I can’t believe I’m writing this, but Felix and I are moving back to Philly next week! We are beyond excited, but also stressed, since the move came fast and we have lots of loose ends we need to tie up in the Bay Area before leaving for good.
My sister and I on top of the Art Museum steps
Why are we moving back and why so soon? We moved out here in July on a whim. We wanted to try something new and San Francisco seemed like the perfect place; at least, that’s what everyone told us and what all the travel websites and magazines said. We soon found it very difficult (and expensive) to locate an apartment in a safe area of the city, so we ventured out to Berkeley.
We found an apartment and jobs we both loved, but between our commutes, rent, food, bills, etc, it became apparent that we were spending more than we made. I can’t speak for my husband, but I know I became extra stressed, disgruntled and over-worrysome as a result. We needed to do something in order to save our sanity and avoid taking out a personal loan to pay for the cost of living. We came up with two options:
1.) Look for jobs in Berkeley, which would cut down on transportation costs (between the both of us, we were spending around $600 monthly for our commutes to and from work).
2.) Ask our landlord if he would let us sublet our apartment for the remainder of our lease.
After some discussion, we went for option two and surprisingly, our landlord gave us the green light. We had already made the decision to return to Philly at the end of our lease, so really, what was a couple months?
Of course, things never go as envisioned and here we are, frantically trying to pack our stuff into suitcases and stressing about the lack of notice we are giving our places of employment, which is what we feel guilty about the most. At the same time, sometimes in life you have to do what is best for you; this is one of those times.
But won’t you miss San Francisco’s views and weather? I will definitely miss the Saturday morning runs I hosted at my work. The views were definitely breathtaking at times and it was great to meet so many fellow runners. The weather? Eh. While it’s definitely great running weather 95% of the time, I do miss the changing seasons and I’m already looking forward to snow (sorry Philly friends, trying not to jinx you!)
In the end, I’d say Felix and I are both glad we gave The Bay Area a try. Some people go through life talking about doing things and going places, but never actually put their “plans” into action. While San Francisco didn’t work for us, at least we can say we tried it!
San Francisco, it’s been real
Perhaps the way to sum up our feelings about San Francisco are described in RoseRunner’s blog post. Some of this stuff is spot-on. I mean, check out that picture of the MUNI bus…the bus I ride daily is 10 times more crowded than that. I won’t miss it, even when I’m riding SEPTA in a few weeks and the person sitting next to me is on her cell phone yelling at her baby daddy. YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THIS!
Our next journey is beginning and I’m super excited to head back to the city that I can finally call, “Home.”
YAY!! So excited to have you back