I'm leaving CA after growing up here for 26 years in 2 months and my job will likely never see me back here ...
I can relate. I was born and raised in SoCal my first 28 years, met and married my Ohio-born wife while we were both at the same college in SoCal, and then we ended up moving back to Ohio (she was homesick). At the time, it seemed like an adventure (new place, further east than I had ever been, different climate, severe weather (I'm a storm chaser kind of guy), etc.). Now, it's flat, endless green, no vista type views, humid and bug-infested during the summer, with long crappy winters, and worst, NO MOUNTAINS! I always expected that, after a time, we would one day move back to CA. But the "life event" after which we would "maybe" move back kept getting changed along the way, and now, like you, I don't ever expect that I will get the chance to move back there, at least not when I can do anything meaningful once I'm back (if it happens). So get in what you can while you're there. You won't regret it.
CaT
