Why do young people leave South Australia? Twenty-seven-year-old lawyer Lucy Travers writes about her journey from Adelaide to New York, where she is working as an entrepreneur.

New York, New York. It’s a hell of a town and boy is it different from Adelaide. From the outset, I want to make it clear that I am in no way an Adelaide hater. Adelaide is my city of birth and where my roots lie. My head and my heart, however, are in New York, the city that really doesn’t ever sleep.

Moving to Manhattan in November 2012 from sleepy Adelaide certainly opened my eyes. The city is a moving beast of ideas, dreams, business and politics. It offers everything and delivers the best.

Yet, unlike Adelaide and its gentle pace, New York is like the friend you love to hate. It takes more than it gives and is relentless in kicking you when you are down. Where Adelaide offers safety, stability, comfort and consistency, New York presents danger, uncertainty, risk and angst. Where Adelaide is easy and straightforward, New York is complicated, headstrong, aggressive and bolshy.

Trips to the supermarket take two hours instead of 20 minutes (no car means walking many blocks to the closest shop and lugging home groceries in the snow, sleet or searing heat). Paying rent in cheques instead of internet transfer means cumbersome paperwork and additional admin. Sitting on the subway following the Boston bombing and thinking something similar could happen at any time … well, that’s just plain unnerving.

The sheer size of the city can be intimidating and worrying. Safety really is an issue. Glancing up daily at the new Freedom Tower (which replaced the former Twin Towers) is a constant reminder that all may not be what it seems in a city of such opportunity.

Gun ownership is out of control and, given the power of the National Rifle Association, that doesn’t appear likely to change any time soon. A friend owns 14 semi-automatic rifles and two pistols, one of which he keeps above his bed when he sleeps. I was in New York the day the Connecticut school shooting happened. Events like this send a shiver up the collective spine of New Yorkers. It suddenly brings home how easy it is for guns and violence to be used en masse to inflict the most harm.

Eavesdropping on café conversations is like listening to a movie script – people are constantly wheeling and dealing, raising money, building businesses and living their dreams.

A few months ago, I was enjoying a movie one evening when the man a few rows back caught my eye. He kept moving seats, removing his coat, then putting it back on. Memories of the Batman shooting in Colorado in July last year instantly came to mind and my guard went up. During a quick trip out to the bathroom, I spied a police car out the front of the cinema, which elevated my anxiety. While nothing came of it, the experience was a powerful reminder that bad things can happen in big western cities. Adelaide has never left me with that sense of angst.

With the lows, however, come extreme highs. Like a rollercoaster, New York is both sides of a radical spectrum. The food options are endless; anything you desire is available at the drop of a hat. The people are fascinating and everyone has a story to tell. Eavesdropping on café conversations is like listening to a movie script – people are constantly wheeling and dealing, raising money, building businesses and living their dreams.

Celebrity spottings are endless. Liv Tyler and Julianne Moore live on my street. Philip Seymour Hoffman rides his bike around my neighbourhood. Cameron Diaz goes to my gym. And, of course, the guy sitting next to me at my local café is a good friend of Woody Allen and can introduce me any Monday night at The Carlyle Hotel, where Woody plays jazz. The city glistens with opportunity.

While New York and Adelaide are poles apart, the charms of Adelaide are something I hope will never change. Its ease feels like a warm blanket, providing endless comfort and contentment. In Adelaide, my personal safety never comes to the forefront of my mind. I never feel anxious sitting in theatres or on trains. I don’t worry that a desperate homeless man will snatch my handbag.

Of course, that’s not to say that I fear living in New York. I don’t. New York is the epicentre of the world, and its people, cuisines, art and opportunities are second to none. In New York I can meet the people and get the big breaks and experience that aren’t available in Adelaide.

Perhaps Adelaide is too safe, too secure, not edgy enough.

Maybe its small-town talk is what its residents really do want.

I do love Adelaide, but for now, my heart is firmly planted in New York and I expect it to stay there for some time.

Lucy Travers has started a company that exports organic, natural and healthy snack foods and beverages from the United States to Australia. She blogs at www.lucytravers.com.