyfriend and I are driving a rental truck and towing my car behind us.. We think this will take about 4 days; it should be an adventure in itself! I'm nervous about being away from my family and about the cost of living out there, but am really excited about living in a new place and seeing how different the culture is out there compared to where I live now..

What about you?!

Well, I'm moving umpteen thousand miles to get AWAY from vet school. 🙂 Glasgow, Scotland to Sacramento, California. I'm going to try and get most everything in my luggage, and hopefully my parents' luggage (if I am able to participate in the graduation ceremony). I have shipped a couple of boxes home already (to So. CA) and it was real expensive, so I hope not to do much more of that.

The plan is to get everything ot So. CA, then take a car/truck trip up north with all my stuff (and a bed, and a sofa...and a bird cage and...).

 

[lazyjayn]

I'm already here, so maybe I don't count for this, but I did about 1800 miles from laramie, wy to charleston, sc (to dump my crap, do the family bonding thing) then... um... 10,000? something like that, to this little ach... arche... archepalgo? close enough. anyway, this island chain hanging off the bottom of the earth.

 

[eaglemeag]

I'm already here, so maybe I don't count for this, but I did about 1800 miles from laramie, wy to charleston, sc (to dump my crap, do the family bonding thing) then... um... 10,000? something like that, to this little ach... arche... archepalgo? close enough. anyway, this island chain hanging off the bottom of the earth.

I'm originally from Roanoke, VA and will be heading up to North Grafton, MA for Tufts... that's about 700 miles. I've spent the past four years in Rock Hill, SC--about 220 miles / 3.5 hour drive--for undergrad, so I am a born 'n' [corn]bred Southerner. Getting used to Yankee ways will definitely be a culture shock, I think! I've never been so far from home and I still get homesick from time to time so I'm not sure how I'm going to manage this one. I think the fact that I will have to leave my 2 dogs at home in VA will probably be the worst, especially since my older dog, the apple of my eye, is 12yo and nearing the end of her days 🙁

Birdvet and lazyjay, how did you guys get used to being so far away? Were you too busy to notice? I'm worried about feeling really lonely and homesick for familliar faces more than anything, since I won't know anybody. Also, despite being friendly and willing, I have a hard time making friends right off the bat. Did you guys find that you bonded with your classmates soon after starting, or did it take a while? This is a really lame post but I need all the help I can get...

 

[lazyjayn]

Oh man, used to being here?

bwa ha ha ha ha!!!!! (you're trying to make me fall off my chair and cough, aren't you)

I've been here a whopping, like, 2 and a half months. The first month and a half was great. This last month? Well, let's just say that it's a good thing that I got bored and started 3 blogs, 'cause if all the whiney homesick posts were on one, I'd be the whiniest, wimpiest, complainingest person I know. Worse than a man with a cold.

How am I getting over it? I'm trying to make friends here (tough, I'm not actually *in* the dratted program yet, still in the preselection part, and I'm a good 10 years older than most of the NZ kid- er, students), but I'm about as shy as it's possible to be and still be as obnoxious as I have to be to be accepted as not a changeling by my very loud extended family.

And I talk to friends/ family online, and I force myself to spend time in the common room. And on top of all that, I get those guilt inducing phone calls, IM's, e-mails from everyone I know, and everyone my parents know, and... yeah, about how great it is that I'm not afraid of moving so far away, to such a backward place, etc (I sometimes wonder where these people think I've gone- I've been asked if there's electricity here... 😕 ).

Just talked to my dad about this this morning, actually. It's amazing how much different a place can be, but still use the same language. Still think I'd feel better, and settle better if someone would just tell me

"ya know, j. (or jack, or bob, or maybe even my real (girly) name), it's ok to give up and come home, if you really don't like it there, or come back and visit during your semester break." (followed by offer to buy me the ticket)

There's so freaking much pressure from being over here, and it just gets worse with people being all proud and crap. And it doesn't help having my usual method of blowing off steam, taking my car for long fast late-night drives over swishy roads, not work here- I have no car, and the roads really weren't designed for speed. oh, yeah, and they put everything in the "wrong" spot. Even the driver. and the stick shift. Do they have any idea how long it took me to figure out shifting from the left side of the car? and now they want me to figure it out from the other? crazies.

