4 Major Fears You Have When You Move Across The Country

The job market is tough for recent college graduates, sometimes you have to move far away from home to get a half-decent job (read: one that pays more than minimum wage) like I did. There are a ton of problems associated with moving across the country – packing, selling, consolidating, organizing, renting, hauling, lifting, pizza buying for your friends, etc. It’s costly, it’s annoying, and sometimes it makes you want to sell everything you own and flee into the woods Christopher McCandless style. But there are others things you may not have thought about. Like… 

1. Where am I going to eat?

Your favorite restaurants are no longer your go-to options. You can’t rely on your usual diner or pub or local Chinese food place or pizzeria. You don’t think about it but you’re certainly going to miss the comfort of having your standard choices. Something we have as a phenomenal resource now (Hint: It’s the Internet) let’s us do some quality research on what we can expect to have available to us once we arrive at our new destination. I learned there are some familiar chain restaurants in my new town but I also learned there are a lot more places I’ve never even heard of that I’m guessing I will have to explore sooner or later. Here’s hoping I don’t get food poisoning. But alcohol kills germs right? Speaking of which…

2. Where am I going to drink?

Even worse than food choices – where are you going to go out with your friends for a beer? Or a cosmo or whatever it is girls drinks. I know I’m certainly going to miss my favorite local Irish pub when I move next month. But like I said earlier about places to eat there’s stuff you can do to find out where to go and what’s around. I don’t know about you but I’m certainly excited to try new bars, always have been. It certainly can be fun and who knows, you may even meet some nice and decent people to hang out with, which can be really helpful since…

3. You may not see some of your friends again

It’s true. And even if you do it might not be for a while. My best friend and I live pretty far away from each other since we graduated from college. Even though we talk quite frequently we still only manage to see each other when something major comes up like a wedding or a funeral. It’s really sad when you think about it but that’s just one of the many curveballs life throws at you. It does force you to get out of your shell and if you’re naturally inclined to be a little more of an introvert then this can certainly have some negative drawbacks, especially if you’re uncomfortable making friends at your new office or don’t want to spend your free time socializing with people from work. But maybe you have a wonderful significant other to lean on when you’re struggling with the hardships associated with moving, but if you haven’t been dating for too long just know that…

4. Relationships can get real serious, real fast.

Or they can end tragically. When you have a serious relationship and one of you is forced to relocate because of your job it leaves the other person (and yourself) asking a lot of questions about the strength and longevity of your relationship. If you’re both confident in long distance then that is certainly one route to take, but you know you’re in the right relationship when the other person is eager to follow you and uproot their life in name of true love. But something that comes with moving across country in the name of true love also comes with a hefty price tag on something round and shiny that goes on her left hand, or at least that’s what all the wives of my friends have mentioned with all the subtlety of a drunk with a megaphone. I recently found out one of my coworkers and his wife get engaged after only three months of dating because of a cross-country move. I get that the job market is tough out there and it’s tough to pass up a good career opportunity just know that if you’re in a serious relationship your decisions affect more than just your own life and future.