Logistical and philosophical issues when relocating to, well, nowhere. Sort of.

August 23, 2010 12:09 PM

Recently, 1) I got (amicably) disengaged from a lovely person, 2) decided to sell my house in Columbia, SC, 3) had my work project in Columbia end, and 4) had my company put my on a new project in Raleigh, NC, with a free corporate apartment. So, for a while at least, I can live in Raleigh for free in a corporate apartment, but where should I have mail sent? Should I get a new driver's license and re-register my car, when I really have nothing tying me to Raleigh? I'm intentionally homeless for a bit, but the logistics are killing me!

I have lived in Columbia, SC, for 6 years. Recently, a number of life changes have come in quick succession:

-- 5 months ago my company started me on a new project in Raleigh, NC, 3 days a week. They gave me a (furnished) corporate apartment to use. I drive back and forth every week, working 20 - 30 hours on each job.

-- 2 weeks ago my project in SC basically ended, so I'm really full time in Raleigh

-- About 2 months ago my fiancee and I decided to split it (very amicably) and I'm selling my house (goes on the market in a week or two -- anyone need a nice house in Columbia, SC?)


I have a very good job, a free apartment in Raleigh, and nothing keeping me in Columbia. I have decided to put my stuff into storage and, for a short while at least, "live" in the free corporate apartment in Raleigh.


Questions:

-- where should I forward my mail? I have an awesome neighbor in Columbia who offered his address, but that would mean either regular trips back (not that big of a deal) or asking him to manually forward to wherever I am. I don't want to use the corporate apartment's address, since I don't know how long this project will last and I really don't have strong ties to Raleigh at this point. Also, it is not really my apartment; I'm just being a transient moocher here for a while. I'm thinking maybe a PO Box would be a good idea, but that brings me to my next question:

-- what is the best thing to do about driver's license/car? I don't really have a full-time address anymore. Can I get a PO Box and use that? Will they accept a PO box on a driver's license or vehicle registration? What do people do if they actually have no "permanent" address?


OK, now the philosophical question: if you could live anywhere in the country, where would it be? The way my company works, I can move anywhere I want and they would fly me the the project site every week (which could easily move from Raleigh to anywhere from Washington DC to Oregon to Mississippi at any point, but will most likely be somewhere on the East Coast). It has to be near a major or at least mid-major airport. I have family in DC, Boston, Chicago, and Seattle, so those are on the list, but I'm asking the meta-mind: if you have complete freedom to live in any city in the US, where would you go and why?

Really, I don't have to answer this last question any time soon, as long as I can figure out the logistics of being un-anchored for a while. Help me, MeFi!

posted by peripatetic007 to Grab Bag (10 answers total)

Best answer: Your mail should be where you are. There is nothing wrong with moving your mail around every so often. Set as many of your bills to auto pay or online billing or whatever to simplify things. If you are not planning to go back to Columbia, do not send your mail there. Put another way: where are you likely to put your stuff into storage? In Vermont they will accept a PO Box on a driver's license but you need to also give them a physical address. This is also true for insurance purposes as well. You may want to talk to your insurance agent about some scenario planning since your rates may change significantly [one way or the other] if you insure your car in a new location. There also may be laws about how soon after you move to a place you are required to get a local driver's license/register car/insure car and you ignore these at your peril.

So, you need to think in terms of maybe three things

- where is your "permanent address" which is something you need for like weird long terms stuff. Could be a family member. Could just be your local street address of your corp apartment [who, I am certain, will accept mail for you, no?]
- where are you living now? Necessary for figuring out where to register car, etc.
- where might you like to go.

For the purposes of taxes, you are now pretty much living in Raleigh. There is sort of a cottage industry built up around people with no fixed address getting mail drops and other stuff enabling them to be on the road but also have a "fixed" address for the purposes of taxes etc. These addresses are usually in places with low tax burden. I don't think this is what you are looking for, but depending on your financial situation may be something you want to think about. Here's an article on an RV-ing site about mail options, for example.

I have the freedom to pretty much live anywhere and I live in rural Vermont. I like being in a small community, I am near enough to three major airports and close to Canada. I think it matters that you like the place you live politically and personally and that you figure out what's important to you [for me: being someplace rural and quiet and unhurried, beaing near but not super-near my family, having local friends and a community I could get involved with, being able to get to a big city in an hour or two]. So talk yourself through an average month of being you. Is your location likely to be a recharge station? Just a closet to keep things? A place where you'd have guests? A place where there is always something to do? A place near family/friends? And then think about how you'd go about doing the things you like to do that are NOT work, in these new places. Good luck, it's an exciting time in your life.
posted by jessamyn at 12:58 PM on August 23, 2010

If you are working in NC you are gonna have to get a license and tags for N.C.-at least that is my understanding.

They are also probably gonna hit you up for NC State tax as well.

So you might as well become an NC resident, for awhile anyway. And hey, there's lots worse places to be than the Research Triangle area.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:21 PM on August 23, 2010

A friend of mine is a Federal employee -- he says every time people transfer from somewhere else, they tell him that he doesn't know how good we have it here in the RTP area.
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:33 PM on August 23, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for your quick responses!

