Ah, yes, the joys of moving on your own...

I’ve never lived alone in my whole entire life (knock on wood I won’t ever have to, either, cause that would mean losing people in my life).

In my culture it’s actually considered the norm and expected (and even wise) to stay with your family until you yourself get married and have a family of your own (and even then, it’s also VERY common for elderly parents to then move in with one of their married children, look after their grandchildren while the parents work, etc. – here, it’s considered a sign of an ungrateful/unloving child to send one’s parents to an elderly home, plus our elderly homes aren’t nearly as well-maintained or comfortable as the ones abroad., OR you’re moving somewhere (like for work or university) where none of your extended family lives or are able to accommodate you.

Even if I went out of state, if I had family living in that state, I would be able to stay with them rather than book a hotel. I did this all throughout high school and university for competitions and seminars etc. – the only time I stay at hotels is when I travel for work purposes or personal holidays.

I’ve always lived with my parents (though we did move countries like, four times), and I only moved out of my parents’ home for uni. But we have an old family home at the state where my university was at. It belonged to my grandparents who had 11 children, so there was PLENTY of room considering only my cousin, his wife, and their daughter was living there. So I also stayed with them all throughout uni instead of renting or living alone.

Likewise, a niece of mine is currently living with my parents (since my brother and I no longer live home, they have the space) while she completes her bachelor’s programme at my parents’ state.

When I started full-time work, my office was located at my parents’ province, so I just moved back in with them.

None of it has much to do with financial concerns – I was already earning in uni, plus accommodations are ridiculously cheap in my country (except for the high tourist areas where the foreigners drive up prices for all the locals, go figure), and my job after uni was also very well-paying. It was just the general idea of why spend money at all when you don’t have to? Plus if anything happens, there’d always be someone nearby who can help.

When I did move back out of my parents’ home, it was to live with my fiancé.

But don’t mistake living alone with living independently. I was already working and making my my own money, doing my own chores, cooking, etc. even throughout high school and university.

1 Like