It’s human nature to find a pattern and stick to it. It’s comforting, it’s familiar, it’s your center. For most people, that’s moving back to what they know, aka moving back to their hometown after college. Your parents are in your hometown to kill a spider or provide emotional (or financial) support. You know all the street names, all of the people, and your high school friends are there too. For some people, moving back to your hometown is great because that’s where their roots are. However, it’s okay to branch out and discover the world. That’s what life's about. This article highlights some thoughts that pair with moving away from home and being fully on your own. It may be scary, but the benefits are so worth it.

You get to truly experience living on your own. It’s a blessing to live near family, see them at least once a week and have a sturdy support system, but how would your life be different without the comforts of home? A little scary, perhaps, but it’s proven that the more time you spend alone, the more you are able to work on yourself. In other words, you can “find yourself” easier if you are removed from distractions. So instead of worrying about what your friend thinks of you from five years ago in high school, you get to find different quirks of your personality. You get to start a new routine, find a new hobby you felt judged for before or find the peacefulness within solitude. It’s amazing how much more confidence you gain when you’re happy with who you are when you’re alone.

You can see and do new things. Moving to a completely new place means there’s new experiences. The world is vast, find a spot and go visit it. Let’s say you have lived in the suburbs your whole life. Move to an urban city or the country, find something new. If you don’t like it, move somewhere else. People aren’t pinned to places. Also, most people think moving across the country is for the young, but what’s stopping anyone from being brave enough to get a fresh start somewhere else? Nothin’.

You can meet new and different people. With different environment comes different people. People of different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, etc. Moving out of your hometown gives you the opportunity to expand your mind in the means of empathizing with others. The more time you take to talk to people different from yourself, the more you learn and the more you know. The more you know, the more you care. Simple.

Moving into new environments makes you smarter. According to Sarah Sloat, a modern psychologist, “Our brains are much more influenced by the specific locations we live in than by the abstract idea of being stuck. Still, you can learn a lot about a person by where they are from and where they have chosen to be.” Our hometown predicts how we will act, live and generally be. But what if we took familiar ideas and added new ideas to our brains? The answer? Knowledgeable, more well-rounded, cultured, empathetic individuals. You’re not tagged with social pressures because you’ve seen it all, therefore you’re comfortable to be and act how you want to be and act.

You get to expose yourself to new elements. This applies to weather, nature, landscapes, ways of life, culture, etc. How cool is it to say you’ve lived in places scattered across the country. Imagine how much you could see. Mountains, oceans, stars, cities, people, transportation, art—the list goes on. Get out there!

You get to find your element. Maybe you haven’t discovered yet what truly makes you happy or what truly makes you, you. Maybe that’s because you’ve been stuck in the same town all of your life or the same type of environment and haven’t had the chance to find that crucial something. The more you explore, chances are you’re bound to find something you like, and who knows, maybe that something will change your life forever and you would’ve never have found it if you hadn’t moved away for a little bit.

You can always move back home. That’s the beauty of our nation. We can go to so many different types of areas without really leaving the country. Just because you’ve moved somewhere doesn’t mean you’re stuck there forever. Missing home? Move back there. Simple as pie.

Moving away can be terrifying because there are so many unknowns. What people don’t realize is that whether your life is predictable or not, each life has the same amount of unknowns. Like our good friend Mary Schmich adds, “Worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind.” So stop worrying, start doing, and get away from the known. Move away from your hometown, even if it’s just for a couple months. You’ll be surprised what you find.