I first wrote about moving to Colorado in 2015. It was the last sentence of a blog post, and more tongue in cheek than anything, but now I’m seriously considering a move from Philadelphia to Denver. I have never lived in another state before, and the only other time I’ve found a place to call home was when I lived in Israel-Palestine for 8 months back in college.

The biggest reason for my move out West is family. Both of my brothers have lived in Denver for at least four years and my parents and youngest sister live just north of Denver. As I get older, I’ve felt the importance of being around family become more of a big deal to me. My sister and her husband live in Wyoming with my two nephews, and while it’s still 7-hour hour drive from Denver, at least living out West will put me closer than Pennsylvania.

While I love my life here in Philly, the work I’m doing, and the place I call home, when I imagine staying in Philadelphia, it’s hard to picture it. Philly has been the perfect place for me to land after college and start my career, but I think it might be time to move on. I’m ready for a life change. I’m turning 27 this week and think this might be a good time for a big move out west.

I’m curious to hear if you’ve moved out of state before or across the country and how you processed such a big life change. I’ll be making this trek on my own, and while I will have family around for support, I’ll have to reconstruct my entire community and life in a place where I know almost no one. And that is hella scary.