So here I finally am. Four years on after first applying for a Candian visa. Descending into Vancouver. Low cloud, 11 degrees and drizzling.
What a year it’s been so far. Leaving RBS, Norway with Jessica, Kenya, Tanzania and SA with Brad, getting to the top of Kilimanjaro, Spain, climbing in the Himalayas, renovating my flat and now a one way ticket to Canada. And that’s more, but that’s not for here.
I’ve been making a(nother) list while I’ve been flying of what needs to happen now. There are a few loose ends not tied up back in the UK that my brother is very kindly helping with. There’s my car to sell, there a bit of work left in the flat that might need doing and there’s still changing all my details etc. Still, to do the last part I need a place to stay first and that’s what my focus is going to be on when I finally land.
It’s a strange feeling that I can best describe as not one feeling but a mass of feelings. I’m excited, I’m nervous about the logistics, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I still have to do, I’m sad to be leaving Blackheath and the things and people I’ve become familiar with, I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter. For the first time, for now at least, the aircrew’s words, “For those of you arriving home”, applied to me somewhere not the UK.