Meh, I'm freaking wordy tonight. Must be the jack and coke. Or the malaria fever is coming back. Or both.

j.

glady accepting all donations of hot guys bearing decent pizza (bud beer, doritos, bagels...) and talking like home (any- CA, WY, NY, SC- I'm an equal opportunity kinda movin' girl)

 

[tygris]

I'm worried about feeling really lonely and homesick for familliar faces more than anything, since I won't know anybody. Also, despite being friendly and willing, I have a hard time making friends right off the bat. Did you guys find that you bonded with your classmates soon after starting, or did it take a while? This is a really lame post but I need all the help I can get...

I'm so glad you've said this because as silly as it may sound, I thought I was the only one feeling this way! Which when I think about it of course can't be true since so many of us are in the same boat... I just haven't done the whole move-to-new-city and start-new-life and make-new-friends thing since I started undergrad six years ago. And I fear that going to a whole new place, being older now and being around people who are also older and may not necessarily be looking to make new friends - all is quite scary. Plus I feel like I'm one of the only women that isn't MARRIED. Again, I know that's silly, but there seems to be a lot of married folks going to vet school and I'm nowhere close so then I fear I will be even MORE alone...
See, now you're certainly not the only one feeling lame and irrational fears I'm sure everyone else is, even the married folks.
My biggest issue is that I can't stand the thought of living alone, I feel like I would go NUTS if I never had anyone to talk to, especially if it will take a little while to start 'bonding' with classmates. But I can't find a friggn' roommate because I'm allergic to cats and everyone has cats! 🙁
Oh well... I'm sure everything will work out for all of us, just try to remember (and I will do the same) that there are many who are in the same boat!

Oh, and to keep with the theme of the post... I'm originally from Rochester, NY and currently live in Cleveland, OH. I will be moving to East Lansing, MI. My lease in Cleveland ends at the end of June, and I won't be living in Michigan until mid-August... so my moves involve a 3.5 hour drive to Michigan from Cleveland to drop off all my major furniture and most of my stuff (at my future apartment? at a storage facility? who knows!!), then the ~6 hour drive (through Canada!) back to Rochester from Michigan. Living with my folk for a month and a half - yay for my mother making me dinner every night! - and then driving the ~6 hours back to Michigan. Phew!

 

[holdencaulfield]

I'm moving from Perkasie, PA to North Grafton, MA for Tufts...I had a HECK of a time deciding between Colorado State and Tufts and then it just hit me that the distance was a big deal for me. I went away to NYU for freshman year and then transferred to a school closer to home. I am really close with my family and my animals, so it will be rough. Initially I wanted to live alone but now it looks like my best friend will be moving up with me to work in Boston, and this makes me much less stressed for the move. Plus I'm bringing one of my dogs and one of my cats with me. It's going to take a lot getting used to, but it's about time I really officially moved out of the house. 🙂

Eaglemeag, pm me if you want to chat and begin bonding as classmates early on

 

[Quaggi]

I'll be travelling from northern NJ to North grafton, which i think is about 4 hrs, but I've been living in ithaca for the past 4 years, and that's where i'll be leaving the bf behind 🙁 but even though i may have a few 5 hour drives ahead of me to ithaca next semester, i think tufts will be awesome! can't wait to meet you eaglemeag and holdencaulfield 😀

 

[eaglemeag]

can't wait to meet you eaglemeag and holdencaulfield

Same here! We'll definitely have to get together for coffee or something (whatever it is that poor vet students do) before classes start. And bitch about how homesick we are

You guys can find me on AIM as PeaceLveVB. I'm not a big fan of MySpace, but I do have one since everybody else seems to like using it... It's here. Feel free to contact me whenever... it may take me a while (finals start this week!) but I'll be sure to get back to you.

It's going to take a lot getting used to, but it's about time I really officially moved out of the house.

That's how I feel too. I've lived in a dorm ever since starting undergrad, and I'm itching to have my own place now. I hate to leave my home in VA behind, but I'm 22 years old and it's time to move on, you know?

