How to get comfortable...
...in an Airbnb that's about to be your home for a month whether you like it or not.
We already talked about how to pack for long-term travel, but what about unpacking and settling in at your new spot?
Moving is terrible. And even though we’re traveling with a limited amount of stuff, we’re still moving about once a month. You leave the last place, you drive several hours, and now you’re at your new place and you have to start all over. It’s hard. It’s tiring. And the excitement of the new location has to compete with the exhaustion of schlepping your stuff around yet again. You might be surprised at how not excited you are when you first arrive.
But you wouldn’t be alone in feeling that way. After doing this a few times, it seems almost guaranteed—which is why I put together this guide to getting through those first few days in a new place.
Genie’s guide to settling into your new (temporary) home
Walk in, look around, and probably feel disappointed. It’s not as big or cozy or sweet or quiet or [insert thing you loved] as the last place. You’re never gonna feel as comfortable here as you did there.
Snap at your spouse about how he’s unloading your stuff. He needs to feel as bad as you do! Also, you’re tired from driving and trying to pretend like this isn’t “moving day” because you’re supposed to be excited about a new city.
Go into proactive mode. You. Will. Fix. This. Unpack all your clothes. They didn’t give you a dresser? Turn the IKEA cubby TV stand into your clothing cubby stand. No hangers? Go buy some from Target. This will work if you just power through.
Unload the kitchen supplies. Why did your husband save this one soy sauce packet, pack it up with the food, and drive it several hours for you to deal with now? Doesn’t matter—better find a place for it!
Pro tip: Turn out the lights in the bedroom to discover any weirdness in the dark. For example: unexplained green blinking lights under the bed, terrifying pitch-black darkness out the patio door, or a weird humming sound from the TV or other devices. I always sleep with an eye mask and white noise, no matter what.
Now the fun starts—scour their bookshelves. Our current place has tons of books, including:
Dianetics (that’s right, the Scientology book)
The Holy Bible (there are actually ~20 of these)
The Position Sex Bible (not The Sex Position Bible, as you might expect)
Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dream Girl—A Woman’s Guide to Holding Her Own In a Relationship (yeesh)
SeinLanguage by Jerry Seinfeld (YEESH)
Deal or No Deal: The DVD game (not a book, but worth mentioning)
Celebrate the weirdness. Why does this place have a 3-foot tall giraffe in the bedroom? We don’t know, but we don’t judge (except for the books). We gave him a new spot in the living room, to bring him out into the spotlight.
Make it a game. I was unmaking my bed when I discovered Dianetics hidden in my pillowcase. So I waited for Aaron to go to the bathroom, and I moved the 3-foot giraffe to right outside the bathroom door. A couple of days later, the giraffe was tucked into the bed when I came in to go to sleep. So I hid The Athlete’s Guide to Sponsorship in Aaron’s cereal box. It’s silly and small, but we have a surprising amount of fun looking for weird hiding places and ways to surprise and/or scare each other.
Discover your nook. You will find one in each place. In Los Osos, mine was the master bedroom with a view into the backyard. Aaron’s was the day bed in the office. Here in LA, I like to cozy up on the couch where I can see out the window to the city (that’s where I am now), and Aaron likes the dark bedroom with wood paneling and all the bookcases. Find your spot and make it your own.
Most importantly, relax and give it a little time. You will get used to this new place. You’ll make it fun, you’ll get comfortable, and you’ll forget all about the dismay of moving day. It’s been pretty surprising how much we do make it work and find the good in each place, no matter what. You can make the best of it.
And then 30 days later, you’ll pack it all up and do it again.
What else is going on in sunny Los Angeles? This week:
We celebrated our anniversary! 13 years together, 4 years married. We had a delicious dinner at Hippo in Highland Park, and watched the ridiculous and hilarious Weird Al Yankovic “biopic,” Weird.
I went to a writers’ meetup where I was very awkward and really didn’t want to talk to anyone and what can I say? This is who I am.
We found our LA climbing gym, and a 9-year-old child helped me finish a route I didn’t think I was capable of. She was very encouraging; plus, I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of her. Peer pressure works, y’all.
I took off my Apple Watch. After years of Fitbits and then the Apple Watch, years of counting steps and calories burned, years of knowing this obsessive tracking probably wasn’t healthy, I finally took it off two days ago after reading How Did We Get So Obsessed with Streaks? There are things that I find useful about a smartwatch, like checking the weather before I walk out the door, but for now, I’m taking a break.