And now for the big news…

We celebrated in style!

Ok, so now for the big news! It’s no secret that I have had some personal changes brewing on the side-lines for some time now (3 years to be exact). And a couple of weeks ago, we received a life-changing email to say that our Australian visas had been granted! We are packing up our London lives and beginning a new adventure down under.

I feel like I may have bigged this up a little bit and some of you might be sagging in your seat thinking “is that all?”. Well for us, it’s HUGE. Most of you know that this is not the first time we have been down this road, having moved to London from South Africa at the tender age of 18 (someday I might share that Baptism of Fire with you). Truthfully, I fled my old life in South Africa. I left a very broken home, a low-paying job and an even more dead-end future behind. Mentally sticking one middle finger up as I embarked the plane (for the first time ever), I couldn’t wait to start my new adventure in London. But even after 8 years I still remember how tough it was to assimilate. I remember the big struggles such as emergency tax, visa expirations, being homeless and penniless. I even remember the little things like not knowing how to use the self-checkout, or how to put petrol in the car or that we had to pack our own grocery bags in the checkout line. Being a newbie in a big city is a scary, scary thing.

And the crazy kids we are, are doing it all over again. This time around, our move will be bittersweet as I truly love my life in London, I love the buzz of the city, the fact that Europe is on my doorstep, I love our little shoebox house, our crazy psychotic car. I love that it’s the city I ‘grew up’ in. I will leave this city with a very heavy heart but as much as I love my life here, the South African in me has never settled. I miss the beach, the sunshine and the open spaces and before moving here, I had no idea how intrinsic these things were to my existence.

If I am honest, I’m terrified. I’m scared of being homeless and jobless again and mostly I am scared that we are investing all our life savings on something that might not work out. I know there are no guarantees, and apart from being scared witless, I’m incredibly excited and determined to make this work.  

And that’s the story. Obviously things have gotten crazy for me already. I’m packing and sorting and washing and drying [and crying]. I’m filling out paperwork and booking flights [and freaking out]. It’s left me with very little time to blog or visit blogs (sorry guys) but I am going to try and keep posting and updating you all on the craziness. I will be cutting down on my posts to minimise my stress levels but since blogging is cathartic to me, I won’t be far away.

Thanks for sharing in my excitement (and for reading this incredibly long and waffly post)! 

Early preparation for the sun is key!