How to Move to NH
This guide outlines several ways one can move to New Hampshire. It provides a broad overview of several different strategies of ways people have succeeded in moving to New Hampshire. Every move is different, but several general methods have proven successful across the thousands upon thousands of people who have moved to New Hampshire to achieve Liberty in their Lifetime. In this guide, you'll find these strategies, checklists, and considerations that aren't always obvious when you first consider your move, and by reading it it is our goal to make it easier for you to plan your move, execute your move, and ultimately live the best life in liberty possible here in New Hampshire.
Who should move to NH?
1: People who love liberty
2: People who wish to help bring about more liberty within their lifetime
Who should NOT move to NH?
1: Those who dislike liberty
2: Those who are mentally or emotionally unstable
3: Those who are incapable of taking care of yourself or maintaining steady income
4: Those who purpose of their move is to find a libertarian wife
5: Those who cannot tolerate people of certain races or of a certain sex
6: Those who are interested in being a free-loader who takes advantage of peoples generosity for personal benefit
7: Those who are under the age of 18
Common Strategies
Job first, then move
Perhaps the most common way to move to New Hampshire is to get a job in New Hampshire, then move. This has the advantage of ensuring that you should be able to pay for stuff when you get here... such as rent.
This strategy is fairly straight-forward.
Step 1: Save money
The move is going to cost some money, maybe beyond what the new job can provide all-at-once. You may need to shell out for a motel for a while, so save up in case you need that. Also, interviews can cost money, so make sure you save up for that if the employer isn't providing for it.
Step 2: Send out resumes, hit the job boards, apply for jobs
You should apply for jobs not just IN New Hampshire, but also in areas within an hour of the New Hampshire border. Keep in mind that if you get a job in Maine, Massachussetts, or Vermont that you'll have to pay state income taxes, and that sucks, so factor that into contract negotiations. You should know that Boston is about an hour from the NH border, so if you don't mind a lengthy commute, you can get a job in Northern Boston. Also, Portland Maine is about an hour from the NH border as well.
Step 3: Get the job
The specifics of a job interview are outside the scope of this guide, but you'll want to negotiate enough time between your current job and the job you're going to so that you can figure out the details of your living situation.
From this point, there are a couple different ways to actually start moving.
Pioneer Method
You could leave the spouse and kids behind, make out on your own, start working the job and try to find an apartment; the idea being that once you find the apartment you bring the spouse and kids over separately. This has advantages because you can really increase your flexibility; a single fella can sleep in his car or in motels for a few weeks or so while finding appropriate housing without having to worry about the family in the process. This also means that you get a "lay of the land" while in your apartment search, and when you secure housing and bring the family over, they get to enjoy the surprise of their new home. This also saves children the trouble of adapting to constantly sleeping in motels, saves your family the trouble of figuring out "what to do" while you're at work, etc. On the down-side, this means you have to pay rent and utilities for your old home from another state, and this can bring with it a lot of complications. Once you find your house, however, then you can organize a Welcome Wagon through the Free State Project.
Having it arranged
You could arrange all the housing for your family remotely. This is somewhat complicated, as many landlords won't be willing to rent to someone they can't meet, but on the plus side, if you can pull it off you don't have to take multiple trips with your family to get things ready. No paying for motels and rent at the same time, no mad dash to secure an apartment while living in your car or in motels, no desperate agreement for an apartment due to time constraints. That being said, agreeing to rent an apartment without actually visiting it first can be dangerous. How do you know there aren't major problems with it that don't show up in the photos? You'll want to work with a local realtor who has your best interests in mind to accomplish that successfully. You'll want to have the new job start date pushed out far enough to accommodate the housing search while working your old job, more than likely, to pull this off. Once you have it all set up, then you can organize a Welcome Wagon through the Free State Project.
Move first, then job
This strategy will work only if you have a significant amount of savings or passive income. Some people choose to go this route and eventually become drains on the community, but if you have enough money to do it, then good luck. The benefits of this method are that you can get your bearings before finding a job that is suitable for you. This is, however, a high-risk strategy.
Step 1: Save money. A lot of money. You'll want to have 3-6 months worth of living expenses saved up before moving.
