anyone ever apply for jobs in a random city or state far away from home?
Not a random city or state. When searching on job websites, I do narrow down my possibilities. There's no way I'm going to move to a big city. Commuting and high cost of living sucks.
I don't bother with states like Utah or Alaska. People would ask me why I moved there, and the problem with that is I would be asking myself why I moved there and I wouldn't have an answer.