How did I get here?

I’ve been living in Seattle for four days now, and I think it’s time now for me to reflect on just how I got here. This has been a momentous change for me. Two years ago, I was living in the town I grew up in, Dade City, FL, where I had just moved after spending a year living in Chicago. Even though I knew moving back home was the right decision, it wasn’t long before I began yearning for city streets. I began working for a teachers union in Pasco County in December of that year, and in about January I started planning how I would be able to move back to a major city by the time I turned 27 in April 2015. I was 25.

My plan was to save at least $24,000 before moving. I figured this would give me $2,000 a month, which I felt was more than enough to cover rent and modest living expenses for a year, the maximum amount of time I felt it would take for me to get a job. To help save the money, I moved in with my mom.

I also began researching cities. I wasn’t sure where exactly I wanted to move to, but I had few details in mind. I knew, for instance, that the weather had to be less extreme than Chicago. I grew up in Florida, and it only took one snowy winter to dissuade me from moving anywhere with a particularly cold climate.

I also wanted to live in a place with walkable neighborhoods. Owning a car is a major expense and a real encumbrance. I needed to live in an area where I could accomplish all my errands on foot, and where there was plenty of nearby public transit capable of delivering me to other parts of the city.

The area also needed to be vibrant and culturally significant. I didn’t want to move anywhere that felt small and conventional. There needed to be museums and festivals, but wherever I moved to also had to have great civic pride. There needed to be a palpable, city-wide belief in the importance of progress.

Finally, I need a place that was affordable. I never quantified what this meant, but basically this parameter ensured that certain cities that might greatly exceed the other pieces of criteria were off limits (I’m thinking of New York, San Francisco, Miami, etc.).

After doing a lot of research, I decided to visit two cities that I believed met these needs: Philadelphia and Seattle. In March 2014, I took a trip to Philadelphia, and a few months later in June I visited Seattle. I loved both cities, and would have gladly moved to either. But in the end I felt like Seattle would constitute a more adventurous move, and so I began researching what I needed to do to make that happen.

When April 2015 came around, I was on track financially according to the plan I had laid out more than a year before. But my mom, who for this entire time had been trying to sell her home to fund her retirement, had not been successful at finding a buyer. I did not want to move until she was able to sell her home and retire in peace.

Furthermore, she and I had begun talking about taking a long road trip across the country. She had bought a small tow-behind camper a year before, but she had only been able to use it in Florida. Part of her retirement dreams involved seeing the many natural wonders of the United States, however, she was uncomfortable with the idea of towing her trailer cross-country alone. She needed someone to accompany her on her maiden voyage to set her mind at ease and show her that she was more than capable of making these kinds of trips.

I more than happily agreed (who would pass up such an opportunity!), and we started planning a six-week trip that would take us to many of the great national parks out West. When the trip was fully planned, I put in my notice at work and began training my replacement. I also started searching for an apartment in Seattle, and eventually I signed a lease for a place sight unseen (risky, I know, but it all worked out!). My mom, meanwhile, worked her ass off trying to find a buyer for her home. Fortunately, with just days to spare before we set out, my mom and her realtor closed a deal with some buyers from New York, and we were all set!

The road trip was a great experience (I’ll have to commit an entire post to that some day!), but six weeks was a long time to be on the road. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to do it, but I was also glad when it came to an end. I flew to Seattle from Atlanta on October 20 (we were camping in northern Georgia at the time), and since then I’ve been reacquainting myself to city life.

I can already tell that it’s going to be a lot harder living so far away from my friends and family than I had imagined. Whenever I start doubting my decision, however, I just remind myself that this move was about being adventurous and taking risks. There will be difficult moments, I know, but I’m determined to make this work and to overcome the many challenges I have yet to face.