Moving somewhere new can be a difficult experience in life. Surviving alone in a new city requires you to be resourceful and emotionally resilient. It can be difficult living in a new city especially if it’s your first time away from home or school. However, these experiences are crucial for growing as an adult and beginning to build a life for yourself. Following these tips can help you make the most of this new chapter of your life.
1. Don’t Be Afraid of Being Alone
Thankfully, New York City is an excellent place to combat the loneliness of living alone. Not only are you surrounded by unlimited dating options from around the world, but the city embraces the idea of being happy alone. Locals go out to eat by themselves, go out for drinks by themselves, and go on adventures by themselves, and it isn’t looked down upon or judged like in other places.
2. Find Your People
If you find yourself needing more human interaction, it is more difficult to feel lonely when you’re constantly surrounded by so many people that are chasing the same dream you are. New York has so many opportunities to meet new people. There are groups, meetups, and social activities surrounding any type of interest you can imagine, whether you’re looking for a gym buddy or a book club.
3. Invite Friends and Family to Your New Place
Before you embark on your journey, make sure to visit your friends or relatives to let them know you’re moving, and welcome them to your new place. It doesn’t have to be a goodbye, it’s a see you later. Inviting them to your new place will also give you something to look forward to if you’re feeling homesick or lonely.
4. Plan properly
Before moving out to a new city, always make sure to do proper research and planning. Moving to New York City without a plan will add unnecessary stress to your journey, so start planning by creating a moving day checklist.
5. Don’t hide your emotions
Feeling lonely? Does this move have you feel like crying out loud? Go ahead and do it! Stress levels and emotions are likely to be elevated during this significant transition of your life. Emotions are completely natural, so don’t try to shut them out and pretend everything is ok if you feel sad. Allow yourself to feel the emotion of sadness fully. Like everything, these feelings will pass, and expressing them fully will make it easier to move on from the emotions in a positive direction. Also, be sure to check out our tips for reducing stress to find some mental equanimity in this chaotic phase of life.
6. Explore Your New City!
Go out alone and explore your new city. There are endless restaurants, bars, lounges, museums, galleries, and shopping centers where you can get a unique feel for the environment you live in. These are also excellent opportunities to put yourself out there and meet new people. By exploring the city and attractions that interest you, you’re naturally setting yourself up to meet people with similar interests along your route.
7. Don’t Compare Your New Life to the Past
This is not only important when moving to a new city, but dealing with life in general. When we have wonderful experiences we tend to get attached to them. Don’t get overly attached to how your old life was. Everything going forward is a totally new and unique experience in life, as it is impossible to replicate experiences once they have occurred. Go through this crazy journey flowing with the changes instead of overthinking them.
8. Keep in Touch, But Not All the Time
Calling home to family or friends is a really great way of relieving some of the anxiety and loneliness associated with moving away. However, you want to be sure to keep the contact moderate. If you’re spending all of your time alone in your apartment on the phone with people, you’re spending less time putting yourself out there. Increase your chances of making a new, meaningful connection by opening yourself up to new interactions.
9. Hire Professional Movers
Start your new life off on the right foot by hiring the services of a reliable, professional moving company. Taking on this project yourself isn’t feasible or wise for your stress levels or your belongings. Submit a quote request today, and we’ll get you and your belongings moved into your new apartment so you can focus on building your new life here in the city. We understand the complexities of moving and are happy to relieve some of the apprehension and stress from the process. Don’t just take our word for it, see what people have to say about us on Yelp.
