The Second Anniversary of my Move to NYC!- The Adventuring Millennial

It’s been a while, but I’m bringing back my Moving Mondays series to celebrate my second anniversary of living in New York City!

New here? Let me give you a quick recap. In July 2017, I packed my bags and moved with my husband and our cat from Knoxville, Tennessee to Seattle, Washington. Seattle was great, but just eight months later on February 25, 2018, we moved cross-country again! This time to New York City.

I’ve learned a lot about myself and this city during these past two years. Living in NYC was a life-long dream and I still can’t believe this is now my reality. But it hasn’t always been easy. In this post, I want to celebrate the highs and dig into the lows of these past two years.

If you are thinking about making a move to NYC or are just curious about my journey, keep reading. I scoured countless blogs before I made my move to NYC and I hope this post gives you some small insight into my experience of life in this thrilling and chaotic city.

Looking Back on Year 2

I’m mostly going to focus on my second year, but if you are curious you can also read my One Year in New York reflection post.

Honestly, as I sit down to write this post, I can’t believe how settled and comfortable I feel in the city. I’ve been looking back at my Moving Blues post and it’s reminded me just how far I’ve come.

When I first decided to move to NYC, I didn’t have a career path in place and (besides my husband) I didn’t have any friends in the city. But I learned from my experience in Seattle and I worked hard on making NYC feel like home. I attended meetups, connected with local bloggers and eventually started to build a community. This past year, I was able to grow my friendships even more. As I look back, I feel so thankful to have such a great community in New York.

This past year, I also settled into my freelance career. I got a desk for my studio apartment and started regularly meeting up with other freelancers in the city for workdays.

I don’t know exactly when it hit me, but at some point this year I realized I’m now a New Yorker. Sure, everyone will tell you “how long” you have to be in the city to be a true New Yorker. But I think it’s really up to you. And this year, I decided it happened to me.

Highs

Honestly, this year was full of more highs than lows, and I’m thankful for that! I want to spend some time celebrating the highs this second year brought me:

Feeling like I have a solid community here in NYC
Making the most of weekend mornings so it feels like Austin and I have the city to ourselves
Actually understanding where most neighborhoods are and having an idea of what each one has to offer
Taking advantage of the trains and venturing out of the city to explore more of New York State
Meeting other freelancers in NYC and actually creating a workspace in my studio apartment

Lows

Of course, this second year came with some challenges, too:

In some ways, I take living in NYC for granted
Being in crowded touristy areas feels less exciting and more annoying
Slipping into an “NYC bubble” is easy but not always a good thing

What I’ve Learned

This second year has been a learning experience. Sure, I’ve gotten more comfortable and feel settled here. But, I’ve also spent the year learning and growing. This year, I’ve learned that NYC has something for everyone, you just have to look for it. It took me a full year (if not a bit more) for this city to truly feel like home. I’ve learned to come out of my shell and say yes to opportunities.

But as I look back and reflect, I also know that I need to push myself even more. Overall, I still love being here but I don’t like that I’m starting to take this city for granted. I dreamed of moving here for so long but now that it is my day-to-day, it’s harder to remember how I felt before moving here. I don’t like that touristy crowds get on my nerves. It’s easy to develop that attitude but I’m making a conscious effort to remember what it was like when I visited for the first time and what it was like when I just moved here.

I moved to get out of my comfort zone. Now, I’ve created a new comfort zone in NYC and I need to continue to break out of that. While I thrive off routine, I don’t want to settle and want to continue to explore everything that this dynamic and diverse city has to offer.

Thanks for sticking with me through another reflection post. It means so much that you are interested in my ramblings!

Are you considering a move to NYC? Let me know in the comments and check out these posts:

What it’s Like to Make 2 Cross Country Moves in a Year

Everything You Need to Know Before Moving to NYC