1. You feel a bit nervous but know it’s the right thing to do.
You know you have to be a grown-up. And you’re brave enough to take the first step today.
2. You realize just how much stuff you have.
While you suddenly realise just how much junk you have, it still feels like you haven’t packed enough to prepare yourself from a life away from home.
3. Your heart breaks as you say good-bye to your childhood pet
That one buddy of yours who never utters a single word but makes you feel loved and special? It’s awfully difficult to part with them. But you know you have to.
4. You realize just how big the world really is.
It’s a bit scary but you’ll come to learn that life is full of possibilities, and that you can truly be whoever you want.
5. You realize how much you love your best friend
You thought you could go to the same college together, but when you got accepted at different places, you knew that dream was suddenly over.
6. Each home visit makes you nostalgic
You realize how much you love your family (even if your new place is just a 30-minute drive away).
7. You spend more time alone.
Being alone is okay. It gives you the chance to spend time with that one person you barely get to spend time with — yourself.
8. Having a full fridge becomes an alien concept to you.
It’s probably one of the saddest things about leaving home but it’s actually a chance to grow. You’re on your own now and everything that’s inside your fridge comes from your hard work. Enjoy that bottle of beer — you earned it.
9. Life back home goes on without you.
They’ll go on ski holidays without you and celebrate Thanksgiving by themselves. Sometimes, it can make you feel like you don’t matter. But ask the people back home, and you’ll learn that it’s never the same without you.
10. Keeping relationships becomes dependant upon having a good Wi-Fi connection.
Text messaging and phone calls may help, and if you manage to score some good wi-fi, it will make you feel as if you’ve never left.
11. You fall out of touch with some of your friends
You’ll lose touch with some of your friends. Then you’ll get to meet new ones. But when you go home you’ll pick up right where you left off.
12. You leave home but home never leaves you.
You realize that home is not just that structure with the picket fence off 4th street. It’s a thing in your heart, and there are a thousand reasons to go back. That’s why your heart never leaves.
13. You realize that chasing your dreams isn’t always easy, but is always worth it.
That feeling of ecstatic weightlessness, as if you are held in the air by a bunch of colorful balloons — it’s the feeling you get when you know you’ve made it on your own. You are always grateful for the people who helped you get there. But you know it wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t take that courageous first step.