Wheels up!

Hello everyone!

I did it! 25+ years after I had the idea to go work and live in the UK its happening. I was granted a 1 year LOA from work, gave up my apartment, got rid of alot of my stuff, put the rest of it in storage and am on my way to Scotland to look for a job in Glasgow or Edinburgh.

NBD.

🤯

My dad was born in the UK so I have a British passport and since my 20s I have dreamed of going for a working holiday but I never got around to it. I don't have regrets about not going when I was younger because there were many other reasonable and worthy things that put of that plan but I often wondered, what if. The dream crept back into my consciousness over 10 years ago but I told myself that I was too old. People in their late thirties don't blow up their life and go work overseas. People in their late 30s get married, buy condos and have babies. Problem was, I had been going down that path with someone for a few years but they weren't a good long term match and it imploded in 2014. The emotional recovery from that put me at almost 40. I was single, renting and in a crap ton of debt. The husband/baby/condo dream was turning to ashes but I plowed on in hopes of reaching the shimmering mirage because, what other options were there?

There were (and are) times when I am sad that I am single, childless and property-less at 40 something (although going to Ikea, shopping at Granville Island and sleeping in on weekends are not those times!) but it dawned on me (possibly with my therapist's help, thanks Douglas!) that this also allowed me a freedom that other people didn't have. Maybe I could do something big like take three months off work and go travelling. Or maybe, I could move to the UK .

So, now I am on my way. 25+ years, many hours of therapy, lots of hand wringing, a great deal of budgeting (and help from the Credit Counseling Society of BC, they are amazing, I highly recommend them if you are struggling with debt!), a fair number of tears and some lengthy recovery journeys from some frustrating physical and emotional injuries later, and I am doing it. Ho. Ly. Shit.

I am making a few stops in Canada and then I touch down in Edinburgh July 18. Then I'll gallavant around the UK (and hopefully Ireland) for the summer to see family and friends, explore the sights, take in lots of theatre and explore the Highlands. I will submit my credentials to the Scottish regulatory body early in my time there so that they can work through them while I travel. *Hopefully* I'll be employed as a Soccial Worker by Sept or October. And, if I work at a coffee shop or the Scottish equivalent of MEC for a while, that's ok too. If the biggest problem I have to solve is making someone a hotter latte or finding them a smaller pair of shoes, it will be a nice break.

I plan on writing about my travels by segment and then maybe weekly once I get a job and life gets a bit more routine. Please join me!

G