Big announcement about 2018 and me
Jan. 1st, 2018 12:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayI've been vaguely hinting for a while that there are some big changes coming and with the new year dawning, the time seems right to make the public announcement. After all, the new year is all about new things and fresh starts.
I'm moving back to England this year!
I've told the friends and family this most affects and now I'm telling you guys. I haven't told anyone at work yet, so if you know someone I work with or you're on my Facebook, please don't mention it unless it's on a post where I'm actually talking about the move and have privacy set for that?
It's a big move so you'll understand why I've taken a long time to consider it carefully and then took even longer to go public. I made the decision and told my parents in late September, but there's been a lot of talking and planning and research to do. Hence my brain being a bit scattered and frazzled lately.
The core reason for the move comes down to this: I miss my family.
I miss my home and a great many other things, but the biggest factor is my family. My UK friends and fandom are a part of my family, and having such a huge chunk of my heart always so far away has become intolerable. And if I'm going to make the move, it has to be sooner rather than later, for a lot of reasons. We'd always planned to sell the house I live in here this year, so doing the move now rather than a few years down the line is sensible (and makes me happier than waiting, which is a huge factor).
To answer the most common questions I've had:
1) Yes, I'm bringing the cats with me. I did a lot of research while I was making the decision and the cats were a big part of it. WIth the right paperwork and vaccinations, plus the help of a pet shipping company, they should be able to come on the same flight as me without any quarantine requirements.
2) I'll be staying with my parents initially, while I look for work and a permanent home, and then I hope to rent for a year or two (while I rebuild my credit history) before looking to get a mortgage and buy something. Yeah, I'm going to be a homeowner at some point, which I'd honestly given up on doing here in Canada.
3) I'll be looking for work in London and I'm actually pretty excited about the career advancement possibilities there that I just don't have in Nova Scotia. It's certainly helped me feeling like this is a good choice, because although I'm mainly doing this to be closer to family and friends, it will have the side-effect of getting my career moving again. (So, if you know any London-based companies looking for a senior database/ETL developer/data engineer with opportunities to move into big data, let me know!)
4) I probably won't live in London. I'll find somewhere not far from the parents (Buckinghamshire) and commute, to have the best of both worlds. I.e. London life and culture stuff, plus countryside and so forth to walk in, with family nearby. I've really missed public footpaths, fields and woods, and walking by the Thames. I've missed Friday nights at my uncle's house and lunches with Mum and Dad and being able to meet my sis in the city for supper regularly.
5) But hey, London friends, that means I'll be around to socialise a fair bit because I'll only be half an hour away on the train/Tube! And further afield UK friends: I will be visiting you. You've been warned.
6) The date isn't set yet, but I'll probably be getting on a plane in the second or third week in July. I'll know the date for sure sometime in April, I think.
It's a huge change and pretty intimidating from a logistical point of view, but I'm very excited. I'll get to be with my family more, which is the biggest thing. My sister is talking about starting a family and I don't want to miss any of it. I'll get to celebrate the big and little events with them. Over the last few years, it's become more obvious to me how much I miss them all and how much I've been missing out on, and I just can't do that anymore. Next Christmas, I'll get to be a part of their celebration (and if we lose power for a large chunk of the day, I'll be with people instead of sitting on my own in the dark).
Deciding to make the move has given me a kick up the backside to think about my career and start looking at next steps, which hasn't been easy where I'm currently living. I'm stagnating here. There just aren't the roles that I really want, so if I'm going to get my career moving in the right direction again, I'll have to leave Nova Scotia. Moving back to England will solve the career thing and the family thing in one move, so it makes a lot more sense than going to somewhere like Toronto.
I'm excited about all the possibilities opening up: going to more cons (yes, I plan to be at Redemption 19, VidUKon 2019, and I'm hopeful about making at least a one day appearance at Nine Worlds this year), travelling more to see friends around the UK and explore Europe, doing all the fun cultural stuff I've missed since I left. My list of things I want to do when I get back is *epic*.
The move won't solve every problem I have, I know that. I'll miss my friends here. There are things in the UK that suck in different ways to the things in Canada that suck. I'm not being unrealistic about this, I think. But I am hopeful that I'll cope better with the bad parts if I'm back in a country where my support network is stronger and wider.
Moving to Canada was the right choice in 2008. Moving home feels like the right choice for 2018. Expect me to wibble, wobble, and be utterly fucking terrified at times, but I'm also really excited. Hopefully a year from now, I'll be writing my first 2019 post from a happier, more fulfilled part of my life.
