Why moving to a new city is good for you?

Deciding to move to another city can be both exciting and stressful. While you cannot wait to start a new life in a new city, leaving behind the life you have grown accustomed to can be intimidating. Read on for six reasons you should pack up and move to another city.

1. To know yourself better

One of the main reasons you should consider moving to another city is to get to know yourself better. Creating an intimate relationship with yourself can be difficult while staying at home. You are easily influenced by family, close friends, familiar surroundings, and the cultural and societal norms you grew up in. By moving to a big city, you observe happenings from an outsider’s perspective. This allows you to rethink your understanding of yourself and your culture. You begin to question original attitudes, beliefs, and values influenced by your upbringing, giving you a chance to find your purpose in life and shape yourself to be who you want to be without biases.

2. To become independent

While it is comforting to surround yourself with people you know, trust, and love in a familiar background, you may find that you overly rely on them for validation and comfort. Moving to a new city allows you to experience situations and face challenges without depending on anyone. While this may be scary, you come out stronger and more independent.

3. Better career opportunities

If you are not happy with your current position at your workplace, jobless, or working in an unhealthy environment, you could consider moving to another city. A new city could provide more career opportunities in your profession, better pay and working conditions, and even promotions. Be sure to conduct in-depth research before moving to a new location to ascertain that there are career opportunities in your specific niche.

4. To have a fresh start

Living in the same place for so long makes you grow into a routine. You know the people around you, the streets, and businesses. Your current location may become dull with time due to a lack of new happenings and adventure. Since the people around you also know you, a bad reputation can be challenging to shake off, which is why you should consider moving. Heading into another city allows you to have a fresh start away from familiar people, toxic relationships, and environments. You get to explore new experiences, adventures, and people.

5. You have no reason to stay

You may have moved to your current location to get closer to your friends or family, due to a career opportunity, or a change in a relationship. However, as time goes by, your relationship with the significant other changes, your friends or family relocate, or you finally quit your tedious job. You should consider moving when you realize you have no reason to stay in your current city.

Endnote

Moving to another city brings a lot of mixed emotions, making deciding the right course of action difficult. If you are torn between staying in your current location or relocating to a new city, consider the above benefits to make an informed decision.

The world is filled with new and magical places. But for many of us, beyond a vacation here and there, we spend most of our lives in just one place. It can be scary to take the leap and move to another city or country, but sometimes getting out of your comfort zone is the best way to learn and grow.

There’s a lot to be gained by making the move to another city or country, especially when it comes to learning more about yourself and other people and cultures. Such a major life change can be intimidating, but as they say: you only live once. Here are 9 reasons you should consider packing your bags and moving somewhere new.

1. Test your limits

   Sometimes we just need to take a leap of faith in order to find out what we’re capable of. While it may be impossible for you to imagine saying goodbye to a place you’ve called home for a long time, making the move to another city or country is a great way to see just how far your limits really go. And if you can do that, who knows what else you can do?

2. Foster independence

   There is comfort in familiarity, but it takes real courage to build independence. There’s nothing wrong with spending your life surrounded by people you know, love, and trust, but with that familiarity comes complacency. You may be surprised how much you rely on the people around you for comfort and validation, and how scary you find unfamiliarity. Heading out into the world on your own, without the security of those you’re used to having around you, is a huge lesson in independence that’s hard to come by in other ways. And while it’s an overwhelming prospect to be on our own, it’s not all black and white—your support system will always be just a phone call away.

3. Broaden your horizons

   The best way to experience something new is to immerse yourself in it. And you don’t have to move across the globe to do that—even making a move to a new city in your own country can provide you with access to an entirely new way of living. Being around a new culture has the unique power to broaden our perception of the world and our place in it, in turn opening our eyes to a clearer perception of both other people and ourselves. The benefits are multi-faceted and, even if you don’t move to a new a city or country for the long haul, will last with you for life.

4. Learn to be alone

   There’s something very freeing about the ability to be alone. Some of us are born being comfortable with it, and others have to constantly push themselves to do it. Even if you already have friends or family members waiting for you when you move to a new city or country, you will inevitably experience some feelings of solitude. It comes with the territory of being a stranger in your environment. But if you embrace these feelings, you can really grow from them. Learning to feel safe and content in your own company is a lesson you can take with you wherever you go—you may even learn that you really love it.

5. Make new friends

   It was easy to make new friends as a kid, when your new BFF may have just been the person eating lunch next to you in the cafeteria. As we get older, however, forming new friendships becomes more difficult. There’s nothing wrong with being content in our existing relationships, but there is something to be said for continuing to form new bonds and connections as we get older. Moving to a new place forces you to do just that. Whereas you may not have had much incentive before to get out there and meet new people, getting settled in a new city or country requires that you branch out and make connections. If you’re nervous about it, start out by just trying to meet your neighbors. As your confidence builds, you’ll feel ready to expand your circle.

6. Choose your optimal place to live

   If you’ve always wondered why your parents chose to live in the suburbs when there are so many great cities to explore or why anyone wouldn’t want to live near the ocean and palm trees, making the move to a new city or country is your chance to find somewhere to live that checks all the right boxes for you. In addition to the scenery, you’ll be able to choose somewhere to live that aligns with how you like to (or would like to) go about your life—from cost of living to amenities to the food scene, and more.

7. Gain valuable experience

   Schools and employers like to see that you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone. It builds character, which in turn builds better students and employees. Don’t move just to satisfy what you think somebody else might want, but do chalk up a move to a new city or country as a great resume booster that can help you out in the future. Will it get you a job? Probably not. But will it set you apart from the competition? Definitely.

8. Learn a new language in the best way possible

   Learning a new language is incredibly difficult, especially as we age. But there’s no doubt that the very best way to become fluent in a new language is to immerse yourself in it. So what better way to do that than to move somewhere where you really have no choice but to learn to speak and communicate in an entirely new way? It’s the best sort of language lesson there is. It will probably be incredibly hard at first (learning a new language always is), but if it’s all around you you’ll learn it faster and more proficiently.

9. You’ll start to appreciate where you came from

   Distance makes the heart grow fonder. It’s easy to take the things around you for granted if you never experience another way of living. Making the move to a new city or country will challenge your assumptions about where you came from and enable you to look at your roots from a brand new perspective. Even if you never move back to the place you previously lived, you’ll always have a more open minded vantage point from which to view it and an appreciation for what makes it different and special.

There’s no right or wrong age to pack up and make your move, so if you’ve got the itch to try out life in a new place and the flexibility to make it happen, go for it. You’re more likely to regret not doing it than taking the plunge. Bon voyage!

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Author: Laura Mueller

Laura Mueller is a professional writer with nearly five years of experience writing about moving. She is particularly interested in topics around organization, home design, and real estate, and definitely has a few tricks up her sleeve after moving eight times in eight years during her 20s. Laura believes that moving should be as stress-free of an experience as possible, and is always working on new tips and shortcuts that she can share with readers on Moving.com.View all posts by Laura Mueller

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