Moving Residences—14 Times so Far


After I obtained my Bachelor’s degree, I moved.

Just down the street, but, I moved an entire house—and about 80% of it alone.

I enjoy moving. But, at the same time, I don’t.

We kind of broke the rules a little bit in this new place… the HOA prohibits any subleasers. Now, I got me and my 3 roommates set up to rent from the owners — a lease. However, 2 of those 3 roommates were going to be out of town for the summer and shared that they were hoping not to be rent.

So, we made a deal. They paid the first month and would go without paying months 2 and 3, ultimately resuming the payment of rent for month 4.


Now… it was my responsibility to take care of that. I found the place, I kicked off the application process, did more than 90% of the legwork and communication with the realtor, property management company, and the HOA. I enjoy it, I do. But, wow, sometimes I didn’t enjoy it.

As I had the master bedroom, the initial payment structure with my roommates was $467 for each of them plus ¼ of the electric and internet bills. I paid the remainder, ($599). Now that I’m typing this, I remember saying $650 was my upper limit. Now, this was with the exception of months 2 and 3 of course…

To cover their share of rent, the only plausible way was to attain some trustworthy subleasers who would be willing to lease only for June and July.

Well, I found a couple of people.

I was able to connect with Jon and Julian. In full, the rent was $2000 at this location, it’s a 4 bedroom townhome with a garage.

Collectively, I received $1300 for each month they lived there plus a $467 payment from the one true roommate (meaning on they’re on the official lease and approved to live within the neighborhood). That left $233 + the electric and internet bills for me to take care of. Ultimately, I should be spending about $200 less than I would be during the year.

As I write this back at the end of May, I am thinking that one of them may even stay a little longer than just 2 months so I can shave a little more off of my personal share of rent.


Now that I have provided some background… back to the overarching theme of moving. One of the subleasers, Julian, was helping me carry a futon down the street (I landed us in a place about 700 feet from the previous place).

So we’re talking a little and he asks me, “How many times have you moved?”

Wow, I thought, I have not really thought about that in a little while. But, I wanted to be sure that I could answer his question in the best way possible. So, I asked him, “Does that include moving to and from the dormitories on campus at PBA?”

“Yes,” he responded.

I began to think and stated, “I’ll need a moment here…” as I began to go through the history of my life. I told him 16, but actually, it looks like I miscounted. Below are all 14 times that I moved throughout my life this point. By these numbers, on average, I’ve moved every 18 months. But, since I only moved once before I was 11, we could even say that, since I was 11, I have moved, on average, every 10 months.


1. I moved first when I was 3 years old from Mequon, WI to Muskego, WI.
2. Next, my parents divorced when I was 11 and I moved with my Dad.
3. My Dad moved again when I was 16.
4. My Mom moved when I was 16.
5. My Mom moved again when I was 17.
6. My Dad moved when I was 18.
7. My Mom moved (and I moved out) when I was 18.
8. I moved to Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) when I was 18
9. I moved back from PBA when I was 18.
10. I moved to PBA when I was 19.
11. I moved back from PBA when I was 19.
12. I moved to PBA when I was 20.
13. I moved off campus when I was 20.
14. I moved to a different place when I was 21.

This surprised me. Moving to me is just something that you do. Maybe this is why everything I keep is all very organized?

Maybe this is why I can contort myself easily and fit into tight spaces, because I’m accustomed to moving furniture up and down winding staircases?

Maybe this is why I have such an eye for interior design?


When my roommate of 5 years, Richard Santos, who started as a random roommate during freshman year, came by to move his things down the street, his Mom made an interesting comment.

She said something along the lines of, “You are really good at moving, have you ever thought about being part of a moving company? It’s just go go go and you get everything done.”

Well, I thought that was pretty cool of her to say. She does not give out compliments very freely so I treasured and reflected on that.

I responded, “Yes, I’ve always thought it would be very cool to work for a moving company, but I move enough myself.”


The entire moving process stresses and overwhelms me. I don’t like to touch things twice. I like things done and I like things done right.

As I moved things, I was decorating. I moved the living room and set it up how I liked it.

I moved my bedroom furniture and left placeholders for the rest of it (everything fits perfectly just the way I wanted with not even an inch to spare. And… I never measured).

I was hanging up pictures and art and fulfilling my vision as we moved. Before Richard even came up to help move his things, I asked if he could pick up a piece of furniture for the entryway.

I don’t measure pictures either. Though, I did that a few times this move. The walls are painted in such a way and we have some nice arched doorways so I thought that it was important to finish the look accordingly. Though… I only did that twice. After that, I resorted to my instincts and decided that I could be much more efficient just “eyeballing” it.


Moving to me is an art.

It is all about organizing everything into boxes and cars that not only takes up the least amount of space but also will be loaded in a way that enables it all to be unpacked immediately into the area where it belongs.

This is the way I work, with everything.

The other thing is moving… I’m impatient. In my eyes, the purpose of moving is to decorate and design the new house.

So… you can only imagine how I reacted when Richard said he didn’t want to take a bookshelf yet because he needed a break for a few seconds. I waited for a second, proclaimed, “Too slow!” and took the bookshelf myself.

I wanted to move. I have a king bedroom set. I took apart the bedframe. Alone. I moved the entire bed frame downstairs. Alone. I walked everything except for the headboard down the street. Alone. I moved the entire kitchen. Alone.

That’s the way I do it. I want it done, and I usually believe that I know the fastest way to do it. Efficiency always comes first.


On numerous moving occasions, I have uncharacteristically stayed up all night.

But, that means I can get everything done in fewer days, which is what matters most to me.

Most recently, I began moving as soon as I could, which was a Tuesday night. Then, I continued to move throughout the week and finished everything on Saturday as I was traveling to London, England on that Sunday. I stayed up until 4:00am on Friday. I realized that my bed would look better if I moved it to a different wall, so… I turned the king bed by myself, at 2 in the morning.

But, I got it done. And, again, that is what matters most to me, especially when moving. I care that the things that I am moving are finished, and in their place, and that they look good.

Because, why have anyone over to the house if it doesn’t look as good as it possibly could?


I don’t call myself a creative person. But, this is a situation where I could really say that I am famous. I love putting things together.

I realize that I like doing this in many areas.

The main reason that I love working with others is because I have an ability to put people in positions that empowers them and allows them to succeed more so as a group than they would have otherwise.

I aim to do the same in my home. I look for the little things. However… it’s just making sure that I am also kind to my outfit. As I write this, I would love to get some counter stools, a small desk or shelving unit for the upstairs near the railing, and some more art for the entryway walls and living room wall.

But, that’s about $400 that I do not want to spend right now, besides, it’s not truly my house.

Though… that is a huge advantage to moving in first and being the only true roommate for the summer, I got to design everything in just the way that I wanted to.


I wrote this on May 28, 2019. Wow, I forgot I wrote so much about this but I did get counter stools, a small shelving unit for upstairs, another piece of art for the living room and some more for the entryway.

It’s crazy how things change without the realization that changes are happening sometimes.

I’m not sure what’s next; my lease is up May 21 and while I love the guys I’m with currently in this townhouse, I’m ready for my own thing.


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