When my Papa graduated from college, he got married and was whisked away into his married life for years to come. That was in the 1960’s. While the 1960’s days are far behind us, many still envision starting their lives out with a significant other by their side. I know of many couples who either get married or are committed upon graduating from college and choose to move in together upon graduating from college. Needless to say, it can be daunting to move and start out on your own as a single person, but it is also empowering.
Personally, I moved from North Carolina to Washington, DC upon graduating from college in the Southern state. I knew that I wanted something different after being in college and living in North Carolina for four years. Before even graduating from college like a few years beforehand, I knew that I wanted to live in Washington, DC and start out there. My mother started out in Washington, DC and tells me about all of her fond memories of her time in the nation’s capital. The same goes for my Dad. Once I found a job opportunity in the Washington, DC area, I knew I had what I needed to achieve my Washington, DC dreams!
When I was in the beginning of my college years, I had always envisioned moving in with a partner that I had met in college, whatever city it may had been. I probably was hoping that I had been able to move to a city beyond Raleigh, too, as I have an adventurous spirit. As time went on, I ended up dating somebody that I thought had the potential to be the one. It was my Senior year of college when I started dating them, and they lived in North Carolina in a different city than my college town and did not want to leave. Many of my connections for post-graduation jobs are in the Washington, DC area where I wanted to and now live. Needless to say, I became very stressed out looking for jobs in a place that I had not wanted to live in, but rather felt pressured to live for the life that I had hoped I would have. During those relationship days, I missed being single and having the freedom to move around without worrying about anyone else. We ended up breaking up after 2 months, and it was one of the best decisions that I had made, especially for my future.
Starting out single was not in my plan for my life. Yet, starting out single was what was best for me, despite me not anticipating it. It can be hard and is hard moving to a brand-new city without a significant other in sight. Some of the challenges with starting out as single and making a move include:
- The Moving Process – Let’s get this straight: moving can be a challenge. Most specifically, when you’re on your own, it can be difficult to move and move on your own, too. I was fortunate enough to be able to move close to family and have family help with both moving out and moving into my new city. The moving process is daunting – the moving trucks, the moving fees, the heavy lifting, and the packing/unpacking. Even with family help, it took me almost 2 weeks to unpack all of my belongings and fully set everything up in my new place. However, if you are doing it all alone, there is no reason to not utilize help from others. If you’re moving to the Las Vegas area, then Muscle Movers LLC Las Vegas can do all the heavy lifting for you! Not only can they help you move your belongings on move-in day only, they can also help you with packing and unpacking into any type of place, whether it be residential or commercial. At the same time, if you’re living in Las Vegas and moving across the state, to another state, or even overseas, these long-distance movers in Las Vegas can provide ALL of the facilitation regarding your move – find details here.. All in all, Muscle Movers LLC Las Vegas is a great way to allow others to help you with your move, especially if you’re moving on your own as a single lady (or gent!).
- Lack of Connections – Moving can be a struggle, especially when you do not know a soul in your new town. It can be tough when you do not know anyone beyond your coworkers, apartment mates, or even the mail man. It essentially feels like as if you are a new kid in high school in a new city. But this time, it may be without family and friends. Case in point: if you went to college and lived in a dorm in a place different than your hometown, then you probably didn’t have an established social network when you left. However, for most of us, you developed that social network, academic network, and professional network while in college. You did it during those university days, and you will do it again, but this time, within your brand-new city. You WILL establish a vast social network, grow professionally, and grow personally, too – right in your own new city!
- Not Having a Go-To Person Nearby – When single, it can be quite difficult to move when you do not have a go-to person right then and there, such as a significant other. There’s a lot of emotions that pop up when moving – stress, excitement, sadness, happiness, etc. It can be nice to be able to go through all those emotions with someone else. At the same time, it’s also nice to be able to have someone right by your side who can go explore and get to know your new town with, too. When single, not having someone who is right then and there to do things with can be difficult. But, on the flip side, when doing things on your own and independently creates confidence and allows you to grow and expand your network in a whole new light than if you were in a relationship. In fact, you may even meet your person while expanding your network while single!
Overall, moving while single can be remarkably challenging, but it has its perks, too. You can meet a bunch of people on your own timeline and have the flexibility to move on your own without worry about anyone else. Nevertheless, you get to expand your network on your own terms and only yours.
XOXO – Katie <3