Homeward

Hi friends! Much has happened, much has changed, primarily that I am back living in Brisbane, Australia.

Now, if I were an outsider looking into my life I would be thinking..

    “Wait a second… didn’t she just move to Canada?!”

And the answer to that, my friends, would be yes. yes I did. I should clarify that I was in the land of maple syrup for five months and for the most-part my time in Canada was glorious and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Before I start please know that this is my experience, if you’re thinking about moving away do not let this deter you in any way! As I’ve said I came away from Canada not regretting a thing and neither do the thousands and thousands of people that move to Canada from all over the world (and many that stay forever!).

Now everyone who has moved away from home alone or with another person know that there are three main steps to ‘successfully’ start a new life;

• Find a home
• Find a job
• Make friends

The first two came surprisingly easy for me and I was very grateful for it. I also made a few good friends living in a share house and at my job, but about four months in I was scrolling through Facebook and watched a short video that was the catalyst for me coming home.

The video depicted a father popping over to his adult daughters house whilst she was at work so that he could take her dog for a walk… yep, simple hey? Well, this video caused me to spiral into thinking about my life and then my life in the future and at the end of it I was stressed but I realised that what I wanted was what was depicted in the video. I wanted my family to be able to jump in the car and come to mine for dinner and for us to hang out whenever we wanted. Furthermore, I realised that I wanted to be around the friends that I’d known for the past 10 years, friends that knew me through and through and vice versa. Plus, I wanted a closer relationship to my little sister who fiiiiiinally liked the same things I liked. The little devil on my shoulder was saying things like:

“But Jess…. you’ve only been here 4 months, shouldn’t you stick it out for a bit longer?”

That’s what I thought to myself and pictured my friends saying to me. I tried to put all thoughts of moving home out of my head and I continued to have fun and explore new places. However those niggling feelings weren’t going away. So, I started sharing my thoughts with my closest friends and asking them for advice. Now I should point out that when I headed to Canada it was a permanent move in my mind, after talking with friends and family I thought look, why don’t I just stay for a year? That will give me plenty of time to settle down and reassess. And then a year turned into six months as I felt more and more sad about my life in Canada. Then, one day I was on the phone talking to my Dad, sharing my thoughts and he said:

“Look if you’re that sad and miserable over there, just come home next month, there’s absolutely no reason to stay somewhere that you don’t need to be when you’re miserable”

And that was that. I booked my flights a week later, after giving myself time to think if it was really what I wanted. I instantly felt happier and knew it was the right decision.

Having had periods of my life where I felt down before, I knew that my sad feelings probably would have lifted and I would have learned to love my new home, however when you know exactly what would make you feel immediately better, it’s kind of hard to ignore it.

So there you have it! Onto what this blog is supposed to be for – pretty photo’s. The few shots below document the past month and a half that I’ve been home, it’s been so much fun and I know I made the right decision, plus I’m pretty sure Canada isn’t going anywhere soon.

So there you have it! What do you think about my decision? I’d love to know, plus if anyone needs any tips about visa’s/housing/jobs/sightseeing in Vancouver just ask via here or Facebook or Insta (@jessbarnden)!

And remember, do not let my experience deter you! Everyone is different and everyone has different experiences.

Mwah!