January 13, 2014

Living Up In The Air

Today I moved out of NYC.

(Gulp.)

After a really fun goodbye party with my friends on Saturday, I settled down on Sunday to packing in earnest. I did a lot of cleaning out over my Christmas vacation, but it wasn’t till Friday that I started making a lot of headway with actually getting things into boxes. Yesterday, though, it was do-or-die time: my goal before bedtime was to be completely packed except for toiletries, blinds/curtains, bedding, and other miscellaneous things I needed for my last night at home.

I actually reached my packing goal around 11pm, hitting the sack right around midnight, but it wasn’t exactly fun getting there. My mom came to help me move (she is amazing), and we both worked through the whole day with our only breaks being moving-related errands like getting more boxes at U-Haul (I ended up using over 80 boxes, well more than the 30 or so I originally bought). But to make things even worse, my poor mom tripped and had a bad fall while we were running an errand, banging up her arm pretty badly in the process. She is a saint for insisting on continuing to help with that awful circumstance! (Pro moving tip: pack your first aid kit last. I’m so sorry, Mom!)

This morning, though, we finally thought we were in decent shape. Everything was packed and ready by 11am, PODS had given us a 2.5 hour window for the delivery of my POD unit (12pm-2:30pm), and my movers were set to come between 12pm and 1pm. It wouldn’t be ideal if the movers got there right at 12pm and the POD didn’t come till 2:30pm, since I’d then have the movers longer than I needed, but when PODS called at 12pm to let me know they’d be there in 40 minutes, I was psyched. It was going to go perfectly!

Except no move ever goes perfectly – and at 1:15pm, the POD unit still wasn’t there. When I called my PODS driver, he said that the center had reassigned him to a different move and that another driver should have contacted me – but didn’t. Long story short, although my movers arrived at 12:30pm and did a phenomenal job prepping everything in record time, the POD unit didn’t show up until 4:30pm. (Cue conniptions on my part.) I had to leave by 5pm sharp to catch my flight to Dallas, but things weren’t exactly done by that point.

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Again, thank goodness for my incredible mother – who insisted that I not stress about changing my flight, and instead promised that she would supervise the rest of the move and make sure everything was fine. (And my movers were absolutely amazing and honestly didn’t really require much supervision anyway – thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to Stressless Assembly for providing the nicest, most capable, most flexible movers ever!) I ended up boarding the flight just as my mom let me know they were wrapping up, and admitted that she had shed a tear while leaving. She’s not at all thrilled that I’m moving across the country… but I’m also already starting the campaign to get her to move to Boulder, which I know she’d love.

While the day was stressful, I expected to feel relief once I got into the car to go the airport. Instead, I felt awful – sick to my stomach and unable to keep from crying myself. It feels absolutely insane that I’m now basically going to be a nomad for the next few months, living out of suitcases and not really having any place to call home. When people ask me where I live, the answer is going to be airplanes and hotel rooms (“up in the air!” I’ll remark with an attempt at levity)  – but that’s just kind of scary. The three suitcases I have with me are going to be the only possessions I have access to until I move into Colorado. An exercise in minimalism, yes, but not exactly an exercise in getting settled.

I’m trying to focus on the positive – and this situation does have a lot of upside. I can travel to lots of cool places – and in fact, just booked a trip to Germany next weekend. (Note to self: take a crash course in German in the next few days.) I can plan a surprise weekend trip for someone’s birthday (not telling who/where on here till it happens!), or go visit a friend on the other side of the country. And mostly, I don’t have to feel obligated to visit NYC just because that’s where my stuff is and because I’m paying an absurd amount in rent to only be there a few days a month. New York City has never been the right city for me, and in the long run, it’s a good thing that I’m finally getting out of there.

But still, leaving the apartment that I’ve called home for six years is tough – and I definitely cried when I walked out the door for the last time. I’m trying to remind myself that my friends are my friends no matter where I live, but what I’m doing now just feels too George Bingham-y for my taste… and honestly, following in his footsteps is a really lonely proposition. The movie Up in the Air has always hit too close to home for me to enjoy, and while this was my choice to make the move to Colorado and be up in the air for a few months, I’m definitely struggling with that decision right now.

Hoping it gets better when I’m on the ground? We shall see.

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17 thoughts on “Living Up In The Air”

  1. I think it will be worth it in the end, when you consider you are going to learn about all the stuff you don’t really need. I have been downsizing and downsizing and my hectic travel schedule really shows me how much stuff is just “there” not serving any real purpose in my life.

    Hope everything goes well.

    1. I agree that the cultivation of minimalism should be great! I’ve always been a bit of a pack rat so perhaps this will help.

    1. I need to ask my sis for specific restaurant tips etc. But if you can, you must try to visit Cologne as well! Which city do you fly into?

    2. I think it’s going to be tough for me to visit both – I’m only there Saturday night to midday Monday. But I fly into Dusseldorf!

    1. Boulder is fantastic! I’ve only been to Boulder proper once, but it reminded me a lot of the hippie college town of Ithaca where I went to school.

  2. Moving is always a stressful and scary time. It sounds like the next few months and the move to Boulder are going to be really exciting! All the best and I hope you enjoy all of your travels coming up.

  3. Hi Laura,

    Love your blog! I am originally from Colorado and my family lives a little south of Denver- please reach out if you need any tips or have questions! Colorado honestly has the nicest people and Denver is a very fun, active city.

  4. Hey Fit girl,
    truly amazing you are! The freedom of your life and your career is something few people get to do. And I love how you are embracing the journey. And sharing it too 🙂
    If you are ever in need of a place to stay or stop over or visit on your way to a new destination. Our door is always open
    safe travels
    Brett

  5. No move goes smoothly, at least not in my experience! So awesome of your mom to take the reigns for you so you could catch your flight! Best of luck with traveling and moving and all of it! Take it one step at a time!

  6. I’m so excited for you! I’ve moved a lot in my life and it’s always hard…so I know that feeling! I tend to be an emotional wreck, haha. My Dad always says that for the first year in your new place, you’ll find all the stuff you don’t like. The next year, you start to really learn all the things you do like. I’ve found this to be true in my experiences. Hang in there for now and enjoy your travels!

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