Duckman

Kinda bittersweet to write this, but today is our 7th Canniversary, and will be our last for now.

I am from Australia (Perth). I first came to Canada in 1998 as an exchange student to the University of Western Ontario. I loved it - the independence, the different society, and of course, a girl. For a few years there while we sorted things out between us, I was sure I was going to end up settled in London Ontario, with her. But that wasn't to be, and in 2003, in Australia, I met the woman I would end up marrying and moving to Canada with.

We came through Canada on a holiday in 2006, and even came through Vancouver at the time - with no idea we would end up here. At that point, I was 26, she was 24, and we had floated the idea of working holidays, but no firm plans. In 2008 we got married in Australia, and went on a honeymoon through Europe, meeting various friends along the way who had been working there, and that galvanized our plans to do one. We got home, and looked at various visa options, climates, etc, and decided on Vancouver (Thanks BE!).

I don't really know what was in my heart back then.. but clearly I was talking about PR. But the idea was to work here for a year or two to see how we felt about it, and then play it by ear. It took me a while to find a job initially (about 8 weeks).. then it had been advertised at $78k, and then they offered it to me at $99k.. so I had to avoid making a squeaking noise when they did that. Worked there for a few years, got a redundancy and a higher paying job.. and have been there ever since.

Even though life in Vancouver was fine, I kept looking.. and actually got through a few rounds of interviews for what would seem like my dream job at the University of Western Ontario.. before withdrawing. The decision to withdraw was difficult, but at the same time, clarifying. Talking to my dear wife about what it would mean to take the job helped set our path which has led us here - moving to London Ont would mean further from Australia, it would mean cutting off our friends and family for good (except infrequent visits), and it would mean it was home for us forever. Seeing these laid out really clarified for me - if I wasn't going to cut off everything to move to London for this job, I wasn't going to for anything, so it was decided - this wasn't going to be forever. We made up a list of places we wanted to see in Canada, and the Americas, and we've been ticking all of these off over the last few years. We've done BC, AB, ON, QC, NB, PEI, Mexico, Dominican, St Maarten, NYC, LA, Portland, Seattle and so many other places.

We are now 34 and 36, and we want to go back to family in Australia while our parents are still alive, we want to have kids and a support network, at some point we need to save for retirement, invest in property instead of paying someone else's rent, and Vancouver isn't the place for that works for any of that for us. We went from WHP to PNP, PNP to PR, PR to Citizenship and we are now proud Canadians, and will always remain so, even while living in Australia. The great Terry Pratchett wrote once that "going back to where you came from is not the same as never having left".

We're going to be very sad to leave Canada, but also very excited to move back to Australia. In the end, I think of Steve Jobs' advice about thinking if today was your last day on earth, would you be doing what you're going to do? And if the answer is "no" too often, change. So our next challenge - moving back to Perth, re-establishing old friends, making new ones, finding jobs and living the next lot of dreams.

Jukeboxwidow

Wishing you good luck in Australia!

Lynsi

Great post thank you for sharing. Good luck on your new adventure!

MillieF

What a super post, you brought a lump to my throat...Canada's loss is certainly Australia's gain.

Very best wishes, I hope that your plans go smoothly

BEVS

What an insightful update Duckman.

All the very best for the next stage in your lives.