We moved after our youngest graduated, older was out of college. Youngest attended a private college so residency was not a consideration. We moved for H’s career - his options were somewhat limited where we lived. I took a new job that is remote or travel, so it didn’t matter where I ended up, as long as it was near an airport. Older child had already moved to a different city.
We ended up moving after S began his junior year of college, so he left for the semester knowing we might move before the end of the term. Packing/moving was a little tricky, but I took photos of his stuff with my phone and texted him lots of “Do you still want this?” questions as we purged and packed.
S was (and still is) in a relationship with a gf from HS, so we purchased airline tickets for him to visit our former hometown, since she attended college in-state. H’s family lives about 1.5 hours from where we lived. We also purchased airline tickets for her to visit us in our new location.
Both kids were very excited about the move and are glad we did it.
I do miss my friends and colleagues, but thanks to Facebook I can keep up with them. I have only been back in the area once since I moved 3.5 years ago.