Since the move to New York City is still very much top of mind, I think this week's post will be a short bit about how the first month of living here has been.
So far I've been at my new job for four weeks. The first week I was just staying in a hotel while I got the keys to the new apartment and some basic necessities I would need to start staying there the next week. Namely a bed and some toiletries. Therefore only three of the weeks have been spent at our new place. The exact number isn't really relevant, it's just to give some context.
I have had several positives since work started. First, I can already tell that I made the right choice in terms of relocating. I've fallen into the routine of going to work and going home, and I already like it a lot. Just being in Manhattan during the day makes me feel good, even despite the cold weather. I'm a bit of a weirdo in that I'm quite introverted, but I love being around a lot of people at the same time. As long as I don't have to interact with anybody, being surrounded by others is strangely comforting, and NYC has no shortage of that. Being crowded on the subway during rush hour isn't exactly the same feeling, but it still makes me feel like I belong.
Second, I've really missed the ability to walk around the neighborhood and try different things out. With our last place in Seattle, there wasn't much in easy walking distance so everything was either a long walk or we would have to drive. With the new place there's a ton of options nearby and if we want other things, the bus and subway are super close to take us to other neighborhoods. It's one of those things that my wife and I have missed constantly since we moved away from Capitol Hill in Seattle, so it's great to be getting back to that again. It also helps that most of the places I've been too so far have been good so I don't see us getting into the same rut of rotating between only five different restaurants like we have the last year or so.
Third, I've been able to hang out with some of our friends in the area a couple times and that's also been really comforting. It would've been a much harder move if we had to start from zero again when it came to having friends. Again, the whole introverted thing makes that difficult, so having a few friends already helps significantly.
Fourth, it feels so good to be working again. I admit that what I got is certainly not a dream job, but it's a good foot in the door since it's a good paying job, it's in the city I wanted to move to, and it's in a new industry that I could come to really enjoy in time. The people I'm working with are very friendly and are already looking to me for advice on how to do things, especially coming from a company known for scaling. I know that I wanted to have some time off between jobs this time around, but turns out it was a little too much. Should I decide to move on from my current place, I will definitely go the route of having the next thing lined up and just take a few weeks off instead of months.
There are definitely a few negatives about this first month though. Namely, it has been very lonely outside of the times I've been with my friends or back home with my wife. It's not something either of us is used to, so it has been hard on both of us. Granted, we both know couples who have been split apart for much longer and seem to do okay, but that just isn't for us in general. Week long trips is one thing, but multiple weeks in a row is something else. It doesn't help that the apartment in NY is practically empty and the apartment in Seattle has been slowly put into boxes. So neither place really feels like home. At the time of writing this though, the Seattle apartment is now completely empty and our stuff is on the way to NY, so only a couple more weeks until we have a real home again.
Some other negatives, eating out for every meal for over a month has been taking its toll on me too. It's going to be great getting back to actually cooking again. Can’t really get back to that yet with our stuff a few weeks away, but I can at least try to have some fresh food at home in the interim. Getting back into some sort of exercise routine would also be great, and hopefully that will be a little easier without the flying every weekend I have been doing.
Not having my normal stuff is a drag too. I get urges to play a specific game but then I don't have it. Or just have a couch to sit on. Or chat with the cat. It all feels like I'm on a constant business trip and I can't wait to finally get home.
Anyway, I don't want to leave this on a downer, so I will just end by saying that I have no regrets about the move I have made. It will end up being a rough couple of months where nothing is truly routine or normal, but in the end we will come out the other side in a great place.