Recently I saw that one of the influencers that I frequently watch last year was going to live independently. At the age of 24, she decided to move out of her parents' house and live alone. I really admired (and envied. LOL) her that she had bought an investment of her own and that she's trying to live a life supporting herself. But for sure she her parents will visit her from time to time since she's an only child.
I have already published an article about being independent but those are just some of my thought with regards to living independently especially here in the Philippines. Filipinos are family oriented that they don't oblige their children who are 18 and above to live independently. However it's different when they are about to start their own family. Though there are still some people that even if they have started their own family, they still live with their parents. Either because their parents are too old, or they just wanted to depend on their parents or some other reasons.
I mentioned in my article before that if I had the chance to live independently by 18, I would have been a junkie or a homeless or both. But one of my high school friends and I have been planning about getting a condo if she starts working (I started working probably a year or 2 earlier because we were trimestral in college). It didn't came true for us but now she is actually living in a condo for years when she started having a family of her own. The plans that we had before, she also planned it with her boyfriend then but they planned it to be their home after they got married. They saved for the condo and for their wedding when they were working. I think they started dating months after she started working. Even if we weren't able to live in a condo while we were working, I was still happy because her dreams of living in a condo came true.
Since high school I was really curious about how it feels like to live on your. I even wanted to try the dorm that was inside our school but when I found out about the price, I decided that I was ok with living with my parents and taking the school bus. Back then I wanted to try it because I can wake up late unlike when I was taking the school bus. But it never occured to me what to eat when the canteen is already close.
During college I get to spend at my friend's condo that was near our school. Again I wanted to live in the condo because I did not want to suffer commuting. Back then it wasn't as traffic as how it is now nor it wasn't that jampacked when riding the public utility vehicles. But I have realized that it was still better to go home. I have experienced how it was living in a condo when we stayed for a night at my friend's place. Plus there are times that elevators are under maintenance that you have no choice but to wait in line (if there are a lot of people going up) or better take the stairs. So if you are planning to live in a condo, look for a condo that has a lot of elevators.
Have you tried living independently? At what age? Where did you live? If not, do you also want to live independently? If I also have the chance to live independently, I would have wanted it when I was 20 years old and I want to stay in a condo because it's not that hard to maintain. Then I would have my laundry here at our home on weekends because there's limited space in condos to sun/air dry the clothes also a chance to visit my parents. But if I were to start a family of my own, I would want for us to live in a townhouse or also a condo before we move in an exclusive subdivision.
Honestly I am afraid to go out of my comfort zone. It's not that I don't know how to cook my own meal or do other household chores because my mom had taught me all these at an early age. What I am afraid of is being alone. I am used to being with my family since I was a kid. I have only been away from them for weeks when I visited our relatives in Zamboanga. I was miles away but I was still here in the Philippines. I also don't know how to be far from my friends but now that it's pandemic, I have realized that I can live without seeing them for months. When I was quarantined for 2 weeks after I was hospitalized last year, I felt really sad that I couldn't see my parents eye to eye and we were just only under one roof. That's why my dad said before that I am the type who will get homesick if I will be working abroad. He even told me that I would be running back home after a month. LOL. I answered him back and said that he was wrong. I told him I would be back home after a week. LOL. Well I think he's right though I haven't experienced working overseas yet but I have a strong feeling that I would really miss my family.
For some I know they also get homesick but they just think that they are doing it for their family. Also nowadays it is a lot easier to communicate with our families back home as long as you have a smartphone or a laptop and an internet connection. Homesick is still there but at least we'll get to talk to our families everyday. However, I still don't know if I can step out of my comfort zone. They say that you will only grow, change and transform once you stepped out of your comfort zone. Do you believe in that?
As for me I know that you can still grow, change and transform even if you are in your comfort zone. It is just a matter of life's challenges and lessons that can either make or break you as a person.
P.S. my lead image is a photo sent to me by my cousin abroad years ago when they moved out of their parents' house and start a family of their own. It was a photo of their fully furnished condo. By the way, my cousins who grew up abroad didn't moved out when they reached 18 years old because their parents didn't oblige them to do so. It was only when they started to have a family that they moved out because their house is getting smaller for them since they are a family of 6.
Home is my comfort zone too but I've been away for sometime too before and living alone is okay, I have friends and colleagues to call and hang out, not alone at all I guess. You can do it too soon, God will not put you into situations you can't handle.