move from – Laura Keys moved from England to New York last year after years in London and two years sailing through Europe. A year later, she says the move was worthwhile but exhausting—dominated by paperwork, hard-to-navigate systems, and steep day-to-day expenses—while
Last year, Laura Keys made the leap from England to New York. Most of her life had been spent in London. and before the move she spent two years exploring Europe on a sailboat. With years in similarly large cities behind her—and with “lots of research” on what to expect—she believed she was prepared. When the unexpected arrived anyway, it came in the places she didn’t think to plan for.
Starting over in a new country was more exhausting than she expected. Even after years of moving constantly while sailing, she thought she would settle quickly. Instead, it took a year to feel comfortable in her new surroundings. She also didn’t realize how much of her energy would be drained by administration tied to the move—especially when daily life suddenly became a mix of unfamiliar systems and long delays. For her, that exhaustion looked like being stuck indoors after spending most of a day at the DMV.
Her first six months were dominated by paperwork and tedious tasks. She was surprised by how long simple steps took to complete, and how entangled those steps became. She couldn’t set up a bank account without a permanent address. and she couldn’t find a permanent address without a bank account. Everything felt harder in a new country, particularly when it involved systems she didn’t know well.
If the bureaucracy was draining. the money part of the move hit her with a different kind of stress—one that slowly changed how she felt about everyday life. New York City is expensive, and she had known it in advance. She also knew salaries are often higher here than in London. but that didn’t help her at first because she was still working through the bureaucracy required before she could even start applying for jobs. On top of that, international shipping and furnishing a new apartment made the move itself expensive. She had budgeted for high costs and for daily expenses to rise. but she didn’t anticipate how strongly “money worries” would affect her mentality.
During her first few months in New York, she felt very conscious of every dollar she spent. Grocery store trips and coffee runs turned into reminders that the numbers would not bend. She described being shocked by prices—for example. being unable to justify spending $18 on two chicken breasts. or $7 plus tax and tip for an iced latte. That hesitation began to spill into her routines: it became harder to leave her apartment and actually enjoy the city she had spent so long working toward. Living with the reality of higher prices felt overwhelming until she eventually found balance and a way to spend on things she truly values.
Even with the financial pressure. one assumption she carried from before the move didn’t survive contact with life in New York. Before moving, she had heard stereotypes about New Yorkers being rude and unfriendly. She said she wishes she’d known earlier that wasn’t true. She joined a local gym and started meeting kind and interesting people who live nearby. Now she finds herself routinely bumping into people she knows on the street—something she never thought would happen in a big city. and certainly not so soon after moving. She described feeling surrounded by people who approach life with more positivity than she was used to in London. and she said she’s happier because of it.
The city’s energy also changed her day-to-day mood. New York’s bustle became motivating for her. and she said it’s hard to feel bored when there’s always a new place to visit or something interesting happening on the next block. She doesn’t know if she’ll feel that way forever, but for now she’s enjoying it.
The hardest part, she said, wasn’t one single crisis—it was the slow drip feed of change over months. A year in, though, she’s starting to develop a deep love for her new home. It may have taken longer and been more expensive than she expected, but for her the move has been well worth it.
In the end, her story is a reminder that moving isn’t just logistics or geography. It’s the way paperwork can stretch into weeks. how a bank account can become a gatekeeper for a permanent address. and how price shocks can quietly shrink your world. And it’s also the way. even after a rough start. community can show up in ordinary places—like a gym you join. and neighbors you meet on the street.
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