Hi all, thank you so much for reading. I’d like some input or supportive words during this conflicting hard time.

I’m 25 years old and moved to this city for school (which I ended up dropping out of because I didn’t like what i was studying/the school). I met my boyfriend here, who is 8 years older. We’ve dated for the last two years, and have gone through so much. I truly love him and want to be with him, but I feel like i’ve grown stagnate in this area. I can’t stand my house/roommates, I dont like living in a city so much (im from a beach town), i’m bored of my job, and am pretty broke from school loans and am not able to save much money, and miss my family.
For these reasons, I decided to move back home, to save money, finish school, and be near my family in a healthier environment.
However, my boyfriend cant come….he has elderly parents to take care of and he just started a new job. He is doing so well here and im so proud of him. I’m not asking him to just uproot his whole life, it is unrealistic. And we are not interested in doing a long distance thing. He has always said his biggest fear is holding me down/back in life.

I asked him to come but he said he needs to think about it….even though I know he can’t right now. I did tell him that I always envisioned us being together and living together, not here in this city, but somewhere else that is a better environment to live in. That is my dream. Close to the beach preferably. We are both very into health and the outdoors, and this city is a struggle to live in. I feel sad and lonely here, and often miss where i’m from. He does not like it here either and has always wanted to get out, but is strongly compelled to stay to care for his elderly parents, which could last for years. My vision of our lives together in a better area feels so good and so right, and I want for that to happen!

I was going to stay and basically wait longer, but the only reason i’m here now is to stay with him, and I feel i’m at an age where i need to be finishing school and trying to figure out a life plan, and taking these opportunities, even though i know the only thing that really matters is spending time with the people I love most (this includes him). It doesnt matter what job I get or where I am, if im not with the people i love, none of it really matters.

Anyways, it wont be for a few more months that I actually move, but we basically broke up to make things less painful i guess. I feel scared that I will regret this decision, though in my mind it seems like the right thing to move home again because of the practical reasons. I love him so much and want to be with him, but I dont want to be up here anymore, unhappy struggling with these goals I have and feeling stagnant. I’m scared that I will still be unhappy when I move because I will miss being with him. We talked about how we are in different places in our lives right now, but we both saw us being together forever.

Anyone have any supportive words? Or stories about how they’ve reunited with an ex after some time, and things worked out? I know i’m going to miss him a lot and wonder if I’m making the right decision about basically leaving him, which makes me feel heartbroken to think about.

Thank you for reading.