For months, I battled a major decision; do I move back to NYC for my junior year of college or stay in Florida for a semester to save some money? Luckily, the universe ended up making the decision for me when I found out the majority of my classes would be in person for the semester (which later changed, but let’s not talk about it).
I had mixed feelings on moving back. I was delighted to return to the city I love and have missed since December 2019 (from January-March I lived on a ship- a wild story for another time). Still, moving is stressful enough, let alone moving during a global pandemic. On the other hand, Floridians have a mandatory quarantine when they enter New York, making travel arrangements more difficult. On top of that, it was looking like my parents weren’t going to be able to help me move back and I had yet to find a place to live.
Fortunately, finding a place was a relatively easy task. My realtor was able to find me a perfect fit in a matter of a week, and I was set to move. My mom and I packed up
For months, I battled a major decision; do I move back to NYC for my junior year of college or stay in Florida for a semester to save some money? Luckily, the universe ended up making the decision for me when I found out the majority of my classes would be in person for the semester (which later changed, but let’s not talk about it).
I had mixed feelings on moving back. I was delighted to return to the city I love and have missed since December 2019 (from January-March I lived on a ship- a wild story for another time). Still, moving is stressful enough, let alone moving during a global pandemic. On the other hand, Floridians have a mandatory quarantine when they enter New York, making travel arrangements more difficult. On top of that, it was looking like my parents weren’t going to be able to help me move back and I had yet to find a place to live.
Fortunately, finding a place was a relatively easy task. My realtor was able to find me a perfect fit in a matter of a week, and I was set to move. My mom and I packed up my room and my dad planned our drive from Florida to the city that never sleeps (a journey that would take about 2.5 days). I don’t know about you, and this may be a controversial opinion, but I hate road trips. Absolutely despise them. Granted, the last time I had actually been on a legitimate road trip was when I was about 10 years old and couldn’t keep still for more than half a second. Reluctantly, I agreed, because unfortunately that was our best option.
With that, we loaded up the rental truck and headed on our journey. We decided to stop the first night in Savannah, GA, and then the next night in Philadelphia, and then finally we’d arrive the following day in NYC.
To my surprise, I didn’t mind the road trip as much as I thought I would. It was kind of eerily beautiful to see the vacant roads on our way up the coast. Crossing state to state and stopping every once and awhile makes you realize how big this country actually is; how many faces and beautiful people there are in this world- each one with a story. I think it’s easy to look at this pandemic as just plain statistics or to say that if you get it you probably won’t die. However, those statistics are so much more than a number. One of those numbers is someone with a family, with a story; someone’s brother, sister, aunt, mother, father, etc. It’s easy to not take it seriously when you don’t think it’s going to happen to you, but if we’ve learned anything from this year it’s that you never truly know what may happen. The trip was beautiful because it reminded me how important people are to one another. Humans need humans. We need that connection. We need to take care of each other.
As I slowly move into my first New York apartment, I hope that feeling continues to resonate with me and throughout the rest of my life.