When I quickly moved to Santa Monica for my new job, I truly had no idea what was ahead! I was over the moon to be moving to the beach. Plus, I would be working somewhere I was very excited about AND living right by Russ. 6 months in, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined about this whole moving process.
1. You’ll learn more about yourself and grow more than you could ever imagine
In the past 6 months, I have learned more things that I could have ever expected to. I remember announcing I was moving here in this post and being so ready for the new adventure. But, I had no idea how fast time would fly and how much I would learn. Now, I went to college 20 hours away from home and lived in NYC and Florence, so I have definitely had the feeling of moving somewhere new before. However, not like this. It has been a big transition into the”grown-up” role. From finding a church, to getting to know a new grocery store, signing up for a gym, planning all your own weekend getaways, planning meals, to fixing all the things in my house on my own (there’s no he-can-fix-everything dad, thankfully I have Russ!), it has been a really crazy time!
2. Making friends is hard
I touched on this in my new year post, but I cannot explain to you how big of a thing this has been for me. Luckily, I work somewhere that has a really young work culture and I have 2 roommates I adore, but branching out and finding new people is really stinking difficult. It’s super uncomfortable and not like college at all. It makes college friend finding look like a piece of cake!
3. You’re going to be alone a lot
This is one of the biggest things I struggle(d) with. I now have learned a little better on how to manage my free time and learn new things for the blog, dive deeper into photography and workout that make time for myself pretty exciting. But, it’s still a process. However, I have grown to enjoy it more and more every month. I think it has helped a lot with my health and taking care of myself!
4. Long distance friendships take time to maintain
I had a lot of practice with this in college due to being away from my friends in Texas and being away from my friends in Ohio during studying abroad. It doesn’t get easier to do, but you figure out a routine that works for you. Your friendships are only as strong as you make them! I try and schedule calls/facetimes with friends because trying to reach out after work is really hard if I don’t carve the time out ahead of time.
5. It takes longer than you think for your new place to have that “home” feeling
This is so important. It is going to take time for your new place to feel homey and comfortable. Don’t get me wrong, the second I saw the ocean I felt at home, but it took a while to not constantly feel like I was going back to a strange house. It helped a lot to decorate heavily and get situated as fast as I could so things felt “homier”.
6. Money goes quickly- even with a salary
This might be extra true because southern California is crazy expensive, but it catches up with you. Things add up and it is SO important to be wise with how you are spending money. Now I know why my mom always says “it goes way faster than you think”. From rent, the gym and food to student loans, memberships and a little bit of fun, money disappears so fast.
7. Each place you move will have different challenges
I have lived 6 different places in my life (New Jersey, Texas, Ohio, Florence, New York, Santa Monica) and have learned that each one of them comes with different ups and downs. They each have their own battles to fight and their own reasons you absolutely love them. But when making a new move, it is so important to not expect one to be easy/hard because the other was. Each move is a fresh start. You never know how it could end up!
8. It’s the best thing you could do for yourself
Moving away from home (in the big kid world) has been a rollercoaster. Luckily, I have had Russ here in SM to make things not all scary, but it was a new place, with new roommates, a new state, a new job and new friends. However, I have learned more about myself and become more passionate about everything I do in the last 6 months than I have in a long time (or maybe ever). I think I truly have become a better version of myself and really work to keep pushing myself in this new place I call home.
What have you learned about moving somewhere new?
