Making the decision to move is one usually made for many reasons but when broken down all thosereasons have the same birth place and that's the hope for something better. Whether it's to turn that long distance relationship in to a new beginning, for a better job opportunity or simply your stale life needs a change before you join the 27 club. We all move to move on. And yes, sometimes life needs you to be quite literal.
So, first things first. you need to save up if you haven't already! Depending on where you're going you need to make your budget to cover your airbnb or extended stay where you stay the first weeks, food, your usual bills like phone, plus the apartment fees (remember you'll have to factor in extra in fees if you have pets).
Next step is to decide where you want to go! Seems simple enough but trust me, once you get into it its not. Here's what I suggest. Choose at least, 3 places you'd love to go and obsessively research them. Research is essential. Consider places you have family or friends. Already having connections there and coming in with a support system is truly helpful though not necessary. Do not however just focus on the highlights of a place you wanna choose places where you can see yourself living in, making a life so think of yourself as already there and ask yourself does this place have the things I need to make sure I enjoy my time in this new city. Are you the outdoorsy type? or do you prefer the hustle and bustle? take all of that into consideration. Once you've chosen a few good places now its time to narrow down the options with reality. *shivers* ugh, Reality.
Now that the romantic side of the research is over you need to get in to the nitty gritty. Look up living costs for the places you have on your list. Find an average for the type of apartment you like in the area you want to live in, it is essential that you stick to the places you like though so research the neighborhoods well and in depth and find one that plays in to your needs for example will you have a car? how much will you rely on public transit and is it close to stops or the light rail? do you like the quiet suburbs or are you looking to live downtown where you can go out and have more of a night life? perhaps the type of job you do will mean you'll work downtown do you wanna deal with that commute? be realistic. Where you live is an essential part of how you experience that city. once you have an average on rent think of all the other things you may need! For example do these apartments typically include utilities? can you keep your phone carrier? will you have to add international so you can keep in touch with people back home? Or maybe you're a gamer? If so, look for good reliable internet as if you were going to live there and search actual costs do this with everything and once you've considered all your unique expenses make a place in your budget for going out and one for "unexpected expenses", because life. It doesn't have to be a lot but what you can that goes in to savings if you didn't have a need for it that month (lucky you).
When you know how much you need to make a month then you start looking for a job knowing how much is the minimum you need to get paid to survive comfortably. I suggest you open an account with Glassdoor, yes they spam you with jobs and that kinda sucks but they have reviews and most importantly will most of the time have the pay for the position so you'll know what places you can apply to which will fit your needs. And suggestion, only apply to these jobs so that no matter who calls you, you'll at least know it'll be a good job for you. This process will help you choose the best city as well because your job opportunities will depend on the unique market in that city at that time and you'll want to apply to places you have a strong background in to up you chances. So this will typically be the part where you will be able to determine which city best fits your lifestyle and needs.
Once you have the ball rolling and are getting calls for interviews try to get as many of them as you can all on the same week and take a vacation week off of your job to go interview and explore the city. If you can get an airbnb close to where you were thinking of living even better. That way you get a real feel of the place before you commit. And there you go! that's the very first steps I took to moving cross country and an ocean to the beautiful city of Denver. I hope this helps someone. Sorry that it was such a long post but I wanted to make sure I'd cover all I did. Still thank you for beating with me. I'd love to hear about your plans or experience as well! Leave a comment!!!