Plus I feel like I'm one of the only women that isn't MARRIED.

Tygris, OMG, me too! All of my undergrad friends are getting married and it's INSANE. I have no desire to get married -- especially not during vet school! But it's still strange to see people the same age as me becoming real live grown-ups while I'm still technically "in school". And it'll be even weirder to have classmates in the same boat in vet school.

My biggest issue is that I can't stand the thought of living alone, I feel like I would go NUTS if I never had anyone to talk to, especially if it will take a little while to start 'bonding' with classmates. But I can't find a friggn' roommate because I'm allergic to cats and everyone has cats!

Oh no!! Good luck with that one! I agree with you though... As much as I like having my own space both in the dorm and at home (I'm an only child), I can't imagine living by myself and not having anyone to talk to. I really hope I end up with a roommate I really enjoy living with!

lazyj, thanks for your comically verbose reply. I don't know about everyone else but I found it amusing

 

[PAThbrd]

I am moving about 60 miles from Doylestown, Pa to Philadelphia. The Philly campus is about an hour from my house and New Bolton Center is about 1 1/2 hrs. After being 700 miles from home for undergrad, Im looking forward to being able to run home every now and then 🙂

 

[adie313]

Well, my situation is a little different than some I guess. I grew up in Southern Illinois and then right after I graduated from high school, my mom moved to Florida. But I attended undergrad in Southeast Missouri. I've been accepted to the University of Illinois so I will be moving there in the fall. Most of my stuff is going to be stored at my brothers for the summer but I have no furniture there. I have lived on campus for all four years of undergrad so I wouldn't have to deal with finding an apartment, moving all of my stuff, finding a job, etc.

So my challenge is that I have to find a decent apartment that is furnished and maybe roommates in a similar situation as me that wouldn't mind having to pay a little more for a furnished place.

I'm a little freaked out about moving even further away from home than I already am. I think for me though, it stems more from the fact that I will actually be responsible for paying for rent every month. I've become so spoiled not having to deal with that. However, I am done with dorm living. I miss having my animals with me.

 

[birdvet2006]

Birdvet and lazyjay, how did you guys get used to being so far away? Were you too busy to notice? I'm worried about feeling really lonely and homesick for familliar faces more than anything, since I won't know anybody. Also, despite being friendly and willing, I have a hard time making friends right off the bat. Did you guys find that you bonded with your classmates soon after starting, or did it take a while? This is a really lame post but I need all the help I can get...

Well, I'd been living with my parents at home all throughout my 4 years of undergrad. So I felt it was "time to move on"! You know how you can get into fights with your parents at times (with me, it's my dad). During undergrad, I was busy working as a vet tech and to me work was a second home. I loved it there. Outside of that, I had a couple of friends - but in general, I didn't really "go out" and all that (and still don't to this day, hardly ever that is...). Yeah, I know: I'm a nerd.

It was a shocker when I came over here to Glasgow (I'd never been *this* far!) and then my mom left...as in, flew home to California. I was stuck in a residence hall, tiny little room - and I didn't even have the Internet for a few weeks. Luckily, my nextdoor neighbour happened to be from Florida and was in a similar predicament - and she was far more outgoing than me and came right over and wanted to talk. So I had a friend! Then I made a few more friends and I felt OK after a week or two. I'm not one to make friends fast, either - but since we were all so far away from home, it wasn't such a problem.

I still do talk to my family twice per week and I e-mail them every day. If I stop e-mailing them, they think I'm dead or something (and vice versa). So even though I am way out here "in the middle of a different world" (in American thinking), I do keep in touch with the "real world". 🙂

At this point, it doesn't bother me at all if I never go home. *This* is my home now. I do miss my pets though, and like to go home to see them (haha, more than to see my parents!).

 

[VetGirlLilRhody]

Hey Guys!

I'm moving from Rhode Island to Michigan. I believe it'll take 12 hours of driving, or one connecting flight via Ohio. I've lived in tiny little RI my entire life (I'm 22 and still at URI finishing my undergrad program) and you can easily drive from one end to the other in 45min. Michigan's going to be quite a change.

