There’s an old saying that you can never really go back home.

And anyone who has left their hometown knows that this is usually true.

In this story, a man who moved from the Midwest to Alaska wants to stay put because he’s thrived there, but his wife is pushing for a return to their roots.

Get all the details below and see what you think.

AITA for not wanting to move back home?

“My wife and I had our first child nearly four years ago and moved to Alaska with an agreement to go back to our home state in the Midwest once our baby was of school age.

A lot has changed in that time, as listed below…

We’ve had three children. 3, 2, and a newborn. My career growth has been great, given the typically lower ceiling in my field.

I invested in advanced mentorship at the expensive of pay in our first year here, which has led to my dream job in which I now make literally double the income from where I first started and about $50k more than I had originally projected before the move up here.

Things are going great!

I stepped into a significant leadership role within a year of coming onto the company I work for, so I have meaningful influence and major flexibility. I can work three days per week and we still do well, which allows me to be with the family a lot and tend to our kids.

Another really nice bonus to our circumstance is the fact our entire family has free health care coverage through Alaska Native Tribal Health. We literally had our children for free and have paid nothing for extensive coverage.

We each receive PFDs, which is a nice little bonus every fall.

He thinks they need to stay put.

I feel the financial stability and continued upward trajectory is the best path for us. A move back to the south would cap growth and be a major step backwards.

On her end, she longs for family on the daily. I understand raising three kids without the village is a challenge of its own (I’ve watched them several days at a time without help), and feel grateful for what she does. I feel her family continually pushes the idea of us moving back.

This would require a lot of changes…

Unfortunately, that would require her to work, not be a stay at home mom. She let her associate degree licensing lapse for years which yielded moderate income (at the time we met). She became a stay at home mom within a year of us dating.

I’ve made it a point to ensure she sees family. I fly our young family back to the Midwest and they will stay for four-five week stretches at least once per year, sometimes twice, and I’ve flown my in-laws up as well on a whim for a holiday.

They also make it a point to come up at least twice per year.

The main thing is, she wants a plan for moving, and soon. I’ve weighed the options endlessly and feel we are in the right place and on the right path and can’t settle on largely emotion decisions over what has been stated above.”

Let’s see what folks had to say on Reddit.

This person said he’s to blame for what’s going on.

Another individual weighed in.

This reader shared their thoughts.

Another individual spoke up.

And this person said he’s NTA.

He doesn’t think going back to where they’re from is a good idea.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.