How to Feel Safe and Comfortable When You’ve Just Moved to a New City
Moving to a new city can be fun and exciting, sure, but it’s rarely a completely perfect experience from the very first day. While you might have confidence that moving was the right decision, you’ll likely face issues that most people experience to some degree. Feeling safe and comfortable in a city that you don’t yet know can be a challenge, and in some cases, can even impact your enjoyment of being in a new city.
While you can’t click your fingers and expect to feel safe and secure, there are plenty of things that will speed up the process. In this post, we’ll take a look at a few tried and tested tips that should, when all combined, increase your safety and comfort levels.
Get Local Knowledge
Local knowledge can be a game-changer when it comes to feeling safe in a new environment. After all, it’s pretty useful to know which areas you can feel confident walking around in at night, and which areas you should avoid even during the day. You’ll develop this information over time, or you can conduct some research so that you have the information when you first arrive. A quick Google search — say, ‘[city name] safe neighborhoods’ or ‘[city name] unsafe neighborhoods’ — will tell you what you need to know.
Show Street Smarts
Showing basic street smarts is recommended wherever you live, even if you’ve lived there all your life. In 99.99999% of cases, common-sense behavior will be enough to keep you safe. Being aware of your surroundings, carrying self defense weapons, and avoiding potentially dangerous situations can significantly enhance your safety. Moving to a new city in a foreign country? Then make sure you look up the number for the emergency services — 911 will work in some countries, but most have their own emergency number!
Feel Secure At Home
Even if you love the energy of your new city, you’ll want your home to be very much your own private space. Feeling secure in your new home is about ticking two boxes: making sure that it’s secure and that it possesses some of the home comforts you need to feel “at home.”
We’d recommend adding a security system and upgrading the locks on the doors and windows if necessary. As for feeling comfortable at home, well that’s probably something that’ll take a little bit of time, but you can speed up the process by adding those home comfort items, cleaning and organizing the space, and spending the first few days making meals, enjoying morning coffees, and just generally spending time there.
Get To Know Your Neighbors
Getting to know your neighbors won’t just make you feel safer in your new city. It’s also just a nice thing to do. In an age when many people feel more isolated and lonely than ever, getting to know the people who live next to you is an effective — and convenient — way to make connections. It’s not about being best friends with your neighbors, but just knowing each other’s names, looking out for one another, and all-around being a positive presence in each other’s lives. Plus, it can be pretty handy to have someone who can accept packages for you when you’re not at home!
Making Friends
The more people you know, the more comfortable you’ll feel. And if those people are like-minded individuals whom you can consider true friends? All the better. Making friends in a new city is thought of as a difficult experience, but there are ways to make it easier. It mostly comes down to throwing yourself into social occasions and avoiding waiting for someone to walk up to you and ask to be your friend (which actually would be a red flag!).
Tap any connections you already have in your new city; you might have a built-in friend group just waiting for you. If you know no one, then take a look at Meetup events or join a coworking space (if you work remotely). Volunteering can also be a great way not just to meet people, but to meet good people — and you’ll be giving back to your new home city, too.
Develop Your Routine
You’ll feel more at home in your new city if you have a few places that you return to again and again. If you’re into fitness, then sign up for a gym early on — not only will it help you to develop a routine, but it can also do wonders for boosting mental wellbeing. Finding a favorite coffee shop, bakery, and park are also easy ways to bring some joy into your experience of your new city. We’d also recommend continuing to do the things you already love doing. While trying new things is a key part of moving to a new city, you’ll feel more at ease if you don’t feel like you’re becoming an entirely new person. If you support your sports team from back home, then continue supporting them!
Give It Time
Finally, remember that you can’t expect to feel completely at ease in your new city from the first moment you arrive. It’ll take time. Showing a little bit of patience is key for getting the most out of a city; if you convince yourself early on that you don’t like it/you don’t feel comfortable/you wish that you were still in your old home, then you’ll blind yourself to the many awesome things the city has to offer. Keep your eyes open, accept that there’ll be difficult moments, and dive in.
Final Thoughts
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, it can be a whole lotta fun moving to a new city, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t pay to spend some time and energy to feel safer and comfortable when you first arrive. A sense of safety and security is paramount for throwing yourself into life with the right kind of energy, so take our tips above to ensure you can get your new life off to the best possible start.
