The Journey of a Lifetime: What it's Like to Pack up and Leave Town

We were young, single, not sure what life path to be on, and ready for adventure. A friend and I always had the desire to  move to a big city.

We thought it was just a silly desire that would never actually happen. One day we found ourselves talking about it, and the fact that we both had the secret desire sparked an interest in pursuing our wild ideas.

So, we spent a year picking up extra shifts and saving our money. We kept it a secret for most of the year, thinking that our friends and family would think we were nuts. As the time drew closer, we finally announced our plans. Our loved ones were actually excited for us!

I didn't wind up staying in the city we moved to, however, I had the time of my life. My friend is still there and will probably never leave. I never, in a million years, thought that I would have the courage to do that, and am so glad I did it.

Here are the highlights from our adventure:

The Drive

Music. We loaded our iPods with tons of music from when we were in middle school to the present. We sang and laughed when a song reminded us of a funny story from our past.

 Beautiful Scenery. The beautiful rocky mountains in Colorado, the large, red canyons in Utah, Arizona's cacti and large desert mountains, the large buildings and billboards in Vegas.. There was so much to see.


The Unknown. We were excited, nervous, and had absolutely no idea what was ahead of us. Sounds intriguing right?


The New Surroundings

New Friends. We didn't know anyone, which forced us to meet all new friends. Luckily, we were both social butterflies, so this was not difficult. The fact that we had a pool on our rooftop also helped.

Tons of Stories to Tell. I had so much to tell all of my friends and family about my adventure when I called home. We constantly had to be on the go because we were searching for new jobs, exploring our new home, and meeting all sorts of different people.

We saw what we were made of. When you move to a different place, you are so far out of your comfort zone. You rely on your social skills, your sense of direction, and you gain an immense amount of courage through it all.

What I learned 

Don't ever let fear stop you. To say that it's amazing to fight through a major fear is an understatement. You gain confidence, resilience, strength, and a brand new set of eyes. It's such a great feeling, that you gain a desire to see what else you can do, which creates a whole new exciting life.

Saving money is easy. If you have a big goal that will cost you a significant amount of money, you can find a way to get it as long as you want it bad enough. The thrill of stashing money away for something like moving is highly rewarding. Each time you put money away, you'll feel proud, excited, and motivated to work harder for your goal.

Don't follow the crowd. Be you. After high school, you go to college, get married, and buy a house, right? What if you're not really ready for that yet? What if you need to experience some adventure first? Is that really wrong?

Before I took my wild adventure, I was in a serious relationship that I wasn't happy in, on a career path that I despised, and living a life with no meaning. I used to come home from work feeling tired and stressed, pop on mindless reality TV, and think to myself, is this really it? Is this the life I'm going to live forever? Hating work, wondering if I'll be saran wrapping my boyfriend's meal because he won't come home when he says he will, and being a TV zombie? 

I'll end this by saying, don't ever let yourself become the product of what society says  you should be. Don't be afraid to live your life differently, and don't deprive yourself of that amazing feeling of being alive. You can be living, but it doesn't truly mean that you're alive. Don't be a TV zombie, we weren't put here to live like that.

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