Welcome Home: My First Apartment Without Roommates

When you’ve moved 20+ times in your life, what’s one more? Well, turns out it’s still a little exciting when that move is to a place all of your own! Welcome home to my first apartment without roommates!

On Dec 14 I officially moved into my new place, affectionately nicknamed “The Closet” due to it’s incredibly small size. But what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality!

The Closet is conveniently located a ten minute bus ride from Free The Children. I now get to leave the house at 8:05, instead of the ungodly 7:25 departure I was doing at my old place. However, my new digs are a pretty far hike from my weekend job – but I never have to be there before 4pm!

Rent is not cheap in Vancouver, period. So no, my place isn’t inexpensive. But it’s also not over my budget. And, it conveniently includes utilities, internet and cable!

For a tiny place, The Closet sure comes packed with amenities. The place came fully furnished (and pretty cute furnishings, I might add). It has an in suite washer/dryer, gas stove, coffee maker, large screen TV and dish washer! I’ve yet to use the dishwasher as anything but a drying rack….but I’m sure that’ll change once I start (attempting) to do some cooking.

Lastly, while The Closet is the size of, well, a closet, it’s perfect for just me. My previous roommate Courtney was wonderful, but there’s something kind of nice about living alone.

Being able to play embarrassing music, walk around in questionable outfits, leave the dishes dirty for too long or go to bed at a scarily late hour (or more like scarily early hour these days) is kind of freeing. There’s a fun sense of independence that comes with living alone – and knowing I am solely responsible for any leaks, creaks or visiting spiders!

So I moved into my new pad just 2 days after my final final of my undergrad at UBC (yay!). Which means I didn’t start packing until the Friday night before my Sunday morning move. Luckily my lovely roommate and her boyfriend helped me load 3 suitcases into his car so Sunday wasn’t a series of painful bus trips.

After the move, I had 4 nights in my place before flying home to Toronto. And I spent each of those 4 days working. So while I was pretty rushed and busy, I did manage to unpack and get a little settled. But I think my busy schedule was a good excuse for not buying any groceries and living off of takeout for those 4 days!

But I am so excited to get back to my place in January. I’ve got a list of really thrilling things I want to buy – like a bath mat and tissue boxes! I’m looking forward to walking around the neighborhood and finding cool restaurants, family-owned produce markets and some sort of 24 hour takeout place. It’s a part of Vancouver I’ve never discovered and a type of independent living I’ve never experienced – I’m stoked, but cross your fingers for me!