Moving Home After University Tips and Tricks

I've been away from home for four years while I was at university. From 17 I was desperate to leave home, not because I didn't love my family, but I was so excited for university and living alone - by alone I mean with 7 student strangers, but you understand.

I had housemates I loved, housemates I hated, fights over cleaning up, bills and parties. All of this, along with the infrequency of it meant that I was always fairly excited to go home. I only lived about 1-2 hours away from home so I was lucky enough to be able to go back as much as I wanted.
Having (free) food cooked for me, heating, and a washing machine were always amazing perks, but I've never been overly excited about moving home again following uni.

In fact when I went I always assumed i'd move straight out again. But then you break up with your long term boyfriend, your friends don't want to live in the same places and there's no way you're financially able. So here I am. Here are my top tips for surviving moving home after you've been away;

Be Positive
Be happy to be able to spend more time with your family. Eating together, watching films together and generally getting to spend more time with them is something you wont regret when you leave again. In my case, I am absolutely thrilled to be around my pets more too. Honestly, if youre lucky enough to be able to move home while you get your feet on the ground, you should be thankful.

Stay Busy
It can be hard returning home when you feel like there isn't much of your old life here. I walked my dogs to get to know my home town again, and for a little bit of escapism. Getting out the house is important too, make your house a home, not a prison. Re-discovering hobies helps too,  like reading and painting - anything that passes time and relaxes you. Even a spot of blogging...

Catch Up With Old Friends
There are people who will be in the same postion as you, who feel like you do. It's nice to see familiar faces, its a positive factor of going home. Go grab a coffee, or invite them round for a movie - it doesn't have to be an expensive thing to do, so try not to make excuses.

Be Understanding of Others
Moving home takes some adjusting to, you've grown independent whilst you've been away, blending back into family life isn't always smooth. However, its good to remember that it's probably a bit of an adjustment for your family too. My sister and I have awkwardly learned to re-adjust to our close quarters, my parents have (sometimes) to my relaxed method of tidying up after myself. Try to be helpful and understanding, even if that means emptying the dishwasher now and again.

Aimee x

Starting Again

Well, its been a while. Its been about two years since I've written on this blog, so excuse me if i'm a bit rusty. I deleted all my past posts, I want to start again.

I found university very hectic, blogging fell to the side as I tried to keep up with friends and assignments. But honestly, I had nothing exciting to say - I had gone through a pretty hideous break up, two dissertations and more junk food than i'd like to admit. This was definitely not what I expected from my twenties, it turns out that actually nothing went the way I planned.

I loved uni, so much that after completing my undergraduate degree I went to a different university to complete a masters degree. But then you finish, you close the hundreds of tabs, move back home, graduate if you're lucky.

Staying on to do a postgraduate degree meant that when I returned there was few people left who I still spoke to. Not only had I moved back into my family home, but the majority of people I know had been replaced with tumbleweeds.

I filled out what felt like hundreds of job applications, few of which replied to me at all, let alone offered me an interview. But that's the reality of graduating, everything (temporarily) seems downhill.

After Bridget Jones-ing my way through many job hunts I've finally been offered a full time position, in something that i'm really interested in.

That's why I thought this was a perfect time to re-start my blog. I'm 22, starting my first job and manoeuvring life back without the independence of living alone.

I have no idea what i'll have to say, but you're welcome to stick around and find out.

Aimee x