living
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Margaret Burke, 62, who lives in Taiwan and is caring remotely for her 91-year-old mother in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Burke, who works as a patent attorney, said this arrangement has allowed her mom to age well in a condo while…
For a growing number of Americans, living with family members has become a necessary trend.Young adults are moving back into their parents’ homes as the housing market becomes increasingly unaffordable, and grandparents are offering childcare in exchange for a place to stay.June Boyd, 90, hosts 13 people in her Toledo,…
This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Renee Li, a 29-year-old analytics engineer in New York. It has been edited for length and clarity.I’ve been in New York for about three years. Before that, I was fully nomadic in Asia, South America, and Europe, living out of a carry-on.Most…
When I moved into my 9-square-meter, or about 97-square-foot, micro-apartment in Paris’ 17th arrondissement in October 2025, it was supposed to be temporary.I was leaving an unsustainable living situation as an au pair, and needed affordable, emergency housing. By chance, I found an available apartment that was within my small…
Shortly after college, my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I moved several states away. We had both grown up and lived our entire lives up until that point in the Northeast, he in New York and me in Connecticut. But now, in our early 20s, we wanted a change. When he…
This story is based on an interview with Judi Gatson, a local TV evening news anchor from Columbia, South Carolina. It has been edited for length and clarity.My 82-year-old father has a mind as sharp as it’s always been.However, his health issues include congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis,…
Three years ago, my family of three left New Zealand for Kobe, Japan, desperate for a total reset. We were running on empty, exhausted by skyrocketing living costs, limited career growth, and relentless financial stress.We already loved Japan as tourists, but moving here permanently felt like a massive gamble. Instead,…
The first excursion in my newly purchased camper van — a one-night trip to a national forest a few hours from my home — was nothing short of a debacle. The trip was meant to be a test run on solo van living before I fully took the plunge, and…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jillian Kurovski, a 27-year-old Ph.D. student living in South Korea for a year. It has been edited for length and clarity. Loading audio narration… I was doing spider research in Guam when I got an email saying that my birth mother…
I’ve spent the past year touring colleges with my high school senior, and I’ve found myself thinking a lot about my own college experience — and coming to a surprising conclusion. Loading audio narration… Even though my husband and I both lived at home during college and saved a significant…
