Moving to a new city can be quite challenging. Of course, when you’re doing it alone in your 20s, it gets even more difficult, but it could also be exciting. So, what do you need to know about moving to a new city in your 20s?
The 20s are the best time to switch cities for many reasons. But whatever your reason, there are tips to help comfortably settle in a new city alone. These include researching the city, packing light, handling paperwork, considering co-living, being open to new experiences, and bringing more money.
Doing everything right doesn’t guarantee that you’ll enjoy the new place, but that’s why you’re doing it at that age. You can easily decide to move back or find another place you’ll be comfortable in. Here, we discuss what you should know about switching cities in your 20s.
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Why Move to a New City in Your 20s?
There are tons of reasons to move to a new city. It could be for a new job, school, or just because you want it. But if you see an opportunity to move to a new city in your 20s, there are plenty of reasons for you to take it.
1. Best Time to Travel
Even though there’s no timeline for when you should do certain things, your 20s are the best to make major life-changing decisions. Most people are mobile and flexible in their 20s because they don’t have a family of their own yet. This freedom makes it easy to adapt better to major changes.
2. Experience Life Outside Your Comfort Zone
If you’ve lived in the same city your whole life, your 20s is a good time to experience something different. It’s a chance to challenge yourself and discover abilities you never thought you had. In addition, living in a new city alone will make you more independent and motivate you to take control of your life. While it’s good to have a support system, knowing you can do certain things without help is better.
3. Get a Different Perspective of Life
Living in one place all your life could limit your worldview and cultural experience. If only for this reason, you should seize the opportunity to move to a new city in your 20s. This’ll allow you to meet new people, experience new cultures, and you could get new opportunities too. You’ll also make new friends in the process.
4. It Could Be Satisfying
A change of location can help you turn your life around if you’re feeling stuck. Many things could bring this feeling of dissatisfaction with something in your current city, such as the job, people, weather, environment, etc. Whatever it could be, a change of location gives you a fresh start.
How To Move to A New City
If you’re planning to relocate to a new city in your 20s, it’s essential you do it right for the best experiences. Here are tips on how to do that:
1. Research the City
You don’t have to wait till you’re in town before knowing about the city and its best neighbourhoods. Research is a crucial part of any major decision, and moving to a new city is a major life-changing decision. So, you know enough about the city to not be surprised when you get there before moving. That’ll help you choose a neighbourhood, pick the right clothes for the weather, know where to explore, etc.
2. Bring More Money
When moving to a new city, more money is fewer problems. Financial planning is key when moving to a new city, and the basic advice would be to have 3-6 months’ savings with you as emergency funds. More money will help you offset all the expenses of getting a new place, the furnishing, and the social activities you might’ve to participate in as you acclimatize yourself to the new city. Of course, you should spend within your budget.
3. Be Open to New People and Experiences
To enjoy a new city, you must be ready to meet new people and explore new places. This might require you to make significant efforts, or it could come naturally, but you simply have to do it. Once you start meeting and interacting with people, you’ll feel more at home in the city. You should make extra effort to be social and explore new places when you’re new to a city. This will help you to settle in.
4. Pack Light
There’s an urge to move with almost everything you own, but this urge is something you should resist. Moving to a new city is expensive and may cost you more than planned due to unexpected expenses. You can save yourself some cost by packing just what you need. You don’t need to take all your belongings with you to a new city. Instead, take what’s necessary and sell or give away what you feel you won’t need again. Moving with less load makes the relocation easy, and it also ensures that you’re able to start a fresh new start.
5. Consider Co-living
If you’re moving to a new city alone, you should consider the idea of co-living. This is an apartment where you have a private bedroom but share other spaces such as the living room and kitchen with other roommates. Co-living allows you to retain your personal space while still meeting new people and having neighbours faster. In addition, co-living apartments usually have more utilities which means more convenience and lesser costs.
6. Handle the Paperwork
If you’re moving to a new city, there will be paperwork to handle. First, your lease contract is something you can’t avoid. However, even beyond that, there are still other documents such as signing for utilities, registering for insurance and healthcare, among other things. Having a list of what you need to do will help you avoid any oversight that could cause problems later.
In Conclusion
Your 20s is a great time to move to a new city. But doing it alone can be very challenging. Thus, it’s important to prepare for the move and make sure you do all that’s necessary to make your move a success.