The Mustachian in me is struggling with this dilemma, and I would love some advice.
I am 29 and will finish residency at the end of this year and am currently looking for jobs. My fiancé and myself (we will be married by the time we move to our new location) are debating about these two options:
One option is to move back to our home town of Austin and start settling down there. We have families there to eventually help out when we have kids, would like to be closer to family, and we know we love it there and could really settle down there. On the downside the cost of living is much higher than option two, and to top it off the pay is about half as much as option two. The last consideration is that jobs are more difficult to get in Austin because it's a tight market(if I don't take the job now I may not be able to get one there later if we decide we want to move back home).
Option two is to move to the middle of nowhere in West Texas for literally 2 to 3x the pay combined with a lower cost of living. The big positive to this one is heading towards FIRE at a much more rapid pace, which is a huge bonus. The downside of this is we would be a five hour drive from family, and there is literally almost nothing to do there for fun outside of work(no mountains, no water, no trails). I know we could make it work, and it is hard to pass this up. At the same time I am having a tough time convincing myself (and my fiancé) to move out to West Texas (I am worried I will be bored and miss home and family).
What would you do?