Some say the average person moves 11.4 times over the course of a lifetime. If true, that number is actually down from what it used to be, The census suggests only 11.2% of the U.S. population moved between 2015 and 2016. What that means is that more people are reluctant to move out and relocate without some very good reasons for doing so.
Let’s face it: moving is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Packing is not just a matter of stuffing everything into perfectly square boxes. It never works out that way in reality. It always costs more than you think it should. And it is probably going to cost you a day off of work to help pack, clean up the old place, and get everything loaded into the new place. It is not fun.
The real question is not why so few people are moving, Rather, it is why anyone bothers to do it at all. On top of everything else going on in the world, there is a relentless pandemic that is casually swatting us like flies. People really need better than average reasons to move. Here are four:
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1. Education
It goes without saying that many have lost their jobs over the course of the last few months. They were told to go home in March and never recalled. For many, the company they worked for might not still exist. They are in need of a new job, and maybe a new career.
One of the great medical opportunities is physician’s assistant. It is as close as many people want to come to being a doctor without the 12+ years of school and training. PA schools in Illinois are a great way to get started.
If you don’t live near the campus of your choice, it is worth moving to where you are enrolled in school so that you can save a ton of money on housing. A better education is one of the best reasons to move.
2. Your Pandemic Palace Is Too Cramped
We are all living in little pandemic palaces. It is better than thinking of them as pandemic prisons. When we had freedom of movement, we could settle for a tiny living space because most of our lives were lived elsewhere. Suddenly, we were forced to stay inside.
If you are going to have to stay inside, inside needs to be a great place to be. It is time for you to go for the apartment of your dreams. Sure, money is an object. But it has to be balanced against the fact that you will be spending a lot of time in that space. If there was ever a time to splurge on a nicer place and home amenities, this is it.
3. Economic Hardship
You might not be able to upgrade your living conditions. If meeting the mortgage is a problem, you might need to consider downgrading to something more affordable. It makes no sense to go deeper into debt you will not be able to get out of because of sentimentality. This is a great opportunity to get out of a bad lease or bad mortgage and recalibrate for a couple of years until things normalize.
4. Opportunity
If you live in a small town that has been hit by Covid, you are not going to do yourself any favors by sitting around waiting for things to get better. If there is only one major employer, and that employer was forced to close their doors, you have to go someplace else to find opportunity. There are jobs to be had. But you have to be willing to go get them. They are not just going to come to you. Temporarily moving to a new place for the sake of better opportunity makes a lot more sense than slowly deteriorating where you are.
In the grand scheme of things, it is understandable why fewer people are finding it unsafe to move about the country. But if you need to improve your education, expand your pandemic palace, reduce your largest expense, or follow opportunity, now might be the perfect time to move.