Moving to a big city definitely comes with the complete array of challenges it’s commonly made out to and by no means is it an exaggeration that things can get a bit overwhelming for those of us who hail from a smaller town, especially for those who have lived in small towns all their lives. For one, there is the constant buzz which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s somewhat of a polarised case in that you either fall in love with it or you realise you’re in the complete opposite camp.
Nevertheless, even for the slickest of city slickers life in a big city requires one to constantly be on their toes if they’re to merely survive, let alone thrive. So I’ve taken it upon myself as someone who has moved from a smaller town to a big city to share my thoughts and experiences about surviving in a big city and I hope you’ll at least find one of the pointers I discuss useful.
Learn to negotiate
This is a skill which is particularly useful when travelling to the major cities of other countries, particularly those which are known to be popular tourist destinations. However, it is indeed a skill which can be brought right back home and one which I personally use having learned that I am quite the negotiator when I really want to be.
Negotiating will almost always yield a better price for whatever it is you’re purchasing, even if it’s a service and not explicitly a product. You don’t have to be the classic-style negotiator who haggles with a vendor any chance you get, but should rather be a bit more strategic and yes, classier about it. For example, if a street vendor somehow knows that I’m going somewhere to buy whatever it is they’re also selling at a slightly cheaper price, they will pretty much always offer it to you at that price as well so that you “save yourself the trouble” of having to walk, drive or take a taxi all the way to the other side of town.
Plan for the worst
Okay, so excuse me if this may come across as a little cynical, but that’s just the reality of the situation. Everywhere you go around the world on your travels to the biggest cities you won’t be able to shake that sneaky feeling that the world is out to get you or that someone, somewhere is just waiting for their opportunity to take advantage of you. It goes beyond that with planning for the worst though, although it simply entails having a set of actionable steps you can take should things go wrong.
Do you know where to find a good wrongful death attorney for example, should the rather unfortunate event of a loved one or a close friend’s wrongful death befall you and you need every bit of financial and legal support you can get in addition to the emotional support? Thinking about these types of things may appear to be a bit of stretch, but this is the detail with which you have to consider these things if you’re to make your experience of any big city you’re visiting or living in a pleasant one if not at the very least comfortable.
