My wife has had to move to different cities twice since we've been together. She works in a field that's somewhat specialized, and most jobs in her field are only in specific cities.
The first time she moved her company was the only type in her field in the area. However, the metro area was quite rural, and there weren't many jobs in my field there (And those that were were dead end).
A year ago we moved cross-country when she changed to another company. This new city provided me with a lot of opportunity and I landed a dream job which I've been at for 6 months. However, there's only one other company in this major city in her field….she was laid off just short of a year working at her new job. You know what this means? If she can't get a job at the competitor in this city then we'll have to move. Again. The closest city with jobs in her field is 6 hours away.
We've discussed before about switching careers to something more ubiquitous that can be found in almost any city in America. However, we both went to college for 4 years for our degrees and have spent over a decade each in our own fields. Switching careers probably means going back to school and probably means making less money. We've only just recently gotten our footing financially in preparation for having a kid or kids. Doing this could set us back another 5-10 years.
The irony of this all is that most computer-based work can be done remotely. However, since she's in a senior position this means she has to be in-office to see physical product at least twice a week. Most companies are too cheap or don't have the bandwidth to just mail samples to her.
I remember reading The Grapes Of Wrath as a kid and thinking that if I went to college I wouldn't need to make these cross-country trips for work. Well guess whose college-educated ass just did the same thing as the Joads multiple times?