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Finding a… place to live

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Parents, I’ll take a vacation… from you 😜

I’m an introvert. Life is great inside my personal bubble. But I know the magic happens outside the comfort zone. So once in a while I challenge myself. This time I decided to leave my parents’ house and live on my own for at least one month.

It’s scientifically proven that dishes and clothes have one thing in common — they do not wash themselves.

After I changed jobs, I was spending once again about 3 hours a day on commuting. Do you recall my previous post “Get Efficient, Get Together”? Work, gym, shops and services, all were together… except home.

It took a month and dozens of renting websites to find the room I was looking for. It’s exhausting finding the balance between:

  • Location
  • Price
  • Quality
  • Amenities & Furniture
  • Number of roommates
  • Room vs Apartment

And this is the time you’ll hate being a guy — yup, some listings just refuse to accept male guests. Now I know how gender discrimination feels like.

So you’re telling me that when I get home — besides worrying about cooking my dinner — I have to check the pH of the fishes’ water?

Oh, and some houses include pets. Apparently those owners prefer to outsource that responsibility to strangers. I saw descriptions like “includes sociable Labrador”, “family cat”, or even “fish tank”! It’s amazing how people transform disadvantages into marvellous features of the house.

Anyway, I’m living the dream again.

Bubble about to explode by a needle

But it started as a nightmare.

I couldn’t sleep on my first night, too much anxiety. During my childhood my room became my safehold and an extension of my personality. Having that removed and replaced by a little room, in a random place, with random people around… was like placing my personal bubble over a bed of nails. And I reckon this is a “first world problem”, that makes me look like a spoiled kid. Still, it hurts.

When you take a vaccine your exposing your body to a small and controlled dose of illness. It hurts at the time, and you may even cry. However, in the long term you will be more resilient.

This will probably happen to you:

  • Discover that dishes and clothes do not wash themselves.
  • Be even more grateful for the backstage work your parents do for you.
  • After a certain hour, your brain starts thinking in the background “what will I cook for dinner? And HOW?”
  • You eat less, but you savour each mouthful. After all, it’s your work.
  • Even an expert in tech freezes when he/she uses a washing machine for the first time.

tl;dr

  • Challenge yourself out of the comfort zone.
  • “Bite your tongue”, embrace it and endure it.
  • Those achievements will strengthen your confidence.

When did you moved out of your parent’s house? How was it?

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