It's been forever since I've posted an entry here (by 'forever', I mean 'approximately two months'), and my excuse is that I was terribly busy moving from one country to another. Yep, that's right. After spending the past 7 months in Canada, I decided to move back to merry old England. It was a simple decision, really. Canadian citizens under the age of 30 can live and work in the UK for two years, and I hadn't gotten over my study abroad experience, so I decided to go back.
I'm not saying that it was easy. Coming back to Canada after my 15-month stint in Manchester strengthened my relationship with my friends. When people are far apart and don't get the chance to see each other, they take advantage once they're (physically) close again. It's as if the separation has made them (perhaps subconsciously) realize that they need each other more in their lives. I also met my nephew for the first time, and got used to spending a full day or two a week taking care of him. He became a major and constant role in my life. Part of me also felt I was starting fresh in Canada, especially after I'd just graduated with a Master's degree, but instead of hunting for a job, I decided to take it 'easy' (if you can call it that) and work on my writing. My parents nagged me. My friends (well, a select few) nagged me. But still, I decided to work on my artistic endeavours and live the bohemian life. It didn't take long before I thought to myself, "I'm still young. My legs work. That UK visa for Canadians 30 and under is available. I want to keep travelling. Living at home with my parents is restricting. Screw this, I'm leaving." And so I left.
I've been back in Manchester for just over three weeks now. When I arrived, I felt weird. Heck, I still feel weird. It feels as if I was on a really long trip and I finally came back home to Manchester. At the same time, however, it feels like I'm taking a really long trip in the UK from my home back in Canada. It's like I'm leading a double life. I'm that kid who's gone into the wardrobe and crossed into Narnia where I became a queen, and have come back home to my regular old boring life. Manchester is Narnia for me, as cheesy as it sounds. It's that place that changes you.
This also brings me to another point I want to make. Even though this is essentially a travel blog, and I love travelling, it's not much compared to living abroad. During your travels, you see and experience things you've never seen before, whether wonderful and magical or crazy and horrible, but when you live abroad, whatever that's new and different becomes your life, and you're no longer the person you were before you left.
I know I'm different from who I was before, and here's a short article I wrote about the first time I moved away from home to live in Manchester, England. I wrote this is as an entry for the Summer 2013 Independence Travel Writing Contest at the We Said Go Travel Site. It'll be up there until August 24th, 2013, and they'll announce the winning entries on September 3rd, so please take a look when you've got the chance!
