my partner‘s and my lease runs out on the 31st. we can renew it, but we can also move into the apartment a friend is moving out of around the time we‘d need to start moving.

our current apartment is lovely. two bedrooms, a bathroom with a tub (it‘s really uncomfortable though), a balcony with lots of trees nearby and even a relatively good view of the stars for a city with 2 million inhabitants. it‘s a bit cramped and weirdly shaped. there are two bedrooms, one of which we use as bedroom and the other one is my partner‘s office and our guest bedroom.

I love the area, it‘s somewhat quiet and there‘s a beautiful park nearby. there‘s also an observatory close enough to walk within an hour or so. we live right next to a train line which does cause quite a bit of noise, but because of it the next building is relatively far away. we get lots of privacy and - as mentioned - a beautiful view of the sky. there is also a lot of foliage next to the tracks and a bunch of trees basically right in front of the balcony. and when there‘s no train passing by, it can get really quiet. we also have lots of built in storage space, which is unusual for our country.

but there are also a bunch of downsides. the noise coming from the train tracks, for example. the windows are doing quite a good job at keeping it out, but I love having them open and it can get really annoying. the kitchen isn‘t well designed either. we have a gas stove but no built-in oven. our dishwasher is tiny as well, since there isn‘t much room for a bigger one. the sinks and the mobile oven take away lots of space and the working area couldn‘t be further away from the stove. also, the walls are paper thin. it‘s an almost daily occurrence that I can hear one of our neighbors practicing playing the piano. fortunately, they‘re quite decent. it still is annoying to hear so much from our neighbors‘ daily life and having to take so much care as to keep the noise level low enough as to not bother them too much. plus, due to the layout of the apartment, there isn‘t really a quiet space to retreat to when we have visitors. the toilet is seperate from the bathroom, but it doesn‘t have a sink which poses a bit of a problem for everybody dealing with monthly blood baths.

our potential new apartment is really cool. it‘s the two top floors of the building. 3 bedrooms, one of which we‘d use for sleeping, and one of the others would be my partner‘s office and a guest bedroom, while the other one would become kind of a workshop, art room and general space for me to use as I please. the bathroom doesn‘t have a tub, but the shower is nice and there even is a a towel drying rack! again, the toilet is in a seperate room, but this one does have a sink. this is the bottom floor, the top floor consists of the living room and kitchen. it‘s one big, open room with a high ceiling and a bunch of windows both on the east and west that let in lots of lights. the layout of the kitchen actually makes sense and there is a big dishwasher. plus there are two balconies, one on the top and one on the bottom floor. especially on the top one, you have a great view of the sky and see some stars as well (this is really important to me). the walls are really soundproof. and we‘re allowed to keep pets!

now to the downsides. the balconies are both in the inner yard of the building, which means that we have to put in quite a bit of work to get privacy. there are no trees, just concrete. unfortunately my partner and I aren‘t exactly good at keeping plants alive, so there isn‘t much of a chance to get at least some greenery. the windows in the bedrooms are quite small as well. the biggest downside - in my opinion - is that the building is right next to the busiest street in the whole city. the walls are great at keeping the noise out, but I do love my open windows and I most likely won‘t be able to do that on this side of the apartment if I can‘t stand the noise. the building‘s main entrance also opens right to this street. I struggle with sensory issues, so this is going to be challenging. another big downside is the cost. it‘ll be 300-400€/month more than our current apartment. we‘re confident that we can afford it since we each earn enough, but my partner does struggle with keeping his finances on track due to his severe adhd.

we need to make this decision soon. honestly, not having made it already really stresses me out. I‘d love to stay at our current apartment, but I‘d also really love to move somewhere with more space, especially if I get a room to retreat to.

potentially having to move in two weeks also stresses me out. I won‘t be able to help much with it, since I‘m currently going to school for another month before returning to work and I can‘t really take time off. picturing us packing our stuff and leaving our current apartment for good, and not living in this nice area with all it‘s trees and quiet makes me sad. the change will be hard, but I guess this hardship will be temporary and I‘ll start loving this new place.

I don‘t know what to do. my partner said he‘ll leave the decision to me. he‘s sure that he wants to move, he‘s been talking about wanting to move into our friends apartment in case she moves out for years. initially, I was sure that I wanted to stay, but after thinking about it for a while I don‘t know what I‘d prefer anymore. the deadline being so close doesn‘t help at all. I wish we had more time.