Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?

I’m in the process of moving (back) to a countryside location.

I lived there a number of years ago and split my time in a tech job 2 to 3 days a week in the office and the remainder back home working remotely. It was a struggle - Slack etc wasn’t a thing at that point and the communication was always strained while I was remote. I realised at some point that being remote was going to be career limiting and relocated close to a city with a large tech scene here in the UK. I didn’t resent the move as such, but I’d always missed being in the countryside and the town I’d adopted as home.

Now with the tech scene (certainly here in the UK) having embraced remote working on what appears to be a permanent basis I’m taking the opportunity to move back there and work mostly remotely. Luckily the company I work for has a great approach to this and there doesn’t seem any shortage of other tech companies offering it too. Of course there is always the risk that this will be limiting in the long run, but it feels like the current outlook is on the side of taking that risk. I realised over COVID lockdowns how much I missed living there, so I’ve decided it’s an important move for me personally.

COVID has been awful in so many ways, but a positive coming out of it is the way it has forced some realisations about how we work. For me the realisation has been that it isn’t about having a certain number of days or fixed times in the office - I think this is pretty old fashioned thinking. But instead committing to getting together in person with colleagues and clients for the right activities, where it really adds value.

No, there are plenty of other reasons to stay in a city other than work. Culture, nightlife, friends for example.

If you live in a city and all you do there is go to work, you’re kinda missing the point imho because you could do that much cheaper elsewhere.

After my company went remote, my life partner and I had the fortune in spring of 2020 to be able to temporarily relocate from our 1BR condo in Washington, DC to her family's "summer" house on Cape Cod in Massachusetts (USA). Typically the house is shared among their extended family and different groups reserve it for a week or two each in the summer, but in '20 it was limited to my partner and her three siblings and their partners.

We stayed there from June to October, and after going home to DC for a spell came back to the Cape for Thanksgiving and then again for some long stretches in '21, including during the winter. It has been a great retreat from the city during these pandemic years.

My partner has an aunt and uncle who have lived year round in the same town on the Cape for something like 30 years. I also have an aunt who has lived there year round with her family for a similar amount of time in the neighboring town. I grew up visiting the Cape most summers and always loved it, but only ever thought of it as a summer place.

I've always thought of myself as a city person, but now we're planning to buy in one of these towns and move there permanently. I couldn't be more excited.

The company I work for has been very progressive in our work model over the past year and a half, and we've now gone fully distributed -- I plan to work remote forever.

The main challenge for us now is that the housing market on the Cape is a mess. In '20 prices skyrocketed. By '21 demand had cooled somewhat, but there has been no inventory. We'll see what things look like come this spring. Fortunately we can temporarily live in our family's houses while we search and prepare to sell or lease our condo here in DC.

I moved from Buffalo, NY to just outside of Tampa, FL lol...

Being far from family hurts a bit; covid didn't help either.

I've been here for about 3 years now and can't imagine ever moving back. The snow / crappy weather, the slow progress on building up downtown / the waterfront, the super high taxes, no beaches, no sun, etc...

(edit - lived in Buffalo since I was born + 38 years)

It's December 29th. I'm in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops. Saturday we'll be going to Clearwater Beach and setting off fireworks for NYE.

Completely different way / quality of living. Show birds don't know how to drive and beaches this time of year are packed with tourists but I'll take that any day over the dark and gloomy almost year round weather. We're right in the middle; 1.5 hours to Orlando, 3 hours to FT Lauderdale, 4 hours to Miami, 7 hours to Key West. Still have yet to explore 1/4 of this state.

I love it here.

I live in a remote area of Pakistan, a very beautiful place 100000% opposite of main Pakistan. I work for a US based company from here. The biggest expense is internet (200 USD per month sett-lite based internet). All others are home grown like fruits, vegetable, flour, egg, meat. I will not move to any other place permanently. However travel Dubai, Turkey and Thailand once in a year to grab beer! I love this rhythm of WFH.