You know what would be really helpful right now? Stories about similar upheavals you all have had but actually survived. All I can see at this moment is bad outcomes, along the lines of "Well, you could always live in a van by the river... except, whoops, you don't have a van."
@zebratron2084 In 2006, I broke up with my partner in Canada. All my credit cards were maxed, I had $20 in my bank account, and I was living in a country in which I could not legally work. My car was inoperable after hitting a deer a month prior. My parents were fighting over whether to completely disown me or just cut me out of their lives. My friends in Minnesota had no room for me, and I couldn't afford to get there anyway. I was homeless, penniless and stranded in a foreign country.
@zebratron2084 You've got this, dear. And all of your friends (myself included) are here to make sure of it. ♥️
@zebratron2084 A friend in CA leant me $1,000 and promised a couch to sleep on for a couple of weeks. Having no other options, I agreed. I jammed a radiator in my broken car and got it running well enough to drive across the country. When I got there, the couch I was promised was no longer available. Someone I'd never met welcomed me into their apartment for a couple of weeks before moving out. A friend helped me find work within the month. I got *so* fucking lucky.
@zebratron2084 About 3-4 weeks after @mawr hit CA, I was kicked out of my mom's car in downtown St. Paul, MN with $5, a backpack from the Navy recruiters, no cellphone (mom took it) and no shirt on my back after my mom ripped it off me while trying to keep me from taking my backpack. In that bag was a salvaged thinkpad that was my sole link to anyone I could beg for help. Mawr's SOS got me off the streets and on a 1-way flight to San Jose the next day.
@kelseyhusky @mawr Oh my god. *hug* Yeah, that puts things in perspective.
@mawr Heh. Of course, I already knew some of that story. *hug* But not the rest. Point taken. Thank you. <3
42 feels _real_ late in life to have to do this stuff -- but I'm forced to admit, yeah, like I was saying the other day, this is Easy Mode. I'm not alone, and I even have a safety net already, even if it's... not really an optimal one.