Why I Moved from NYC to Southern California
50 days.
That’s how long I’ve been living in Santa Barbara, California.
It's also how long investors analyze price trends of securities, by taking the closing price over those days to indicate the technical health of the stock, also known as the 50 day average.
Marking bearish or bullish of a stock, forming a well-rounded opinion of being in a new city... I suppose 50 days is solid time.
Well, hello from Southern California!
You’re probably thinking: What’s it been like?
The popular east coast assumptions are correct. The vibes are more chill and everyone’s pretty lax. And yes, a ton of people out here surf. Oh, and surf camp is a real thing. And you bet, the sunsets are epic.
This is where you go: Sounds awesome! You must love it!
It's not that Southern California isn’t cool or fun! It's definitely a neat place to be.
Lots of sunshine and there are plenty of new things to learn like how to bake bread, or code, or surf, or speak Japanese, or play the ukulele, all that.
The move was harder than I thought.
I did not expect adjusting to a new city to be so frictional. I mean, I didn’t even leave my home country for f's sake and yet it's so different.
Whether it’s my tendency to jaywalk, move fast, or my directness, people know I’m not from here. I have the same conversation so many times about how the hardest part about relocating is not the atmospheric adjustment but the process of making new friends and building a support system from scratch.
I didn't know a single person in Santa Barbara and what I find is that it’s easy to meet new people but so hard to connect.
I miss all my friends back home SO much.
Well, it's twofold-
1. I have the opportunity to work hard and make an impact at work.
2. I was curious.
Make no mistake, I love New York. I love it so much BUT I was more curious about working and living on the west coast. I wanted to know what life is like here and that difference, that x, that delta was all I needed to take the risk and make the change. I'm embracing that.
Change is full of risk. I like that. Sure, I wish someone told me how difficult it could be.
But I think it's important to stay flexible and keep an open mind and moving across the country is teaching me that.
I started my brand new job at a new company, learning a whole new market in an industry I never knew much about and let's stay honest- I could totally fail at this.
But I could also succeed at this. It's a huge learning opportunity.
I could really thrive here. People who avoid failure also avoid success.
Your turn again: So you made the move. It's been almost two months. Now what?
Great question. I’m working on some things, like
1. Building real relationships
I'm happy that I met some awesome people so far and I support them in what they do. It bothers me that we’re not close yet even though I want to be. It sounds creepy, I know. If you think of your best relationships, they were probably built over time, forming almost naturally.
And that’s what bothers me. It’s taking time.
In my mind, I’m all like “gosh, I want to be close friends with you NOW.” But even I know the consequences of rushing anything genuine. My best friendships have all formed over periods of time, deep conversations, and life’s challenges.
I’m learning whole new level of patience and inner peace these days.
2. Being in the best shape of my life
It’s easy to eat and live healthy in Santa Barbara. Yoga classes are free, ocean sports are available, running routes are beautiful, and the entire area is bikeable.
There’s always a vegan restaurant somewhere, restaurants aren't open late for your midnight munchies, and if you’re having trouble sticking to your new keto diet- worry no more!! California has at least 9 other people doing it, too.
Bottom line- if I am not healthy and fit by Halloween 2018, I’m doing something wrong.
3. Learning and being really good at my new job
This is most important. It's where a lot of my focus is right now.
It's why I moved here.
Some parts of my role, I've done similar things. Other parts of my role, I've barely dabbled in before. And I love that. I'm blessed to wake up every day eager to get into work because each day has been compounded knowledge and the autonomy to drive my own learning.
Moving to California was a career choice.
At first, I viewed this as an investment in my learning at work.