A nomadic life

Around this time is when summer peaks - the sun gets warmer, cold booze and refreshing drinks spill the bars and tables, and an influx of tourists flood the avenues of Manhattan. Around this time is also the peak of the rental market. Recently, and controversially, New York City has been experiencing the highest rental hikes in the history of the city, with rents raising 3.25% higher in the last decade. People are moving out, people are moving in, and I'm just moving. 

A view from the plane on my way to see my parents

Other than inflation and the U.S's economic crisis following the Russian-Ukraine land war and the impacts of the pandemic, other factors that contributed to this I've also noticed was an influx of graduate and undergraduate students moving in after college or for college. I remember around the time that I started at The New School in the Fall of 2020, many students I knew had decided to take some time off because of the pandemic. Now that COVID-19 protocols have relaxed, businesses are starting to open again, and life begins to feel normal, people are deciding to move back. 

New York City is known for nomadic dwellers who are always on the move, and I've always lived that nomadic lifestyle - I've lived in three different countries in three different continents, lived in many cities and experienced many different environments, exchanged multiple currencies, and lived with various groups of people. This past year alone, I've moved apartments four times: from the East Village, to Broadway Triangle, to further into Bushwick, to now Bedford-Stuyvesant. So despite staying in the city throughout the pandemic, I'm still the wandering dweller on the perpetual move. 

I do hope that I can be settled for once in my new apartment in Bed-Stuy but, as I had experienced throughout my life, things can change - and that's okay. When I lived in Tunbridge Wells in the UK, I had a plan to go study fashion communication or design in Central Saint Martins or University of the Arts London. I had a nice job working for a British haberdashery measuring and cutting fabric and I was close to completing my A-Level certifications in French, Media Studies, and Photography. Alas, I was thrown off with we're moving to Florida. 

When I lived on Broadway Triangle, my roommates and I were content. We had a nice apartment conveniently located by the JMZ train of the Myrtle-Wyckoff station. But alas, we were thrown off-guard by an unexpected roach infestation. And so, we were forced to look for a new home. 

Things like this happen in life all the time, where you think you're settled but shit gets thrown at you. You can sit and complain which is what I did when I first lived in Florida, because I wanted to be anywhere else but the small, suburban Trump town I lived; or, you could make the most of what you've got and make your own decision, which for me was to move to New York City. 

I'm not entirely sure if I'll ever find a home that I can truly settle into, to start a family or to launch my career, but I'm only twenty-two. There's still so much more exploring to do.