Step 2: Prearrange up to a month of temporary accommodation. Websites like couchsurfing & airbnb are helpful, or extended stay hotels. Sometimes beach vacation homes are available for cheap during the winter months.
Step 3: Find a place to live in NH. This may be easier if you pay several months in advance if you're renting, landlords will be more willing to hire someone without a job if they are paying for many months in advance. Make sure this is pre-arranged before you show up.
Step 4: Move, then begin your job search. Take temporary or seasonal work while applying for a "Real" job. Recruiters may be useful for this.
Step 5: Network. You'll want to meet other liberty-lovers, a network can help you find a job quicker. Don't neglect applications in the meantime, however.
No Job, just move
Are you retired? Independently wealthy? An entrepreneur? Bitcoin gazillionaire? Financially independent? This might work for you. There aren't many steps to this one. Just buy a house and move into it. Why are you looking at this guide in the first place? Just move to NH, you know how to do it.
Full-remote plan
If you are fully remote, you just need access to fast internet in order to earn your living. This opens up a lot of possibilities, and you should have a fairly easy time moving. Keep in mind, however, that internet may not be available for a week or so after you first move in. To accommodate this, try to find a place to use the available Wifi, but keep in mind that this may not be ideal. This has potential to be one of the simplest ways to get to New Hampshire, just make sure to let your employer know that you are in-state once you live here and to provide the new address so you can reap the reward of our friendly tax environment.
RV, Schoolie, or Van Lifin' to NH
Are you living in a Schoolie? Want to move to NH? You should know, first and foremost, that you probably won't have a good time in the winter if you are living in a school bus or van in NH. Our winters get cold. Diesel engines hate the cold. I'm not your boss and am not going to tell you what to do, but if you want a compromise, you can move to NH in the schoolie in the springtime, then work that summer on building or buying or finding a rental that better suits the NH winter. This advice also applies to people who have an RV and plan to use that in their move.
Keep in mind the following:
1: Winters can be fairly brutal in NH, especially in the north country. Don't expect to live in an RV in the winter, once September gets here, you really really need to hurry up with the winter accommodations.
2: It is illegal to be in the drivers seat of a vehicle while under the influence of any drug, even if you're sleeping. If you have been consuming alcohol or other intoxicants, be sure to sleep somewhere else in the vehicle and not touch the drivers seat or vehicle controls.
3: Some municipalities have bans on sleeping in an RV beyond certain time-periods, some require an approved septic system.
4: To re-iterate: Make sure all of your winter planning is done before snowfall. I know it's still hot in September, but winter will come swiftly and your 20-lb propane heater will not be able to keep up for very long.
Going to College in the Free State
Those who are exiting high-school and are looking at colleges should consider the options in NH if they are a liberty-lover. The most prestigious school in NH is Dartmouth, an Ivy League institution in Hanover that is as expensive as it is elite. The least expensive college option is Southern New Hampshire University, which is located in Manchester. This campus is conveniently located near the downtown of Manchester, NH's largest city. This means that you'll be able to have a healthy college social circle, as well as be near the dense population of liberty-lovers in Manchester. This might be a very attractive option for younger liberty-lovers.
What to do post-move
So you've got a job, you've got a place to live, and you've had your Welcome Wagon. Your family is with you, and you're ready to settle into a routine. What else do you need to do?
First off, you'll want to get the garbage situation figured out. This may require you registering your car in town. If you would like to do this, you'll want to go to the town hall.
You'll also want to get introduced to friends. The New Mover Potlucks and other liberty hangouts are a good source for this, you can see a schedule of events at the FSP Calendar. Keep in mind, however, that there are literally *thousands upon thousands* of liberty-lovers in NH. If you don't gel with someone at the liberty hangout, that's fine, you'll meet other people elsewhere. Try to find people that share interests. You'll also want to meet your neighbors and say "hi". You may find that "normies" in NH are actually way cooler than the people around where you grew up or lived prior to moving to NH. They're usually very shy but very friendly, and it's nice to get to know them.
Here's a list of things you may need to do once here:
- Get a Welcome Wagon - Meet other liberty people as well as neighbors - Register car - Register to vote - Change addresses with the post office - Figure out garbage - Set up internet - Set up utilities - Figure out which political party is prominent where you live, try getting involved - Do some Winter Planning - Be free.
