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Moving to a New City: The 7 Stages of Thrill

Whether it's your first time moving out of your parents' house or just relocating on your own, I think we can all agree that moving to an entirely different place is never as it seems. 

Here are the stages of moving to a new city:

1. Excitement

Our natural drive as humans is always craving change. 

Change in whatever form is accepted, and a new adventure in a whole new part of the world screams for our attention. 

Desire and excitement escape through our pores as we imagine and anticipate the great, new changes life has in store.

2. Anxiety

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of the long awaited move is stressful. 

"Will I be able to afford this?", "What if I have too much stuff?" "What if I don't get approved for the lease?" "Will I make friends?" 

The excitement is definitely still there, but things are getting way more real as the time to leave home comes. 

3. Goodbyes

Leaving family and friends is bittersweet. You hug and kiss your parents goodbye as you get in the truck, or on that plane to your new life. 

You pinky promise to all your friends that you will text and call every day to stay in touch-that even though there is now some distance between you, nothing will change. 

You are excited, sad, and anxious all at the same time. A new chapter of life being written before your very eyes.

4. Adjustment

So you've unpacked and settled into the new place you now call home. You've become pretty familiar with your new surroundings, learned the ways of this new 'land.' 

Maybe you've started a new job, or at a new school. Your routine has started and you settle into your thoughts. Sometimes you feel like you wish had more time to relax before starting up everything, but you realize that life is never ending work, and you move on.

5. Absence

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and if that isn't true, then I don't know what is. 

Whether you have roommates or not, life on your own gets harder and harder everyday. You get back from your day and think, "Oh I wonder what Lisa is up to?" or "I'll call John as ask if he wants to hang out." 

Then you realize, you can't do that, because you're in a new place and the days of spontaneous rendezvous are over. 

You sit back and start to think of everyone back home where you left them, sure you talk and keep in touch, but it's not the same when they aren't there. 

This is when the true reality of what it's like to move to a new city sets in. Sitting our your bed, in the middle of the night, wishing everyone you love, were right next to you.

6. Melancholy

You know that the day when things are finally okay is bound to come. But until then, it's all about many sleepless nights, missing those you love, and wishing you had never left. 

It's hard, harder beyond belief, and that's the thing nobody tells us. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but this is on a whole new level of difficulty. 

You're at a loss; you don't know what to do. Haven't made very many friends yet, but then again, do you really want to? Just to know that right when things get better, you have to leave them, just like the ones you left back home. 

You can slowly feel the bond shared between your closest friends/family fading with each passing day. Long phone calls each night, turned to text conversations, turned to barely a hello each week…if that. 

This is the hardest thing to cope with, feeling so alone in such a big world, and wondering if this will get any better or worse.

7. Progress

After feeling so lost and alone for what feels like an eternity, you know progress is being made when you can get through a whole day without wanting to jump on a plane and never return. 

You even have a group of friends now, a routine that doesn't make you want to curl up in a ball and waste away. 

You allow yourself to have fun and move on. 

You know that you'll always have a place to go visit when you're feeling nostalgic, but you have a new home now, and you remember the excitement and thrill you felt in the beginning of it all, and then you realize how lucky and blessed you truly are.