How Moving To NYC Happened

Sometimes the stars just align and you have to jump.

This post was first sent to subscribers in October 2023 and am sharing it to Substack now so readers can view it going forward in the archives.

I've honestly been keeping a bit of a secret since August (2023)….and it wasn't intentional. It was not part of the plan AT ALL. And it's time to finally come clean.

Let me backtrack first. My 6 week trip to an NYC Airbnb in September/October (2023) was 100% supposed to be about apartment hunting. I am on StreetEasy daily looking at apartments, get their emails, and have all my favorite buildings saved. In NYC, finding an apartment is WORK. And you usually have to do it about 30 days before you want to move. So the plan was, come to NYC and the last 4 weeks of my stay, I'd apartment hunt. And then aim for a November-ish maybe even December, move in.

I 100% anticipated getting frustrated with the process. Getting denied by landlords and crying on subways after realizing this was not going to work and I just want to go back home to my perfect affordable condo in ATL. A part of me knew deep down I would possibly back out of this whole idea after seeing how hard the process was, and how small and sad the apartments I could afford looked like. But I finally turned a corner mentally before this trip and knew I had to do this. No matter what. That mental block was finally (mostly) gone which I've had for 15 years.

Two Weeks Before My Trip…

About two weeks before I left for my September NYC trip, I got a text from someone who I've legit met once, texted twice, but we DM every so often on Instagram. We are by no means friends, just acquaintances. I got a text from her at 9:30 at night thinking it was my friend from Hawaii. Similar initials showed up on my iMessages and I had just texted her that morning to check in on her and the Maui fires. I think nothing of the text because I was in the middle of writing a newsletter about my favorite influencers to follow. I'll get to her text in a second. Focus, don't get distracted.

Turns out it was not my friend from Hawaii, but an influencer I was actually writing about in that email. Weird, right? The text simply said “I think we're ready to sublet our apartment, and wanted to see if you'd like to take it".

I couldn't believe it. And honestly, I instantly assumed it wasn't going to happen. It's a larger space that I probably couldn't afford but I was really gitty that she thought of me. We chatted back and forth and it turns out the rent is top of my budget and the flexibility she was willing to offer me was worth the stretch I'd have to make.

There wasn't much I could do just yet. So I gave her a tentative yes and then proceeded to have NYC dreams and honestly nightmares every night until I saw the apartment.

I toured the apartment just two days after I got to the NYC Airbnb in September. It was 95 degrees out and I arrived sweaty and miserable, but thrilled to get a tour of my possible future apartment.

It's beautiful.

We head to lunch to catch up and I tell her that I'm 100% in. I love the apartment, I'm taking it. We figure out all the little details and hug goodbye.

It's happening.

The other perk is that she is willing to keep pretty much all the furniture for me. Her and I have very similar styles, so this just truly felt like it was all meant to be. And while I anticipated buying all new furniture for a NYC apartment since most of my stuff won't fit into smaller spaces, this is a huge savings for me. Ironically, her space is so large that I think my stuff will in fact fit. But that's to decide down the road.

So right now, I have a key to an apartment in Manhattan that I'll be moving into a few days after I get back from Japan.

It feels so far away, roughly the first week of November (2023) I'll move. And honestly, it's put a damper on my excitement for Japan (which I know will turn around the moment I get there). But I just want to MOVE already. I'm so fucking done with this Airbnb and all the NEW issues I had on this trip. And I also just feel like none of this is real until I'm physically in the apartment.

It honestly feels too good to be true. For weeks it was “I'll believe this is happening once I have the keys”. Which happened on that historic rainfall day that forced me to go to the city this past Friday. No excuses. It was our only day to do the keys!

I was drenched when I arrived, had spent 2 hours trying to go what would've been a 20 minute drive, but it was worth it and a memorable day to say the least. And now I feel like I can finally share the news!

But now I think I will just believe it all when I am in my new bed going to sleep with a view of Manhattan out the window. Which is honestly a dream I've had for as long as I can remember. Which just instantly brought tears to my eyes typing that out.

This is something I have wanted for so long but always had a mental block around it.

Too expensive (it is), too hard (true again), why bother (you should bother though). Something clicked when I went to Paris in October of 2022 that changed me inside forever. I know that sounds dramatic, but the thing that changed was that mental block. I needed that month to see what it's like to live in a walking city to move past all my excuses. Because I realized those types of cities make me feel so alive.

While trips to cities like that always made me feel a pull to move, they never pushed me over the edge. Paris did. And then a month in NYC in the spring of 2023 was all it took. And having this apartment literally fall into my lap makes me think that this is just all meant to be.

So yes, I am feeling all my feelings and have been so excited about it all. I'm planning on keeping my Atlanta condo for now thanks to my very affordable living costs. I think the plan is to reevaluate life in about a year. I think I'll know quickly if I love or hate it here after experiencing winter and paying NYC costs for an extended time. And If I stay, maybe selling my condo is the next move, or maybe I'll have moved up the rental waitlist to lease it out by then.

This is all to be determined and there's nothing I'm ready to do just yet. So it's just a wait and see for now. Plus, it'll be nice to have a place to go back to for holidays or if I just need a visit with family and friends. And it feels like I have a nice safety net if I do hate it all and just want to come home.

That's the update. I am so excited to finally be sharing it with you all ❤️

I also just want to say thanks. So many encouraging messages and tips and tricks to apartment hunting, moving or even just offering a coffee date up to me so I can meet new people in the city. You are all the best and I am so grateful for this corner of the internet for cheering me on. I can't wait to share my new life in NYC with you.

xo Jessica