Without work keeping me in New York, though, I ran out of reasons to stay. After almost a year there, I moved back to New Jersey<\/a> to live with my family, telling myself that this would just be a pit stop before I returned to New York.<\/p>\n That didn’t end up being the case \u2026 but I didn’t exactly stay in Jersey, either.<\/p>\n For months, I tried living in different cities in search of a place I could truly call home<\/p>\n I wondered if moving to a new city could be the next step I needed, but I wasn’t sure where to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nain F. Ladak<\/p>\n While back in New Jersey, I was cat-sitting in different neighborhoods to make extra money and get out of the house. It reminded me how much I loved visiting new places<\/a> \u2014 and within six months of being home in the suburbs, I really missed city life.<\/p>\n So, I decided I’d combine my cat-sitting gigs, love of travel, and desire to find a new city to live in. With my family’s house in Jersey as my home base, I would test out living in a few different places, hoping to find one where I truly felt I belonged.<\/p>\n To start, I made a list of cities I’d always been curious about, ones with a reputation for great public transit, amazing weather, or even a rich cultural scene.<\/p>\n I packed my life into a carry-on and began my experiment with four distinct cities: London; Toronto; Los Angeles; and Washington, DC.<\/p>\n As much as I loved spending weeks in cities like DC, none felt like home.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nain F. Ladak<\/p>\n Between April and July, I stayed for one or two weeks at an apartment in each, with the intention of living like a local. I was able to find accommodations through cat-sitting gigs.<\/p>\n Traveling from place to place was exhilarating, filled with new people and experiences I couldn’t have had anywhere else.<\/p>\n Los Angeles was amazing, but it didn’t feel like a perfect fit for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nain F. Ladak<\/p>\n Unfortunately, no city delivered the complete picture, whether it wasn’t as walkable as I’d hoped or felt much too far from family. More importantly, none felt like home. I wondered if I was looking for something that wasn’t there.<\/p>\n Eventually, I realized the experiment itself was my answer. I didn’t need to focus on finding a forever address; I was happiest when I kept moving.<\/p>\n Instead of waiting for my next opportunity, I decided to make my own<\/p>\n I’m pursuing a semi-nomadic lifestyle with a home base on the East Coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nain F. Ladak<\/p>\n For a while, I dreamed of finding a remote job<\/a> that would offer me consistent work while I continue exploring the world. Instead of waiting for that opportunity to appear, though, I began creating a way to support my semi-nomadic lifestyle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the past year, I’ve continued using my family’s house in Jersey as my home base while traveling on a budget<\/a> and pursuing freelance content creation.<\/p>\n I started my own magazine<\/a> and began documenting my travels<\/a> on TikTok. I don’t pay rent on a place of my own and still cat-sit, too, which helps keep my accommodation costs low.<\/p>\n Sure, this lifestyle comes with trade-offs: I’m always packing and unpacking and going long stretches without seeing friends and family. My income isn’t steady, either.<\/p>\n Part of me still yearns to find a sense of belonging in one of the cities I visit, but finding a forever home<\/a> is no longer guiding my journey.<\/p>\n In the end, it took living in five different cities to discover that home isn’t where your packages arrive, it’s where you feel valued and motivated.<\/p>\n For me, I feel at home when I’m on the move \u2014 and it doesn’t matter where I’m supposed to be if I’m being who I’m supposed to be.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n