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I got this idea from Steph Anne at Luxe Chandelier and I thought it would be really interesting to show you where I’ve lived. I have moved around quite a bit, especially since starting college, and luckily I took pictures of all the places I have lived except one.

Munich, Germany. This is the house I grew up in. I actually just walked by there the other week which is when I took this picture. My parents had a condo on the 1st floor (that’s the 2nd floor for Americans). The neighborhood is considered one of the bad ones in Munich but actually, in my opinion, there isn’t really such a thing as a really bad neighborhood in Munich. What it really means is that a lot of the people living there are immigrants and the neighborhood is filled with concrete high-rise buildings. I had a good childhood growing up there.

A Munich suburb, Germany. A few weeks before my 13th birthday, we moved to a suburb of Munich. It’s only about 10 minutes by car from where we used to live and my brother and I continued to go to the same schools after the move. We now lived in a house and had a backyard but aside from having more space, not much changed. We kept the same social circles, and to this day, when I am at my parents’, most of my social life takes place in Munich.

Heidelberg, Germany. When I was 19, a couple of months after graduating high school, I moved to Heidelberg, 220 miles away from home, to start college. I moved into an in-law unit in the house of an older couple. The house was situated on a hill which made for a beautiful view but despite being in Heidelberg, it felt kind of remote. There was a bus going down into town but the hill itself was one big residential area, with hardly any stores. In hindsight, it may have been a better idea to get an apartment in an area that is more popular for students to live in. I only lived here for a little under two years, though,

Norman, OK, USA. I moved to Norman for my first year abroad. I spent two semesters at the University of Oklahoma, and lived in the Yorkshire apartment complex which has since been torn down. For the first time in my life, I shared a room with someone. The other girl from my university going to OU and I decided to room together. We didn’t know each other well, but at least we had met a few times before embarking on this adventure. We actually became friends and are still in touch to this day. I had a great time living in Norman, though I found it a little odd that the apartment complex was almost entirely populated by foreign students, which made it harder to meet American students. But since all the exchange students did was partying and I was never that big on partying (I went to a few but it’s not really my thing) I ended up making my friends in classes that I took where I was usually the only or one of very few foreign students. I had a great time living in Norman, and still have so many fond memories of my year there. I absolutely want to return to visit one day, even though all of my friends there have since moved to Dallas.

Sandhausen, Germany. After spending the summer back home with my parents, I moved into a new apartment in a suburb of Heidelberg. This time it was a house that held three apartments for families (or couples) as well as two rooms that shared a bathroom. My neighbors were great, but my flatmate who I (thankfully only) shared the bathroom with was a 16 or 17 year old bratty girl (hence her not living at home anymore). She moved out after a little over a year but unfortunately the person who moved in then (first it was supposed to be for a few weeks only but then he ended up living there more than two years and for all I know may still be living there) wasn’t that much better as a roommate. Again I left after a little under two years because I was going abroad again. This house in Sandhausen is actually the one that I didn’t take a picture of so the one you see above is of a street in the same suburb.

Barcelona, Spain. I moved to Barcelona for my second year abroad. I managed to find a room in an apartment very quickly. It was expensive but it was in a great location, with a view of the sea from the master bedroom and only five minutes walking-distance from the beach. But it turns out that the owner of the apartment was a bit of a headcase. He asked for a non-smoker only but smoked in the apartment all the time. He would not allow for me to have any guys stay the night (not that I really had any guy stay with me but it was a matter of principle), and my friend who visited me had to pay because supposedly she was using so much water. There were other things but this would get too long. I decided to move after just one month there and within three weeks, I found a much better place to live.

Barcelona, Spain. I lived in this building, sharing an apartment with two (later three) girls. It was so much better in every way. Not right by the beach, and a very old and somewhat run-down apartment but it had so much charm and it was a lot cheaper and only 5 minutes walking-distance from the university and 15 minutes from the Plaça Catalunya (the city center). One of my roommates was a bit of a bitch but compared to the first apartment, I could live with this. I spent the rest of the year living here.

Heidelberg, Germany. After that year and after spending the summer with my parents once again, I moved back to Heidelberg. This time, I had decided to apply for an apartment in student housing. I didn’t end up getting offered the studio apartment that I had applied for but a room in an apartment with three other students. I really didn’t want to search for an apartment again, so I took it. I shared the apartment with two guys and one girl, all students in various programs (one teaching major, one in med school, one getting his PhD in history, and me) between the ages of 22 and 31. We lived on the top floor of this building. We each had our own balconies with a breathtaking view of Heidelberg and the castle. I know I whined about my roommates a lot but I honestly had a good two years living here. It was nice to live in student housing. The building was quite new and in good shape and while my roommates (especially the guys) were incredibly frustrating when it came to cleaning, they were all nice persons which is so important when you are sharing an apartment. It was also nice to finally live close to downtown Heidelberg and the university. I actually lived on campus but it was the sciences campus so I still had to take the bus to get to classes but compared to the two other places I lived in Heidelberg, it was a much shorter commute. I moved out at the end of August of this year, finally done with university, which brings me to where I am now.

A Munich suburb, Germany. For now, I am living with my parents again. I am looking for a job and until then I can neither afford living on my own, nor does it make sense to look for an apartment when I might have to move again soon, potentially to a different city. It’s not easy to live with my parents again after all these years but I am enjoying being back in Munich, at least for now. And while job hunting is a frustrating process, for now I am actually not minding having so much time to myself. I am considering getting a part-time job or to start volunteering, because I do get bored easily, but I also finally have time to focus on my health and I plan to make the most of my time off.

So tell me, where have you lived? Have you lived in the same area all your life or have you moved around a lot?