Not sure why I was thinking about this today, but I was.
I have lived in a LOT of places in my life. My childhood, teen-aged and young adult years were stable. I lived at the same place from the time I was born until I moved out when I was nearly done with school and moved out on my own. So, that was 24+ years in the same location. I sort of doubt that I will ever match that record for some reason.
Move #1 – I rented a room for a year or so, wasn’t bad, wasn’t great. I was going through school during this time, working part time. This would have been back in 1993/94 I think
Move #2 – My friend rented a place near downtown St. Catharines on Russell Avenue. Was a pretty cool place and was fairly cheap – all inclusive it was $500 per month. It had two levels, carpeting in the kitchen (rather odd) and a bedroom door that you had to duck to get through. I left after a year because the landlady’s husband was quite the whack job.
Move #3 – I moved into a co-workers house that she was renting. As I remember, she tried to sell the house but the market was down at the time. It was a big jump from $500 per month, it was $650 + utilities. I had a room mate with me for the first bit but he had trouble making up his part of the rent. So, after only a short time, I had to move out – it was immediately rented, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.
Move #4 – I moved in with my sister and brother-in-law. Worked out fairly well.
Move #5 – I rented a small apartment in a 4-plex building on Elizabeth Street in downtown St. Catharines. Lived there for a year. Was close to a grocery store, close to work as well.
Move #6 – Moved to Haynes Avenue, further away from the downtown, closer to my job of the time, Vaxxine Computer Systems.
Move #7 – Got a new job and a new place – in Fonthill, Ontario living beside a restaurant, Keith’s. Lived there for a year, or just about a year and for some odd reason, had insomnia most of the time that I was there. I had a room mate here as well – his rent was paid regularly (by his parents, his mom was a co-worker of mine) but he was weird. Very weird. I actually moved out to be rid of him since he wouldn’t take the hint that I wanted him to move.
Move #8 – Back in with my sister and brother-in-law. Just a stop-over really but I was able to save some $$$
Move #9 – Into the basement suite in a nice place on Niagara Street in North St. Catharines. Was a nice place, everything was included. As I remember, it was around $875 per month. Lived there for a year. The landlady was a good person but she got married to quite an “interesting” guy who made it tough to stay.
Move #10 – I lived with my friend BS in Fonhill for a month or so while I waited for my new place to be ready for me to move in.
Move #11 – I moved into a cute little cottage, a former large garage that was converted into a nice little house. It was small but it was perfect for what I needed. Lived there for 2 years or so.
Move #12 – I had to move out of the cottage because I needed more room. My Dad had recently passed away and I needed a place to put all of the stuff that I had stored at his place. I rented my first actual apartment in a building. It was pretty good, lots of room, everything included.
Move #13 – I got Zeus and quickly decided that living in an apartment with a dog wasn’t the best thing for him. I found a house on Welland Avenue on the buy/sell board at work. On my own, this is my record, I stayed there for 5 years. It was a nice place, big driveway, nice backyard, gas stove, laundry in the basement, fireplace and a great landlord. I decided, for some reason to move after 5 years – not exactly sure why.
Move #14 – We moved closer to the QEW highway in a large executive house owned by a co-worker. It had a full in-law suite that I rented to a young guy. I lived there for a year and this is where Blondie came into our lives. It didn’t have much of a backyard but it was a good place. I had to give notice as I didn’t have a job and was getting ready for stint number 3 with my sister and brother-in-law. Good thing I got another job, this time, a few provinces away.
Move #15 – The BIG move. This time it was to Calgary, Alberta. I had no place to move to when I left and was lucky to find a place in a short time. Lived in the townhouse for about 18 months. It was huge, 3 bedrooms. No yard. I had two room mates here. One was normal, the other, I had to have arrested. Glad to be out of there. Made some good friends though – that was good.
Move #16 – This was only a few weeks ago, have been here for less than a month. Loving it. Hardwood floors. Room for my washer/dryer. It has a dishwasher, large driveway and a 2 level backyard. The dogs and I are happy here. It is close to work as well.
So, in total, presuming that I have not forgotten any, 16 moves. 16 moves in 42 years. That sounds like a lot. Have you moved more?
Wow that’s a lot of moves and room mates I had
9 moves before HS was done