Member-only story
Leaving a City Made Me Feel More Like an Adult
Shifting to small town after ten years of city life has felt like a second adolescence
When you live in a big city, it can be very difficult to imagine living anywhere else.
So much of your career, identity, social life, earning potential, and dreams for the future feel inextricably linked with the chaos, kismet, and opportunities of city life. But then, once every century or so, a global pandemic unfolds that challenges your career, identity, social life, and dreams in one gigantic swipe.
At least that’s what happened to me. And so, just under a year ago, I moved from a city of about 9 million to a town of about 60,000. I did this with about as much foresight as you might book a plane ticket in the Before Times. I had to make a change, and it seemed like a good idea, so I went for it. Luckily, I wasn’t wrong.
In the past 12 months, I’ve learned a lot about myself, including the fact that while city life had a lot to offer me — and yes, there are things I miss —it was also insulating me from making many decisions and changes that I was in fact ready for at the age of 31. As a result, the last twelve months has felt like a second adolescence of sorts. If moving to London at 21 was the first step in adulthood, then leaving it roughly…
