My husband and I left NYC for 2 years, ditched 90% of our stuff, and lived in 10 cities—we’d definitely do it again
When my boyfriend asked to move in with me in 2017, I said no. We’d been dating for a year, and both of our New York City leases were about to expire. We’d save so much money if we lived in just one place, he said. But I panicked.
Our lives felt so boring. We were on track to follow the traditional relationship playbook. Next we’d get married, then we’d have kids, and before we knew it, our iron-clad routines would guide us straight to a retirement home.
Instead, I argued, we should do something different. We sold 90% of our belongings, stored the rest in his parents’ basement, and moved to a new city every month (sometimes staying longer and occasionally repeating a destination).
For two years, we found short-term rentals through Craigslist, Facebook groups, and Airbnb. We lived in 10 cities total, including Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and Austin.
Now we’re back in Brooklyn. We’re married and have a daughter. But the lessons we took from this adventure still inspire how we live today.
try new things, from surfing to going on a date at a state fair.
While this is harder to implement on a daily basis now, we create seasonal bucket lists of things we want to do in New York City, plan a unique date night every month, and switch up our weekend dinner spots.
got to know different sides of each other. For the first time, we dealt with the stress and challenges of navigating a new city, figuring out where to live, and not knowing anybody else there.
We had to find ways to build our own lives in these new places. We’d take up individual hobbies, go to our separate industry events, and plan one solo night out each week so that we could come back and talk about the different experiences we had.
Not only did this make our relationship stronger, but it also deepened our sense of self. I started to feel more like me again, the person I was before I got lost in working my 9-to-5 and living the same day over and over. It helped me find and embrace adventure.
Even though we’re happy in Brooklyn with our two-year-old daughter, this is something we’ll definitely do again with her before she turns 18.
Jen Glantz is the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire, the author of “Finally the Bride: Finding Love after Walking down Everyone Else’s Aisle,” and the creator of The Pick-Me-Up newsletter. Follow her adventures on Instagram @jenglantz.
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