5 lessons learned moving to a new city

Keep your eyes open, learn, and share.

I’m 29 and I've never lived more than 35 miles from my hometown until now. I moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Boston, Massachusetts just three weeks ago. I’m away from my job, my family, friends, and almost everything I know. I’m trying to keep my eyes open, learn as much as I can from my experience, and share it with you.

• Incorporate some level of minimalism. Even if you can’t quite make it to the extreme end of a minimalist lifestyle...try. Take baby steps. Grocery shop for only the things you need right now. Buying more means you won’t fit on the train home or you willl need a little grocery cart. Constantly remind yourself, “You’re in your 20s (and hanging on for dear life). You do not want to be dragging a grocery cart home.”
• Mind your perception. Some of the young people I’ve met in Boston so far have a weird sense of what constitutes a “bad neighborhood” (i.e. lots of homeless people). Don’t be that person. Don’t be Comic Sans (credit to Aziz Ansari).
• Read every sign within a 20 mile radius of where you park your car. Reread them 30 times. Use a calendar to know if today is the first or third Thursday of the month, or the second or fourth. Wait, are there five Thursdays this month?!?! The point is — be aware of your surroundings.
• Regular human interaction is more important than anyone actually knows. Texting and social media aren’t substitutes. Real face to face contact is critical for happiness, regardless of what Mark Zuckerberg has you brainwashed into thinking. Find people in the real world and appreciate your time learning about them. If you treated being in your hometown like being alone in a new city, how many new and interesting connections could you make?
• Focus on the positives of the situation you’re in and don’t dwell on the negatives or how your other aspects of your hometown were better. I recently read the old quote, “If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing,” and that couldn’t be more true. Don’t be scared of the world. Get out there and do it. You could experience something beautiful.

Aside from the parking advice, everything else can be applied to your day-to-day, even if you still reside in your hometown. Maybe you’ll even appreciate where you live a little more than you do right now.

Disclaimer: I’ve got it easy and I do know it. I’m lucky to have a partner in all this, a job that allows me to work remotely, and video chat.