I'm moving back to England this year!
I've told the friends and family this most affects and now I'm telling you guys. I haven't told anyone at work yet, so if you know someone I work with or you're on my Facebook, please don't mention it unless it's on a post where I'm actually talking about the move and have privacy set for that?
It's a big move so you'll understand why I've taken a long time to consider it carefully and then took even longer to go public. I made the decision and told my parents in late September, but there's been a lot of talking and planning and research to do. Hence my brain being a bit scattered and frazzled lately.
The core reason for the move comes down to this: I miss my family.
I miss my home and a great many other things, but the biggest factor is my family. My UK friends and fandom are a part of my family, and having such a huge chunk of my heart always so far away has become intolerable. And if I'm going to make the move, it has to be sooner rather than later, for a lot of reasons. We'd always planned to sell the house I live in here this year, so doing the move now rather than a few years down the line is sensible (and makes me happier than waiting, which is a huge factor).
To answer the most common questions I've had:
1) Yes, I'm bringing the cats with me. I did a lot of research while I was making the decision and the cats were a big part of it. WIth the right paperwork and vaccinations, plus the help of a pet shipping company, they should be able to come on the same flight as me without any quarantine requirements.
2) I'll be staying with my parents initially, while I look for work and a permanent home, and then I hope to rent for a year or two (while I rebuild my credit history) before looking to get a mortgage and buy something. Yeah, I'm going to be a homeowner at some point, which I'd honestly given up on doing here in Canada.
3) I'll be looking for work in London and I'm actually pretty excited about the career advancement possibilities there that I just don't have in Nova Scotia. It's certainly helped me feeling like this is a good choice, because although I'm mainly doing this to be closer to family and friends, it will have the side-effect of getting my career moving again. (So, if you know any London-based companies looking for a senior database/ETL developer/data engineer with opportunities to move into big data, let me know!)
4) I probably won't live in London. I'll find somewhere not far from the parents (Buckinghamshire) and commute, to have the best of both worlds. I.e. London life and culture stuff, plus countryside and so forth to walk in, with family nearby. I've really missed public footpaths, fields and woods, and walking by the Thames. I've missed Friday nights at my uncle's house and lunches with Mum and Dad and being able to meet my sis in the city for supper regularly.
5) But hey, London friends, that means I'll be around to socialise a fair bit because I'll only be half an hour away on the train/Tube! And further afield UK friends: I will be visiting you. You've been warned.
6) The date isn't set yet, but I'll probably be getting on a plane in the second or third week in July. I'll know the date for sure sometime in April, I think.
It's a huge change and pretty intimidating from a logistical point of view, but I'm very excited. I'll get to be with my family more, which is the biggest thing. My sister is talking about starting a family and I don't want to miss any of it. I'll get to celebrate the big and little events with them. Over the last few years, it's become more obvious to me how much I miss them all and how much I've been missing out on, and I just can't do that anymore. Next Christmas, I'll get to be a part of their celebration (and if we lose power for a large chunk of the day, I'll be with people instead of sitting on my own in the dark).
Deciding to make the move has given me a kick up the backside to think about my career and start looking at next steps, which hasn't been easy where I'm currently living. I'm stagnating here. There just aren't the roles that I really want, so if I'm going to get my career moving in the right direction again, I'll have to leave Nova Scotia. Moving back to England will solve the career thing and the family thing in one move, so it makes a lot more sense than going to somewhere like Toronto.
I'm excited about all the possibilities opening up: going to more cons (yes, I plan to be at Redemption 19, VidUKon 2019, and I'm hopeful about making at least a one day appearance at Nine Worlds this year), travelling more to see friends around the UK and explore Europe, doing all the fun cultural stuff I've missed since I left. My list of things I want to do when I get back is *epic*.
The move won't solve every problem I have, I know that. I'll miss my friends here. There are things in the UK that suck in different ways to the things in Canada that suck. I'm not being unrealistic about this, I think. But I am hopeful that I'll cope better with the bad parts if I'm back in a country where my support network is stronger and wider.
Moving to Canada was the right choice in 2008. Moving home feels like the right choice for 2018. Expect me to wibble, wobble, and be utterly fucking terrified at times, but I'm also really excited. Hopefully a year from now, I'll be writing my first 2019 post from a happier, more fulfilled part of my life.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-01 05:27 pm (UTC)So much paperwork. SO MUCH PAPERWORK. The packing and selling *almost* look tame compared to it.