Nothing says love like packing up your life to start over in a new city with the person you love. Now more than ever it seems that moving for love is the newest trend for people of all ages. According to a new study compiled by moving company Bellhops, the majority of people who “move for love” find success in their relationship. Moreover, 44% of people moved more than half a thousand miles to be with their partner, and more than half of those people would do it again. Bellhops is the nation’s first tech-driven moving company that offers simple, stress-free services — even when your move happens at the last minute.
While moving for love may feel like something out of a romantic comedy (cue Going the Distance featuring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long), a 2017 study by Homes.com found that 1 in 5 people made this grand romantic gesture of moving for love. When asked about broader U.S. migration patterns, Bellhops CEO Luke Marklin said, “We saw two big trends in why people are moving and where they’re going. The main reasons that we see people are moving — one is for money, and the other, believe it or not, is for love.”
The study analyzed 2.3 million social media conversations from the past year and put together a detailed and comprehensive overview of U.S. migration patterns. The team utilized an LDA algorithm to segment conversations before putting the data through rigorous machine-driven emotional analysis and human-driven synthesis to create this report.
For example, one of the social media conversations highlighted in the report reflects the theme of a successful move for love, “I moved across the country from New York to Washington. My SO and I had been long distance for two years (we met online), and we had talked about who was going to move for a while…I really love living in Washington, and being able to live with my partner is amazing. I don’t regret the move.”
As more and more couples delay marriage in favor of prolonged cohabitation, moving for love may become more common. The Bellhops study also found that the majority of people who move for love are female city-dwellers in their mid-thirties. Family researcher Wendy Manning has studied the trends in cohabitation and estimates that the percentage of women ages 19-44 who have ever cohabited has increased by 82 percent over the past 23 years. As this type of behavior becomes the new norm, will moving for love be a new relationship milestone between cohabitation and engagement? Only time will tell.
“When my husband was relocated for his job, there was no hesitation in my decision to get up and leave everything I’ve ever known and moved to a new state for him,” said Lacey L., who personally decided to move for love. “Of course the unknown is frightening, but it is what he had to do and it made him happy, so I gladly followed and do not regret the decision.”
Of course, it is crucial to make sure that there’s a discussion about moving for love beforehand so that both individuals are in good financial standing whether that be in terms of moving costs, job security, or other unexpected events that may arise. If a couple is certain that they’re ready to move for love, there are some strategies for making success more likely, relationship expert Terri Orbuch said starting with discussing both partners’ expectations before the move. “Get everything out into the open from the get-go so you can both be on the same footing (or at least understand what is in your partner’s head and heart).”
If you are a stereotypical millennial, perhaps a little impulsive, and looking for love, the answer may be found where you least expect it…a new city!
