Whatever happens, if I indeed lose my employment here, I'm going to scratch together whatever cash I can (unlaid leave, TSP withdrawl, etc) sell everything here except my laptop, personal items and clothing and probably head south. God will provide, and I'm actually at peace with whatever happens.
Whatever you decide, good luck to you and holler if I can be of any help.
You will be fine.
I was a federal employee (before retirement) and I decided I wanted to move south. More precisely, my wife and I agreed on a go/no go strategy before buying a house.
I made the final list for seven different federal jobs in the south in a three month period (my qualifications are excellent).
I was chosen for none of them—they all were awarded to minority women.
So—we decided ok—we stay up north where we are and buy a house way out in the boonies. We are still there and everything is great.
It all works out..
And wildfires, blizzards and ice storms. :)
After several years of downsizing at the company I worked for in the Cleveland area, my job in industrial automation was finally eliminated. That was a few weeks after 9/11. After working a few temporary or low paying jobs, we finally retired and moved here in the Texas panhandle. My parents were retired over in New Mexico so that's the primary reason for settling here. It's been good but definitely not for everybody. There's a lot of space, 26 counties in the TX panhandle and only one moderately sized city (Amarillo) of about 200k. It has pretty good medical facilities and a pretty good VA hospital. Something to think about as we get older. Still, some people travel to Houston for some medical procedures. That's a two day drive for us, all of it in Texas.
The summers are still pretty hot. I'm looking forward to this one ending. It's supposed to hit 105 today. Of course, that will be a record high.