Everyone dreams of packing up and moving somewhere new. Very few actually do.
At the age of twenty-one, I actually did. I loaded up my Honda Civic Hatchback with my most important belongings and began a five-day journey across the country.
What Led Me to Move?
I had grown up in New Jersey and lived under my parent’s roof my entire life, but after visiting friends in Arizona, I decided it was where I needed to be.
I was in awe of the vastness of the desert and the mountains. I had always dreamed of moving to the West Coast and Arizona was my first in-person taste of it.
The Leap
It was extremely hard leaving everyone I’d ever known and traveling to an unfamiliar place, but I’d always been exhilarated by change and this sudden relocation was like change on crack.
After my initial trip to Arizona, I spent months in a haze, constantly experiencing intrusive thoughts about moving there. I had an insatiable urge that I needed to go.
I remember listening to J Cole’s “h u n g e r . o n . h i l l s i d e” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” on repeat. These two songs served as my Arizona playlist and kept my dream alive.
“There’s a feeling I get when I look to the West
And my spirit is crying for leaving” – Led Zeppelin
After several months of intense deliberations, I doubled down and broke the news to my family.
Reactions
One of the most interesting parts of the move was the reactions that I got from family and friends. Some family members told me I was insane. Other members cheered me on and told me it would be the adventure of a lifetime.
The whole experience showed me how much people differ in how highly they value adventure and the unknown. My parents did not put a very high value on adventure and the unknown. They were not happy about the move.
Despite heavy resistance from my parents and emotional resistance within myself, I followed my gut and headed into the desert!
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