It’s been seven months since I moved to Tampa, and I’ve wanted to do a follow-up post to my initial post about how tough this move was for me. As many of you may remember, this move waged a war within me. I cried so much during my first month in Tampa, even though I moved in with one of my best friends and didn’t exactly move to an entirely different place. But it was still a change and a shakeup to my life as I had known it, and it took a really long time for me to feel comfortable.
So, how do I feel now, after seven months?
I feel good, settled, and happy with my living situation. But I don’t feel home.
Contradictory opinions, you would say. Let me explain.
First of all, I love living with Roomie. She is one of my favorite people to be around, and living together has only strengthened our friendship. We are very similar in so many ways, like the fact that we’re both grandmas who treasure going to bed early. We’re also both neat freaks so our apartment is usually spotless and we never have dishes piling up in the sink (we’re both the “clean as you go” type of people). We’re also very dissimilar in that she has a very active social life and rarely has a night or weekend with no plans. She’s an extrovert and I’m an introvert, but she can appreciate my hermit-y ways and gives me space when I need it.
I’m so very, very glad we made the decision to move in together. It has been the greatest joy being her roommate for the past seven months.
I love our apartment. It’s spacious and beautiful and has so many amenities. We are paying a pretty penny for it, but I place a high value on living in a beautiful home, so it’s worth it to me. I also rarely ever feel unsafe here, even the nights I’m outside with Dutch at 3am! I like that because, in my old apartment, I had a lot of anxiety and fear when I was home alone at night.
I love that I am so close to work, that I can come home every day at lunch to walk Dutch, and that I can easily make plans with friends after work to explore all the foodie spots around South Tampa.
But do I love South Tampa? Well, not really. I actually really, really miss living in St. Petersburg. I still feel more at home in St. Pete than I ever do in Tampa. I drive over the bridge multiple times every weekend because that’s where my mom is and my friends are. I still feel very, very connected to St. Pete and a bit out of place in Tampa.
South Tampa is a very “cool” place to live because there are so many restaurants popping up and fun things to do. I haven’t explored it as much as I should, and I still have to use my GPS constantly, no matter where I want to go. I’ve yet to take a walk down Bayshore or the Riverwalk or Curtis Hixon. I haven’t been to half the restaurants people have told me to visit. I want to, but I haven’t really made exploring this area a priority as I should.
Probably because I know my time in Tampa is temporary. I know I will move back to St. Pete eventually. Probably not this year, maybe not even the following one, but soon enough. St. Petersburg is where my soul belongs.
But, even knowing South Tampa isn’t the right fit and that I want to move back to St. Pete someday, I’m glad for this experience. I’m glad I’m living in this area with Roomie. And I’m glad for the lessons I’m learning during this time in my life.
Adjusting to this new living situation was hard and I had to give myself buckets and buckets of grace to make it through that time. So, it feels really, really good to be in this place – this contentment with who I am and what my life looks like and where I live. I wish I didn’t have to go through hell to get here, but I am so very glad I am here.
I am glad that you’ve adjusted to your new home but I can understand that some cities or areas of a city are just not a great fit. That’s how I would feel if I lived in St. Paul, which is just across the river from Minneapolis. People in the Twin Cities tend to strongly identify with either Minneapolis or St. Paul and I am a Minneapolis girl through and through.
It sounds like you have an awesome roommate! How well you get along and how compatible you are will make or break the situation and it sounds like you couldn’t have picked a better person to live with!
It’s been seven months already? Wow. Time flies! It seems like it was just the other day we were talking about the big move and the adjustment. I’m glad that on the whole it’s all going well for you. It can be hard to move away from an area that you connect with so well- my guess is that you feel very connected to St. Pete and not to S. Tampa, especially when most all of your friends + family live over the bridge.
Considering I spent a year in an area I loathed, I totally get why you want to move back to St. Pete one day! That’s how I felt about moving back to the STL.
Wow. Seven months! I moved right after you. We just discovered the inconsistent lights in our eating area had a dimmer. So when I was like “SOMETIMES THIS LIGHT IS BRIGHT AND SOMETIMES IT’S SO DIM WTF” it was because we failed to see the little knob next to the switch. It took us six months to see the light.
I’m glad you’re in a better place even though it’s not home. Your roommate sounds amazing. A year or two will probably whiz by like the last 7 months seem to and then you can make your way back home to St. Pete’s.
It’s so hard to try to make a life someplace where you know you won’t be for very long. If I’ve learned anything in my many moves, it’s that. Wishing you luck. <3
I totally know what you mean about feeling settled and happy, but not at home. That’s how I feel about Minnesota, at least right now. When people ask me what I think, I struggle with my response. I like it, I say. And I do. I really do. It’s a really nice place to live. But it doesn’t feel like home, not yet at least and maybe it won’t. I’m two years in and if we got an opportunity to live somewhere else, I would definitely consider it.
I still refer to “home” as the house I grew up in- and I’ve been living in my apartment for almost three years! haha. I think I will continue to call that home until I buy a place/get married/have kids. It’s definitely something about knowing this is temporary. I’m actually moving in less than two weeks, so we’ll see how that transition goes! I’m the same way, it’s tough and I’m expecting the first month or two to be difficult but hopefully it’s for the best in the end 🙂
Sometimes the best things happen when we push ourselves out of our comfort zones. I am so glad you made the leap and moved in with your friend in Tampa!!
Glad to hear you’re feeling more content with your new living situation. Change is hard but I think you’ve handled it with grace. <3