I do have to pay NC State Tax -- that is a given because the work I am doing is physically in NC. I am very conscientious about paying income taxes in the states and locality where they are due. Among other things, without going into details, it is a professional imperative in my particular job. =)

However, you definitely don't have to license yourself or register your car where you work (in the past I've worked in 5 states during one year, but never changed my car registration).


jessamyn -- your first question about "permanent address" is really where I am stuck. The corporate apartment would certainly accept my mail, but I may only be working in Raleigh for another 3 months, and then I'd have to change it again. That's why I like the idea of a PO Box -- I could be peripatetic for a while (it is, after all, my user name), and not have to constantly change my mailing address at the whim of my current employer/project.

As for where I am living now, I'm not, really. I spend 3 - 4 nights a week in Raleigh, and then on weekends I'm either in Columbia or I'm traveling to visit various friends and family around the country. I still live out of a couple of suitcases worth of stuff in Raleigh, and none of my furniture or "things" are in Raleigh. It's like I'm staying at a hotel, except I don't have to check in or out every monday and thursday.

I'm thinking that, as St. Alia of the Bunnies says, it might just make things simpler to become an NC resident, at least for a while. I am hesitant to use my corporate apartment's address, but that's really more out of a sense of "keep work and personal separated" than any professional or legal limitation. My company doesn't care, and the apartment complex certainly doesn't care. I still feel like there is some option that is simpler that I am missing.

What do people do if they really, really don't have a permanent address? I know it is fictional, but in the movie Up In The Air, it ended (SPOILER ALERT!) with Clooney just traveling -- he gave up his never-used apartment and just lived in hotels. What would he have done for tax and driver's license purposes? Used his sister's address in Michigan or something?
posted by peripatetic007 at 1:42 PM on August 23, 2010

Response by poster: Oh, and I really do like the Raleigh/RTP area. Don't get me wrong. It's just a matter of spending a little bit of time completely free from house-and-home obligations is extremely appealing to me right now, especially with the recent end to my being engaged. It is, in some ways, a pretty surreal situation -- I went from completely knowing what my life was going to look like to being completely unsure, but not in a bad way. I am in a place where I feel a need to have no immediate encumbrances -- and that includes a "permanent address."

Nothing against RTP, though!
posted by peripatetic007 at 1:46 PM on August 23, 2010

Get a post office box big enough to store a week's mail and use it while you're in Raleigh and however long thereafter you need it. Saves the angst of changing addresses again when you move from one apartment to another in the same area.
posted by Jenna Brown at 2:07 PM on August 23, 2010

What do people do if they really, really don't have a permanent address?

They pick one. RVers and other people who live itinerant lifestyles are required by the constraints of US society to either choose a state of residence for the purposes of taxes and other things or they go underground and become non-persons.

You decide where your permanent address is by picking one. People choose their permanent address based on things that are important to them and there are cottage industries that are devoted to assisting these people with the things they need to do in order to receive mail and packages and establish residency. Some states make this significantly easier than others. Check out this link about RVers and things you need to think about when choosing a "home state"
posted by jessamyn at 2:14 PM on August 23, 2010

Best answer: Examples of nonresidents:
• Salesmen whose homes are in other states
who travel through North Carolina;
• Out-of-state college students who intend to
return to their home states upon completion
of their education in North Carolina;
• Members of the armed forces stationed
in North Carolina who intend to
return to their home states; and
• Spouses of nonresident members of the
armed forces stationed in North Carolina.

A new resident has 60 days after establishing
residence to obtain a North Carolina license or
learner permit.

I am trying to find the info online but I know if you are employed in state and if you don't have an out of state legal address any NC policeman is going to assume you are required to get a license. If you don't get pulled it won't be an issue (probably) but if you do they are kinda serious about tag and registration around here. In your case it sounds like you might fall thru a crack-unless you can simply get a temp mailbox addy. I would check into Jessamyn's info.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 2:57 PM on August 23, 2010

Response by poster: Yeah, sometimes I just need to get hit over the head a few times with the obvious before it sinks in. I appreciate you taking the time to grind it through my thick skull. =)

I think the answer is to just use the corporate apartment in NC for now. There really are no negatives that I can think about except maybe I'll have to change my address in 3 - 6 months. Or maybe not. Either way, I won't have to worry about the complexities of being tied to SC (or any other "home" state) when in reality I am physically in NC at least 50% of the time.

I still have a bit of time, since the earliest I could conceivably close the sale of my house in SC is October. Thanks for all of the great feedback!
posted by peripatetic007 at 3:22 PM on August 23, 2010

Continuing St. Alia's comment: In North Carolina, they want you to register your car within 30 days of moving to the state or accepting gainful employment. Link here. Registering your vehicle requires getting either an NC driver's license or an NC state ID card first. If you get an NC driver's license you'll have to surrender your old one; you can have both an NC ID card and a driver's license from another state, I think. Also to get your safety inspection, you'll need for your car to be NC-registered first.

You could probably manage to drive around unregistered for awhile without anyone noticing, but technically that's not what the Department of Transportation wants you to do, and like St. Alia says, they're not going to like it if you get pulled over with no in-state registration and you've been a resident for 9 months.
posted by aka burlap at 8:28 AM on August 24, 2010