Could the OP, or anyone like him, just move to the city he wants to live in, even if there is not much design work there, and farm himself out to companies doing his kind of work in other parts of the country?
Could the OP, or anyone like him, just move to the city he wants to live in, even if there is not much design work there, and farm himself out to companies doing his kind of work in other parts of the country?