My Experience Moving Out Of State

A couple months ago, I asked on my Instagram stories for any blog topics that people wanted me to talk about – this was one of them.

For those of you that don’t know, I moved from Southern California to Phoenix, Arizona in 2019, about 6 months before the pandemic. I recently moved back to Socal, LA specifically. I haven’t moved a lot (in terms of states) so I’m not an expert mover, but I can share my experience. I’m not going to lie, change is really hard for me. I struggle a lot with it, so moving (both times) was not easy for me.

Luckily for me Arizona was right next door, so traveling back to visit family and friends was pretty easy (1 hour flight or a 5 hour drive). I also lived in Arizona for my first year in college and had friends and family that lived there prior, so I visited often and was familiar with the area. But with any move the most difficult things are: 1. Getting there and unpacking, 2. getting into your routine -finding all new doctors, hair stylist, esthetician, etc., and 3. making new friends, which is so difficult to do as an adult!

Getting There

No matter how perfect things go, moving in general is stressful. I have had the absolute best and the worst moving experiences. My advice is to not have any expectations and to plan for the worst.

Here are few tips:

Hire a great moving team and do your research!!
Start packing ahead of time so you don’t feel rushed. You can also use the time to get rid of things you no longer use.
Label boxes properly. It sounds weird but trust me. For some reason I put, “kitchen random, bedroom random,ect.” on some of our boxes and we had to open them up to see what was actually inside when unpacking/putting some boxes in storage.
Let it be!! There’s only so much you can control.

Getting Into Your Routine

This will take time, but I would prioritize finding new places that are an absolute necessity for you. So if you love pilates, I would focus on finding a great studio and then go down the list.

Finding places can be hard, I usually ask people I know for recommendations first. Then I’ll look on Instagram accounts that are similar to me, to see where they go. If you know you’re moving ahead of time I would keep that in mind, and anything you see on social media save it. For example, on IG if I see someone at a cool restaurant, I’ll save it and create a tab for AZ food and then save all food related things there. I do this for everything and it’s nice to have a place to quickly reference instead of scrolling your photos for screenshots.

For me it was hard getting into my routine because once I felt like I was settled in, covid hit and we all know how that went, so I don’t need to go too in depth there. For me, my routine is everything and having my places that I like is important. It was easy to feel overwhelmed and at times felt more like a job, instead of an experience. So If you’re similar to me, I would try to enjoy the beginning as much as possible. It’s so much fun to try out new places and it’s a great way to explore your neighborhood.

Making Friends

Making new friends as an adult is so hard! I wish it was easier, but you really have to put yourself out there. I’m not outgoing and have social anxiety, so this was something I was really worried about. Luckily for me, I made friends through work (at the time I was working as a nurse), and Chase was in law school, so all of his friends became my friends. Chase is also very outgoing so he’s my crutch in social settings… probably not healthy but you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.

I’ve learned that you really only need one person to feel comfortable, so drag your significant other or coworker with you if you get invited to a dinner or an event. In the beginning, say yes to everything (even if it makes you uncomfortable), it’s a great way to meet people, and try out new restaurants and bars. You’ll learn quickly what your go-to places are too.

Overall I think my experience was a little bit different because I already had family and a few friends before I moved so it wasn’t as scary. There wasn’t too much of a culture shock in Arizona either, but there was a weather shock lol. Every state is different, so you’ll want to learn more about the state if you’re not already familiar, especially with state laws. For example, in Arizona the carpool lane, you can cross in and out of whenever you want to, but in California you have to wait for the broken lines. There’s so many little things that you won’t even think about and you’ll learn as you go.

Looking back I was so scared and overwhelmed with all the change from the move to Arizona, but to be honest, it was harder moving back to California. After about a year and half in Arizona, I felt at home, made really good friends, and didn’t have an itch to move back. I didn’t LOVE Arizona as far as landscape and culture, but I loved the home I created with Chase and the friends that we made. Moving is scary especially when it’s far, so I can’t speak to that, but If you’re considering it and it feels right for you and/or your family – do it. It’s only hard for a short time.