Why Leaving the Nest Is Harder the Second Time Around After moving back in with their parents during the pandemic, some young adults are struggling to adjust to life on their own. Credit...Janik Söllner June 4, 2021 For Tiana Mason, a 26-year-old research assistant at Boston University, moving back to New Jersey to live with her parents during the pandemic was hard at first. But that didn’t compare to the overwhelming anxiety she felt several months later after she left the nest again to go back to Boston. When Ms. Mason was living at home during the first six months of the pandemic, she relied on her mother for food shopping and company. In the fall, she returned to an empty Boston apartment where she worked remotely. Taking public transportation to the grocery store and laundromat brought her unexpected stress.