NYC Gal Once Again

When you travel out of your comfort zone, it makes you see your starting point with fresh eyes. That’s what’s happened for me with my move from NYC to L.A.

A new job in the sun soaked city of palm trees, beaches (and yes, traffic) was too powerful for me to pass up. Especially since I had several acquaintances and a few friends in L.A. Having moved away from NY multiple times before, I naively assumed the transition would be equally seamless once again.

As indicated in recent blog posts, that didn’t turn out to be the case.  Despite LA’s picture perfect weather, my fortysomething self had a much harder time adjusting to a new zip code than did my twentysomething counterpart. Trying to navigate a car-based city without wheels of my own (Uber notwithstanding) wasn’t easy, and neither was doing without the easy access to dear family and friends that has been a huge cornerstone of my life.

Then, there was the job I made the move for. The two colleagues whom I became most friendly with ended up resigning — as did my boss who was 80% of why I took the job in the first place. It was a perfect storm of events that made it impossible for me to feel settled in L.A. — and reinforced the fact that my heart and home are very much in NYC.

So very recently, for the second time in six months, I made a cross country move. And I am definitely looking at my hometown differently now. The things that I had grown tired of I now appreciate in a new way, having had a break from them. For example, the cranky crowds. There’s an intimacy that comes from living in such close proximity to one another that’s the opposite of LA’s sprawling nature. And I love love LOVE being able to walk or take public transportation everywhere again. Simply put, I am happy and grateful to be a New York City Gal once again.

There’s no place like home.