My friend, Heather, wrote this post before moving across the country and I figured I’d do something similar.  Today is our big packing day before we send our stuff via Uhaul Pods halfway across the country.  We’ve packed the dogs stuff and a week’s worth of clothes plus an air mattress and a few other essentials to take with us in the car, but the rest of it will be packed carefully into a big orange box.

Here are the 5 things that scare me the most about moving to the East Coast:

1.  Adjusting to apartment life.  We have been in a house for the last 5 years.  Our dogs are used to a yard and plenty of running space.  They bark when they want to.  I’m worried that they are going to hate being in an apartment even with the abundance of walks outside.

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2.  Living so far away from friends & family.  We are hopeful that people will take advantage of a free place to stay and will come and visit us, but what happens in between those visits?  Making new friends is hard as an adult.  We have a few friends in the area which we are extremely grateful for, but finding a new routine and building those relationships could be difficult.

3.  Getting around.  I feel pretty comfortable with public transportation, but the options don’t seem as great in New Jersey.  We will have just one car and I don’t know that I will like driving at all while we are there.  Good thing we are within walking distance of so many of the things I need.  Plus, the tolls will take some getting used to.  I will no longer call them “freeways.”

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4.  No familiar places.  We have a few places that we go to weekly or monthly.  We have routines, people that work there know us and are fantastic to us.  I know which Starbucks line is always longer than the other and which Target has the best clearance selection.

5.  New rules.  Who knew that you legally can’t pump your own gas in Jersey?  Thank god someone warned me about that one before we got gas last month when we were apartment hunting.  I had to Google whether or not you tip them… because that’s what you do at home for full service gas.  What other weird rules are there?  I will probably have some reading material for our road trip out there.

All that being said, there are endless amounts of things we are excited about.

1.  Our view.  Our apartment building is on the Hudson River and even though our apartment isn’t on the water, we still have a pretty awesome view.  We will watch the sunrise over Manhattan while walking the dogs every morning.  I’m not going to hate that at all.

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2.  New England.  We are so close to so many new places.  I’m so excited to explore Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  Plus, Boston is one of our favorite cities and we will be a 3 hour car ride instead of a 3 hour plane ride.

3.  Food.  Living this close to NYC, we will be able to eat our faces off every weekend.  Last time we were in NYC, our friend took us around to some of his favorite places and I can’t wait to give our visitors the same experience.  So many good restaurants and options.  I can’t wait.

4.  Entertainment.  I’m very sad that I have to give up my Fitz & the Tantrums tickets for Nov 21, but I have to remember that so many good shows are in New York every single day.  We can see shows on Broadway, go to new baseball stadiums and see concerts we would have never been able to see before.  Plus, the Superbowl will be just a few miles away from us – think of all the things happening this year.  Oh yeah, and we are going to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade… in person.

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5.  Our biggest adventure yet.  We have taken road trips all over the country and flown a few fun places, but this will be our biggest and scariest adventure yet and we are beyond excited to have this opportunity.

Any advice you have on dogs in an apartment?  Meeting new friends?  Places to eat in NYC?  Advice on moving away?  EEEEEEEEEEEK.  It’s happening.

Happy Halloween!