Like A Rolling Stone

In the last "Hackie" column, "Plan A," I told about my ride with a man who had, like the protagonist in the tune "Proud Mary," left a good job in the city. In this man's case, he quit Wall Street to move to the Burlington area, Winooski in particular, the Winooski Block to be more precise.

The guy had had only a couple of months experience in Vermont having volunteered for Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2003. He spent that time living with a bunch of other "Deaniacs" in a house rented by the campaign on Intervale Avenue.

As of the moment I dropped him off at his new digs, he had essentially no friends or relatives in the area, nor did he have a job. I did have a feeling he would eventually do fine up here; he seemed like a nice enough guy and he had a strong affinity for our state.

This man had executed a huge life shift. When I moved to the Green Mountains, at least I knew some people up here. I've been thinking about the courage or desperation it must take to upend your like so fundamentally. It must be thrilling and terrifying at the same time to find yourself alone in a brand new city.

Have you, or someone you know, ever made such a drastic move? What was it like? How did you make out?