I'm leaving NYC and moving to Chicago

Yes, you read that right. I'm moving to Chicago.

Yes, big shock if y’all didn't know.

Why Chicago?

Well, during my Amtrak trip over the summer, my first stop was in Chicago because I was on my way to my annual family reunion.

While I was exploring Chicago on my own and realized that I loved the vibe that I got from it. It felt like I was walking through a cleaner and wider New York. But it wasn’t as busy, which was a nice change.

I truly saw myself living in this city for some reason, and something felt just right when I was there.

Truthfully, I was also thinking about my relationship. I had a difficult fight with my partner days before I left for my trip. And the option of moving away was certainly enticing.

During my trip, a lot was going through my head.

My career. My love life. Friendships and family.

They felt empty to me. My bonds were weak and I felt so alone. I had a couple of nights where I cried myself to sleep.

I knew I was at a weird crossroads part of my life and I also had to make a decision soon about my relationship.

Unfortunately, the day that I came back home was the same day we decided to break up.

I was a mess.

After more days of crying, I knew that meant that one of us needed to move out.

I started looking at apartments in NYC, but it was nearly impossible to find something that was within my range. Especially since I’m still unemployed, the search made it a lot harder.

After a disappointing search, and not knowing when I’ll be hired, Chicago came back to my mind. I was hopeful that my Chicago family would support me, but I was still nervous to ask since this is such a huge change for me and for them as well.

Luckily enough, they welcomed me with open arms with no hesitation after hearing the news.

I’m absolutely scared.

I’ve moved multiple times in my life around NYC, but this will be my first time moving out of state. A completely brand new city.

It’s always funny how people have always dreamed of visiting or living in NYC. And for some of us natives, we want to get the FUCK out.

Moving out of NYC was one of my goals to do right after college, but I never pulled the trigger. I felt like I had to prove myself here first before I can do anything else.

The Frank Sinatra song, New York New York, has this one lyric:

“If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere”

And that held true to my little college mindset back then. Because I knew this was the city that everyone wanted to move to.

Every non-New Yorker romanticizes that if they can finally get to New York, they have accomplished something amazing in their life.

But what if you already live here? Then what does that mean for us, New Yorkers?

What did it mean for me?

I already had the privilege of growing up in this amazing city.

Grade school in Queens. High School in Long Island. College and work in the city. I’ve been everywhere and around NYC my entire life.

I never left. And now I think it’s finally time.

It’s time for me to become a transplant after being annoyed with the transplants coming here to NYC.

My only knowledge about Chicago is rooting for the Chicago Cubs, deep dish pizza, Portillo’s, and that museum from Ferris Beuller.

I’ve done a few touristy things growing up whenever my family and I visited, but I barely remember any of those memories besides holidays, birthdays, and other family events.

So I’m looking forward to exploring my new home city & rebuilding a brand new life. And I can’t wait to document and share all of that with you.

And that’s my big update.

I only have a couple of more months left in my hometown of New York City, and I have a whole bucket list of things to do before I leave.

So if you want to catch up, now's your chance to do so ✨

If you want to follow and support my journey, please consider signing up to my site and newsletter. I plan on updating the blog every week or on a biweekly cadence.

It’s free to join, but if you pay $10/year for the smol tier, it goes directly to me and you’ll immensely help me out 🙏🏽

I'm also rebranding my YouTube channel as jemellee's journal, so you should also consider subscribing if you don't like to read.

Here's one of my videos that I published last year.

In the next few months, I will have a bunch of videos that I probably won't get to share here, but please consider supporting me in wherever that's up your speed. 🥰

I'll see you around 💖
Jemellee