It is kinda funny that you could be 22 or 50 in vet school. When I went on my interview I was the youngest person there, which was weird. There were married men and women there, some with children! How diverse can you get! I like that, though. I think that it's an amazing way to meet new and different people.

Anyways, big move. Yikes. I'm ready.

 

[wishes]

I am moving from Washington State to New York so pretty much all the way across the country, Yikes!
Actually, I am just now getting over culture shock from moving from Alaska to Washington State four years ago, and I am finally starting to have a great group of friends here so I am very sad to leave 🙁.
Plus I am trying to move my whole household of pets.

Plus I feel like I'm one of the only women that isn't MARRIED. Again, I know that's silly, but there seems to be a lot of married folks going to vet school and I'm nowhere close so then I fear I will be even MORE alone...
See, now you're certainly not the only one feeling lame and irrational fears I'm sure everyone else is, even the married folks.

Funny you should say this. I am married and I am feeling like it just makes moving a million times more stressful, even though my husband is awesome. My husband has to give up/radically alter his job, we have to sell our house here and we are in the process of buying another one in NY, plus I think it is harder to make friends because so many people think it is awkward to hang around with a "married couple" and I often choose to come home and spend the few spare minutes of the day I have with my husband rather than hanging out with friends or going to social events.

So there you go. Don't feel too bad for not being married 🙂.

Anyway, I am excited for vet school, as we all should be, so New York here I come!!

 

[HorseyVet]

Funny you should say this. I am married and I am feeling like it just makes moving a million times more stressful, even though my husband is awesome. My husband has to give up/radically alter his job, we have to sell our house here and we are in the process of buying another one in NY, plus I think it is harder to make friends because so many people think it is awkward to hang around with a "married couple" and I often choose to come home and spend the few spare minutes of the day I have with my husband rather than hanging out with friends or going to social events.
[/QUOTE]

You're lucky though....I'm virtually married (we probably would be if I had more than five minutes a week to yeild to the relationship) and b/c my boyfriend is in technology and since where I'm going is somewhat sans-technology he probably isn't moving with me. Getting into vet school was for me partly the best and worse day of my life.

I'm 100% done with roomates no matter who they are....so I'm starting to get a little concerned about the lonliness factor....plus who's going wash those dishes...

 

[eaglemeag]

so I'm starting to get a little concerned about the lonliness factor....plus who's going wash those dishes...

I'm more worried about who's going to pay the other half of the rent

 

[stinyexoticvet]

There's so freaking much pressure from being over here, and it just gets worse with people being all proud and crap. And it doesn't help having my usual method of blowing off steam, taking my car for long fast late-night drives over swishy roads, not work here- I have no car, and the roads really weren't designed for speed. oh, yeah, and they put everything in the "wrong" spot. Even the driver. and the stick shift. Do they have any idea how long it took me to figure out shifting from the left side of the car? and now they want me to figure it out from the other? crazies.


I know exactly what you mean. It seems like others are saying...well, if you took the giant step to go there...then you better finish it. Especially for me...I have so many student loans now it is ridiculous...so there is no way possible to give up and just go back....

When I first moved here to Australia from California, I went from one winter into the next...a little depressing. To top it off I was going through a tough break up at home...but was not even there for it. I knew nobody, had no car, did not have my dog...I had nothing. I did not feel right about complaining about it because everyone made it sound so great...I WAS IN AUSTRALIA...there is nothing I could complain about.

But you do find yourself missing the "familiarity of your surroundings." I do find myself homesick...why I dont know, but I do...I am so glad I am not the only one...I know I could be in a much worse place...but it still feels like I do not belong sometimes...who knows where I belong...I sure dont...

And driving with a stick on the other side of the road has been an adventure, but I think I got the hang of it now 🙂

-Christina
Murdoch 2009

 

[lazyjayn]

Christina-

Exactly- "why are you complaining??! you're in NZ! it's so cool over there!!!"

And it is, honestly, but... sometimes a girl just wants some Taco Bell, ya know?

And the lack of doggie goodness is really starting to get to me. I had just about talked my mother into letting me take her problem pup, then in Dec I was petting him and checked the lymph nodes in his neck (we had a dog with lymphoma before, you just kinda get hooked on checking them) and there they were, all big and... yeah. He was a bad boy.

