I definitely understand where you’re coming from. I used to want to get as far away from home as possible (e.g. California) because I really hated where I lived (even though I live in a city, it is a small one, and I HATED it). I’ve now learned to bear my home town, although I still want to go to school in a big city. Since I know I will miss my parents a lot, I’m hoping to go to school about 3 hours from home, which works out well because both Boston and NYC are that far. But really for me, the city is more important than my proximity to home, and I primarily just want to live in a place that has a lot to offer.