As I’ve finally settled into New York, I wanted to talk about the good and the bad of moving to New York. A half of a year has gone by in a blink of an eye. It was only a year ago that I thought summer internships were short… Full-time flies by, if not quicker than years before. 

The noise

One underappreciated aspect of not living in Manhattan is the ‘silence’ at night. It’s crazy how a few cars can quickly fill up the crisp silent air, suffocating the peacefulness of the dim-lit streets.

One weekend I visited east to Long Island, and I was shocked when my friend and I walked around not hearing cars and other sounds. It felt liberating. 

Until a month ago, I also thought my apartment was on the quieter side; however, once I’ve bought Airpods, I’ve unfortunately discovered that the truth was far from it. 

The subway

I can’t believe just how much leeway I’ve given myself for transportation now. In college, I thought that a 20-minute commute was long. It might be a by-product of working full-time, but now I’m okay traveling up to 30 minutes to see people!

A large part of this acceptability is the convenience of the subway. Although travel costs add up over the month, it’s enjoyable to get from point a to be in a relatively quick time without worrying about parking or gas. It’s also nice to know I don’t have to be wide awake when going back, especially when other people accompany me :). The fact that my friends can live around me is a lifesaver in navigating back home.

The food

Spending money to eat dinner made me appreciate living on a meal plan. Everything is so expensive. I don’t even want to think about the inflation statistics when food already costs this much! I spend most of my mornings on Sunday shopping for food. It’s always a trek, so I try and buy for the week. The downside is I constantly have to throw things out as my plans change and people visit. Sit-down restaurants are great but wait times are almost expected. However, the options are excellent.

The people

One exciting thing that I was looking forward to was getting outside of the tech bubble. I felt like all my friends were in the same industry and wanted to meet people outside my sphere. There are people like that, yet I still feel trapped in a bubble of people in finance. Furthermore, I feel an odd pressure to do something in New York, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s incredible that there are so many things I could do at night, but on the other hand, I sometimes just want to stop and enjoy doing nothing.