Look, 2020. It’s been a belter of a year in all the wrong ways, and for some of us, it’s meant we’ve had to give up our Adult Renting World and yeet ourselves back into the family home during the pandemic. Which, look, that in itself hasn’t been the worst – it’s been a chance to slow down, take stock, and have dinners cooked for us – but it also means a move out of home is in the near future. Again.
Knowing that a bunch of people in my life have taken this big year of working from home (or not working at all) to move back to their family home, I decided to find out what the number one thing is that they’ll miss the most when they shift back out to their renting adult lives.
Some of us are going to miss the gentler pace back home, outside of our busy-ass lives in the city before the pandemic hit.
“I’ve been home in Forster, NSW for nearly 3 months and I am going to miss the slower pace of coastal life,” said Dana.
Some are going to miss getting away with being the messiest housemate instead of seeing themselves as the cleanest.
Being the mesxsy housemate rather than the clean one!
— Rob (@RobCl23) September 27, 2020
Others said that after they move (or moved) out of home again in the year of the pandemic, they’ll miss having time with their parents, shit-talking, and catching up on each others’ days.
“I moved back home temporarily for three weeks, and I think I mostly just missed having throw away conversations with my parents,” Lavender said.
“Because I live so far away, I don’t actually just like call my dad for a chat unless I’ve got an actual purpose, so I miss just like sitting on the couch having dumb chats about stuff.”
Some said they’ll miss living with someone who knows you inside-out, and how to help pick you up on crappy days.
“I’m still living in Bega with Dad. The slower pace and space will definitely be missed when I eventually move again (morning meditation in the sun on the deck, listening to cows and sheep and horses is a whole other level) but I think I’ll miss the inside jokes with my dad most,” Erin told me.
“There’s something comforting about sharing space with the people who know your history and buy you fluffy socks when they know you’re having a sad day. Plus being around has eased my worry over him as a 67-year-old with a heart condition living alone in a rural town.”
For Shaunagh, she’ll miss not having to think about grocery shopping – which she found was one less stress during the pandemic this year.
“I moved home to the Gold Coast for four months and miss my Dad paying for the groceries and essentially everything else,” she said.
“I live alone, so I miss the family and friend company, too.”
Isabella told us said she’s already missing the comforting feeling of being in a ~family home~ and the ability to go back to not having as much responsibility as she did when she was out on her own before the pandemic.
“I moved in with my parents, but not into my childhood home. Even still – it’s the feeling of being in a “family home” that I miss,” she said.
“When everything is so out of whack, having an adult in charge of things, a well-stocked cupboard and a free-to-air TV routine is the most comforting thing in the world.”
And finally, but least surprisingly, Deanna said she’s going to miss the simple stuff, like having food made for her when she ends up doing the move out of home again.
“I will miss my mum having dinner prepped and ready every single night.”
God, what I would give for a home-cooked meal by my Mum.
