Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Leaving on a jet plane

Happy Tuesday, folks! Hope everyone who had a holiday yesterday, enjoyed their long weekend and have dried their "I don't want to go back to work" tears. Hope everyone who did not have a holiday yesterday, enjoyed their Monday.

I've got some great news to share! (No, I'm not engaged.. and sorry, Ian for throwing you under the bus there, but I know 90% of the people reading this were thinking that's what it was and the other 10% are just people who have stumbled upon this post and don't know me - thanks for stopping in!) Oh, right.. the news. Ian and I are moving to England in June. Just for a working holiday, so we're not really moving moving but it sounds more exciting than saying we are just going on a working holiday. Ian accepted a job last week with an agriculture company where he will have a research job for 6 months. We've had this little plan under our belts and have been saving money for over a year now but it wasn't until October that we booked flights and made it officially official (so now, my brother can believe us that we are going as I distinctly remember him saying "I'll believe it when you book your tickets"). Since I have done this sort of thing before - ski bumming it in Fernie - I am a lot more relaxed about planning than Ian is, so I've given the reins to him and mostly just give the odd nod to acknowledge his existence. Okay, I'm joking about that last part but honestly, for how much I like to have things planned out (like even a slight change in my routine really throws me off), for this big adventure, I am just going with the flow.

Ian started with his job search this fall and I figured, wherever he found a job - that's where we would go and then I will look for a job for myself. So ... now I have to do that. We will be based in Cambridge, which has a well-known university and a population not much bigger than that of Thunder Bay - 124,000. So that will be nice to not have to really adjust to something bigger or smaller than I am used to. Cambridge is also only about an hour train ride from London, which is AMAZING because London is such a fantastic city. What kind of job will I be looking for? Well, to be 100% honest, I don't care. However, it would be ideal to be able to work in my field. I have had a peek at the University sports complex and it looks like there are a few possibilities there. I just have to finish a few more courses and get some more experience in fitness instruction!

What else have we got planned? Well, my dad has a lot of cousins (and their families) over in the UK so definitely will do plenty of visiting, which will be awesome. I'm excited to show Ian where my family is from, we have a very exciting history. We are planning on travelling for a month or two once Ian's contract is up, countries to be decided - since we would go to every single one if we could. One touristy thing we have decided we want to do, however, is La Tomatina - a big tomato throwing festival in Spain that you have probably heard about ("The world's biggest food fight"). That's a must! It is at the end of August, and I'm already looking forward to it ... better get some goggles. We've also had plenty of friends and family mention that they will be coming over for a visit... that will be an adventure in itself!!

Just wanted to give you a little run down of that plan! Definitely expect a lot of blogs coming from overseas for your reading pleasure! And for now, I'll try and keep you all updated with plans (and yes, I know, I haven't created a recipe in a while). We can apply for our Visas at the beginning of March, and then we have to go to Edmonton for our Biometric Residence Permits. Once that's all good to go, it's really the home stretch! Or the England stretch? I dunno, but I am sure you get what I mean. We've got my cousin's wedding in southern Ontario June 4 and then June 6 it's hasta la vista, baby!

Travelled abroad on a working holiday? Got some advice? Ideas? Stories? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

dream big dreams, be reckless
- L

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