It took me a long time to find the ideal situation after deciding to move out of my childhood home. My experience is not going to be replicated in your life, but it might have some similarities.

I had been looking at apartments for about a month before I finally told my mom that I was thinking about moving out. I was surprised that she figured that I’d want to. I was expecting a fight because of the COVID-19 pandemic that is still very prevelant. Moving out during the pandemic isn’t really an ideal situation.

The first apartment I found on Trulia that really caught my eye had black and white tile checkered floors, and hard woods painted a deep red color. The walls were yellow and white – but I couldn’t help with getting my heart set on it. Unfortunately, it was well out of my price range unless I found a roommate.

I had thought I found another apartment that I thought was suitable for a college senior – especially since I don’t party and I really just keep to myself. It was the 5th floor of this old Victorian era house, it was huge! There were 4 other apartments in the house as well, but I would have had the entire top floor to myself. The other half of the attic wasn’t finished. The building had laundry in the basement. The only tough part seemed to be convincing people to help me move my heavy furniture up 5 flights of stairs. Anyone who is looking at a top floor apartment, please think of the people that will be helping you move. It shouldn’t be a problem if you can take your furniture apart, but don’t make your helpers carry something that has a lot of bulk and weight up a lot of stairs.

After budgeting, I had come to the disappointing solution that living alone in that apartment wouldn’t be financially stable. It was still too expensive. I ended up putting an ad on Craig’s List that I was looking for an apartment. I think it was the first day it was up that my new roommate had contacted me about needing someone. I never thought I would have such a great experience using Craig’s List to find an apartment or a roommate.

***Take caution, though, some of the posts are fake and are misleading.***

Just for the sake of desperation, I put down that I’d be okay with all animals except cats – as my family is allergic to them and I am a dog person, anyway. She had said she has a bunny, a guinea pig, and a new three-legged dog.

This is my first full day living here and I got most of my unpacking done (75% of it I would say), plus decorating. Today, I put away more of my clothes, reorganized a bit and dug up some more decorations. Now that my room is (almost) done, all I had to do was save the boxes in the basement and put away the bathroom supplies.

Overall, I am very excited to begin this new adventure in my life. And I gained a new friend in the process. Even though 2020 has been a mess, I think it’s going to be a great year.