So I'm starting the hunt for a place I can have a dog, and all the stuff that goes with having a dog, and transporting it, and all that. Because more than having people around, what I really miss is that big slobbery face that looks at me, tells me I'm a big abusive meany for not whatever it is the dog thinks it really really needs, and then just letting me talk at it, for hours on end, and curl up around it. or Have it flop on me, or...

So those of you moving far away from home, if you've got pets, and they are really a big part of your life, bring at least one. It makes a big difference. Plus I hear they're great for meeting people.

 

[katemez]

I'll be moving from California to New Zealand too. Sometimes I wake up and wonder what was I thinking! Maybe I should have chosen Tufts? But usually by the end of the day, I'm incredibly excited again. I'm sure I will be homesick--especially when I think about all the huge events that could happen in the next 4.5 years that I will miss.... friends getting married, siblings having kids, etc. I think it will help that I'm bringing my soon-to-be-husband with me--though I hope we don't just rely on each other and actually get out and make new friends too. Also, unlike a previous poster who was worried that so many of her friends were getting married--going to Massey where vet is an undergrad degree--I'm more worried I'll be the one married freak. Anyway, I'm sure it will have its ups and downs, but I wanted to have a big adventure while I'm still childless, mortgage-less, etc.

p.s. jennifer, is stuff really as expensive in NZ as I've been hearing? is it worth spending money on shipping?

Christina-

Exactly- "why are you complaining??! you're in NZ! it's so cool over there!!!"

And it is, honestly, but... sometimes a girl just wants some Taco Bell, ya know?

And the lack of doggie goodness is really starting to get to me. I had just about talked my mother into letting me take her problem pup, then in Dec I was petting him and checked the lymph nodes in his neck (we had a dog with lymphoma before, you just kinda get hooked on checking them) and there they were, all big and... yeah. He was a bad boy.

So I'm starting the hunt for a place I can have a dog, and all the stuff that goes with having a dog, and transporting it, and all that. Because more than having people around, what I really miss is that big slobbery face that looks at me, tells me I'm a big abusive meany for not whatever it is the dog thinks it really really needs, and then just letting me talk at it, for hours on end, and curl up around it. or Have it flop on me, or...

So those of you moving far away from home, if you've got pets, and they are really a big part of your life, bring at least one. It makes a big difference. Plus I hear they're great for meeting people.

 

[tygris]

Tygris, OMG, me too! All of my undergrad friends are getting married and it's INSANE. I have no desire to get married -- especially not during vet school! But it's still strange to see people the same age as me becoming real live grown-ups while I'm still technically "in school". And it'll be even weirder to have classmates in the same boat in vet school.

I actually haven't had all that many friends get married yet... only 1 of my childhood friends is married now as far as I know, and several of the friends I've made in grad school are either married or engaged. But once I hit grad school I guess it makes more sense to know married people.
I totally know what you're saying though, about feeling like I'm not a "real live grown-up," especially since like you I have no desire to get married any time soon. I'm seeing someone now but I told him from the start (which was a little more than a year ago) that I'll be leaving for vet school this year and that I'm not taking anyone with me 😛 May sound cruel but I've waited a long time for this and I'd just like to start fresh... and I feel like if he moves with me it makes some implication towards "future plans," which I am so totally not mentally prepared for yet... nor do I want them at the moment!
I think I may start feeling better once I get there. It was at the interview day that I felt like so many interviewees were married :\ But then again, doing the math, only 2-3 folks per interview day got offers, soooo hopefully I was just there on a day when there happened to be tons of married folks 🙂 Not that I have anything against married folks! 😛 Just makes me feel like I'm "behind" or something, as silly as that sounds.

 

[lazyjayn]

some stuff is expensive- if you think you'll need more than just basic clothes, bring them from home. Same with electronics, but make sure you don't bring too much, or they'll hit you with import taxes, and stuff.

Anything else that's expensive and that you'll really really want you can't bring in.

Oh, yeah, but like, sporting equipment? if you love it, and really really use it, bring it.