Three things I learned from my first month living alone in Manhattan

1. Loneliness is inevitable, but you can seek ways to alleviate it.

It's hard not to feel lonely in a city with so many people who always seem to have something going on. When you live in such a fast-paced environment, it's easy to fall into solitude. Granted, lazy Sundays by yourself feel good from time to time, but sometimes you want genuine human interaction beyond late night partying. The good news is, Manhattan is a hub of events and festivals, especially in the summer. Even if you don't have plans to hang out with someone, you can probably find something fun to go to by yourself. Once you're there, you'll most likely encounter interesting people and maybe have good conversations with strangers.

2. You have to seek out friends.

I guess this is true of adult life in general, but it becomes harder to make friends after you leave the campus bubble. There are lots of apps where you can meet new people (beyond dating), such as the Meetup app, but because online interactions are more fickle, people are flakier than usual. There are also other avenues to meet friends, such as social events or classes. The only difference is, you have to be more active in connecting with people and actually make an effort to hang out.

3. You become more motivated.

This is a function of the people around you, and New Yorkers are by far some of the most hard-working and ambitious people out there. Whether it is their career or lifestyle, people just seem to have their stuff together. Of course, I am generalizing. However, from my observation, people care about the way they look. They dress nice and a lot of people are into being active and eating healthy. That mentality kind of rubs off, at least I would like to think. They care about enhancing themselves professionally, whether it's going to classes or networking events. Motivation also comes and goes, kind of like waves, but it's hard not to pick up on the energy when your co-worker or friend talk about their aspirations and goals.


What have you learned from moving to a new city?