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Sweet, Short, & Stylish

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Tips For Moving To A New City After College

Today marks six months since I’ve moved out of my hometown of Rochester, NY where I lived my whole life and even when to college at and decided to take a risk (a very big risk but we’ll get to that later!) and move to Dallas, TX. All my life I’ve been dreaming of moving and being able to achieve this dream was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life and it has transformed me into a better person. The best part was that moving was a lot easier than I thought it would be! It’s funny how we make things seem much more complicated in our minds. To anyone who’s graduating college soon and wants to pursue their dreams in a new city, here are my best tips: 

S A V E  A S  M U C H  M O N E Y  A S  Y O U  C A N

Moving is a ridiculously expensive process and no matter how much you estimate the move is going to be, play it safe and always have extra money saved up in case anything goes wrong. Also I highly recommend planning things as early as possible so that way you can save money on certain things such as whether or not you want to rent a truck and movers, pack everything into boxes and use good old fashioned mail (I used this method and luckily nothing got lost and it was surprisingly affordable!), or if you want to pack everything into a car and drive to your new city. Also, after the move there’s a tendency for things to go wrong. I know some people move after they secured a job but LIFE HAPPENS so make sure you’re prepared for it by at least having enough money to pay rent and utilities for at least a couple of months.

R E S E A R C H,  R E S E A R C H,  R E S E A R C H 

It’s quite an overwhelming and stressful process to figure out what part of a new city to move to so make sure to take your time and do research. There’s tons of forums and boards where people have been in the same situation as you and need suggestions on the best neighborhoods to move to which is safe and close to work, entertainment, etc so make sure to take advantage of those! Also read reviews, look at what’s around those neighborhoods, and even try to find alumni that might have moved to that city. You would be surprised at how helpful college alumni can be!

S E C U R E  Y O U R  A P A R T M E N T  
(B E F O R E  S O M E O N E  E L S E  D O E S) 
Here’s a fun fact: Before my move, I had never even visited Dallas so I knew nothing about the city other than my ridiculous amount of time spent researching it and asking people about it which meant I had to secure an apartment…while also not seeing it beforehand. Finding an apartment online can be a tough process and I had spent 2 months trying to find a place for a decent price in a safe area and once I did find my dream apartment, someone else managed to get it before me! Make sure to have back-up apartments just in case, ask tons of questions, read reviews (although not too many cause they will drive you nuts and a lot of things that people say online isn’t 100% accurate), and if you can, go see your apartment in person. Personally I don’t recommend anyone to do what I did cause I got super lucky and ended up with a good apartment but it was so stressful wondering what it would turn out to be like. 
S T A R T  S E L L I N G  A N D  P A C K I N G  A S A P 
One of the things that I regret most during my process of moving halfway across the country was not selling and packing my things sooner! I managed to procrastinate (perhaps it was nerves cause hello I made such a huge decision by myself lol) and waited until the last couple of weeks before my move to get rid of my things and was even packing boxes the night before my flight! It was stressful and I didn’t get much sleep but it all somehow managed to work out but please don’t wait until the last minute! Everything will go so much more smoothly if you start early. 
I hope this helps! If you’re still wondering whether if you should move or not, remember that your 20’s are your selfish years and this is the only time in your life where you have so much freedom and it’s necessary to take risks and do the things that you dream about. Yes, moving can be a scary process. I’ve thought about moving out of Rochester my whole life yet there was a very tiny part of me that wondered if I was making the right decision. Here’s the thing: there is no such thing as perfect timing or the perfect move or anything being perfect at all in life. Moving is like ripping off a band-aid. Once you actually do it, you realize that it wasn’t scary at all. Most importantly, the person that you turn out to be once the process is over will astonish you. I’ve never felt more powerful and brave in my life until I took such a big leap. So do it. Take the risk. And during my moments of doubt, I reminded myself of this quote: “Maybe it won’t work out, maybe seeing if it does will be the best adventure ever”. 
Thanks for reading,  
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Comments

  2. ahh I didn't know you are from rochester! that's where a few of my cousins lived! These are great tips! I dk why I read "secure your apartment" like DJ Khalid was saying "secure the bag" haha! but it's true you gotta take care of your stuff!!

  4. These are such great tips! (I haven't had this experience yet but these are all things I can imagine my mom saying so I know it's good advice!) My mom has preached to me since I was really little the importance of saving up enough money so you always have a "just in case fund"

  7. YES! My husband and I lived int he same home all throughout college and until we purchased our first home, so I had no clue how much it would cost to move. Crazy! Saving is essential.