Feeling Stagnant? Move to a New City.
My name is Mishana Sturdivant and I run Tad Bit Rad Travels. The purpose of this blog is to share tips, tricks, and recommendations to empower my readers to travel efficiently and unapologetically. In this post, I will talk about my necessary and intentional move away from home and how you can do the same.
I was born and raised in North Carolina. As a military kid, I was used to moving around every couple years but we stayed nearby NC to be with family. I became passionate about traveling the world after spending 2 months in Southeast Asia. Fast forward to the tail-end of the COVID-19 pandemic and I’m traveling internationally at least once a month. As a solo traveler, I became used to traveling alone how I wanted and on my own schedule. My life back in North Carolina began to look like my travel life: I did everything solo. On top of working from home, attending online graduate courses and all my extracurricular revolving around virtual meetings and social media, it was easy to stick by myself. Just like anyone else, I began to miss in-person human interaction, so I joined a restaurant club to try a different local restaurant monthly with other locals. Surprise, Surprise, I did that solo, too. I consider myself a friendly and approachable person, but I realized other locals preferred to socialize with the people they dined with.
The last two years of my life felt lonely. I didn’t care for my job at the time, online graduate school felt monotonous, I rarely left my house because I was able to get everything delivered, all my friends moved to different cities, I spent thousands of dollars traveling because I had the extra money and home was boring. Everyday felt the same. I needed a change.
If you are feeling similar, I would recommend changing your scenery. Don’t think too much about it. Just do it. Now, here’s more on how I did it.
First, I wrote a list of all the things that would make me happy in a new city.
Walkable city (I wanted to be able to walk to a coffee shop, restaurants, and bars)
Dependable public transportation (I enjoy taking the metro, tram, and bus internationally. I would love to have this at home)
An apartment with all my needs/wants under budget. I had to be real about what I could afford monthly. I wanted to be able to pay all my bills + expenses + extras with my monthly income. I could not move to a new city alone and be broke.
Had to be in/adjacent to a big city. This experience is new to me, but I wanted an overwhelming number of things to do, see, eat, and visit. I’m only young once.
After I figured out my non-negotiables, I narrowed down my choices and researched cost of living. I landed on DC. I wasn’t sold on the noise and commotion of the city, so I settled in nearby Alexandria. At the same time of this move, I also moved jobs within my company. I wasn’t passionate about what I was doing, so I put a ton of effort into switching teams.
Finally settled in my quaint and cozy apartment in Old Town, Alexandria, I’m embracing all of the sudden change. Yes, I’m paying $3000 a month on rent after selling my home that had a $1770 mortgage payment but at least I can walk to the grocery store. All jokes aside, I’m spending more time outside. I’m pushing myself to work out 3 times a week. I joined a women’s social club that allows me to meet other women in the area. I’m in a city that is beautiful to walk through in any season. I can take a quick uber to DC proper on the weekends. My new role is remote, and my new team is welcoming. My mental health and physical health have improved greatly. Moving to a new city and changing my scenery was the best things I could have done for myself. If you are looking for a sign to take that big leap, this is it. Now, go do it.
