Less than 3 months ago I was looking out of the window of my office on a Monday morning thinking ‘What am I doing with my life?’ It was raining outside and the blank word document on my computer stared at me, begging for words to be written.
In pretty much every job I've ever had, I've had fantasies of being made redundant. For me it’s a guilt-free opportunity to do something different. I love change! (unfortunately loving change leaves you with only change left in your pocket!)
Three months ago, my warped fantasy came true - on a dreary Monday morning, myself and my boyfriend (who worked for the same company) were given our one month’s notice of redundancy. I must have been elated right? Well, no…. it didn’t feel like I thought it would. I actually enjoyed my job for once, we had just moved into our own little-rented house, we had lots of friends at work, we were earning good money and we struggled to see how we were going to get jobs that would match up.
On top of that, we had booked to go on holiday the following day, so after finding out our income source would soon cease, we had a 5 day trip to Scotland to think about it (whilst trying not to spend too much at the Edinburgh Fringe).
I am so glad we took that holiday. Our decision to spontaneously move country can be pinpointed to one very brief conversation whilst driving our hire car through the Scottish Highlands;
Me: “I imagine that this is what Canada looks like”
Him: “Yeah it does, just much bigger” (he travelled there for 3 months 10 years ago)
Me: “Why don’t we move there for the winter? ”
Him: “Interesting…”
Exploring the Highlands before the big move
One week later and a bit of logistical mulling and the decision was made. We handed in our notice to our landlady, stopped looking for office jobs to replace our own and started looking for freelance work.
After the initial excitement, panic started to set in. What if we couldn't get enough work? What if we couldn't find somewhere to live? What if I hate the cold? What if we didn't make friends, and so ended up spending too much time together, and tearing each other apart? What if a grizzly bear tore us apart?
Three months on and I can say that it’s worked out pretty well. We have managed to rent an apartment in a town called Nelson in British Columbia. It’s in the mountains on the lake, and is costing us less than we were paying in the UK! We both have enough freelance work to just about sustain us (we’re both copywriters). We’re beginning to make friends with some likeminded people, and have all of our ski and snowboard ready for our first ever ski season.
If you’d told me 3 months ago that I’d be switching my view of a high-rise parking lot, to a mountain-flanked lake, I wouldn’t have believed you. It just goes to show, sometimes great things happen when you take chances. Although we are only 3 weeks in - stay tuned to find out if the journey continues to be as rosy as my cheeks in the first winter snow!
Have you ever made an impulsive decision to move somewhere new? What made you do it?