I moved to the Netherlands from the states recently using DAFT. Sold the car/furniture, shipped the personal items. My wife and I haven't missed our car at all because the city (Amsterdam) has good transit and we live in a very walkable part of town. I work later in the day to overlap a few hours with my team which means I don't have to worry about waking up at 7-8am to make standup. I'm still learning what it's like to live here but so far it's a great improvement in many ways over Scottsdale. We feel like this might be the place we start our family.
Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
51–60 of 147 posts
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#52I did and I regret it deeply. I was working remotely even pre-covid times and I decided to leave London (where housing was becoming a nightmare) to move to Sweden. I have never been this deeply lonely in my entire life. I love the nature, I love the winter, even the darkness, but socially this was a very bad move. Working remotely when you live close to a big city where you are very fluent in the language is not even…
Why not move back?
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#53I did and I regret it deeply. I was working remotely even pre-covid times and I decided to leave London (where housing was becoming a nightmare) to move to Sweden. I have never been this deeply lonely in my entire life. I love the nature, I love the winter, even the darkness, but socially this was a very bad move. Working remotely when you live close to a big city where you are very fluent in the language is not even…
Out of curiosity, why did you choose Sweden?
Why not move back?
Is there an expat community you could mingle with?
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#54I'm currently single, live in the SF Bay Area, and my only roommate is my dog. Given that, I'd be a fool to not at least consider moving somewhere else. So, yes, I did consider it.
But, my dog loves that I live within 5 miles of at least 5 different dog parks, and that's a real factor. I also have an extra bedroom I use as an office, so, I'm all set up to WFH here in my rent controlled apartment, even if I don't move anywhere. In another 3 years, I expect my rent will be significantly below market. For now, I've decided that my life is here, and I like it that way.
That might change when my lease is up in February. However, I'm also currently on the job market, so, there will be the additional factor of "is my employer going to pay me less if I move, and, if so, how much?" I also have a hobby that's somewhat difficult to practice in a less populated locale, so, it's not going to be strictly a case of "run the numbers, look at the bottom line, and pick the place with the bigger number." I'm going to have to do a serious quality of life analysis in a couple of months.
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#55I left my job due to remote working but stayed in the same place.
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#56Definitely not. Remote work was the key to letting me not move for a job. I’ve managed remote teams around the world. I know this violates the popular narrative, but remote hires generally either stayed exactly where they were or moved to bigger, expensive cities. We paid them more than they made locally so they often used the new income to move up. I’ve only known a few people who used remote work to move to the mou…
> moved to bigger, expensive cities
Why did they do that? Did they share to you a main reason? Is it access to groceries, as you mentioned? or better schools for their kids? medical care?
I find it hard to justify the increased rent and general cost of living.
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#57I am strongly considering Manhattan. The cost of living is similar to SF but the urban amenities and energy are on a whole other level. However it’s a bit daunting to get an office or an extra bedroom there at my own expense. I’m not sure I’m up for working from my living room or bedroom.
live in Williamsburg, not Manhattan. everyone moves to Manhattan for a few years, realizes it's not worth it, and moves to Williamsburg. Skip the first phase.
That advice made sense 10 years ago when Williamsburg was cheaper. Now it's the same price and less convenient. I love Manhattan
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#58I'm going to be moving to a greener part of city in the next months. Previously I selected the current flat based on (walking) distance from the office. But where I am now there isn't a place to pleasantly run surrounded by nature, which sucks. I'd change the city too, but for now all my friends are here, which would make it tough.
Longer term, I'm planning on moving to another country (from Eastern Europe to most likely one of: Scotland, Netherlands or Finland) and, from what I gather, my company will allow me to work from abroad. Even longer term, I'm planning on simply starting my own company, so place is not going to be a constraint.
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've lived in those areas before and have considered going back. Probably my main consideration is lack of cultural diversity. Not just for personal enjoyment but I want to raise my family where they can grow up with people of diverse backgrounds. Also, might just have been the places I lived but I missed having peer in tech or who were similar. Just not interested in hunting and sports,
I get the diversity thing but depending on the small town you can get more than SF some times. My neighborhood in SF is 90% white. But the tech things rings true. However, my only counter is that having a strong community that has nothing to do with work is pretty cool too.
> My neighborhood in SF is 90% white
White is not a culture. Skin colour is orthogonal with cultural diversity.
Amsterdam is also 80-90% white but is incredibly diverse with all sorts of people from all sorts of places and backgrounds.
Re: Ask HN: Has remote work made you move to a new location or consider it?
#60I would love to move. My wife doesn't.
This is the truth and most disappointing part. I can now live anywhere but wife likes big cities, and best school districts are usually cities.