Living My Nomadic Life

When I packed my bags to come to England, my plan was to be on the road and not in the office until this Autumn. But something unexpected occurred on my first day back... I loved it. I worked remotely before the pandemic anywhere between 3-5 days a week. Because of this, Covid didn't impact my day-to-day too drastically. However, after working remotely full time for 14 months (sometimes without ideal desk and office environments), I was immediately hooked on spending time at the office. I was interacting with people I hadn't met, it's been an even longer time since I've done that. But more importantly, I had a desk, water dispensers, printers... A chair! An internet connection that wasn't questionable!!   But what I didn't have were the right clothes and without a pay check until the end of April, I had to be smart. I found an H&M near my Airbnb and braced myself. Even on a good day, I'm not a fan of shopping. And H&M typically doesn't have the c...

It appears I have been lax in getting my blog posts up. I guess this is what happens when you spend all your time working and then just want to get out and explore. The entry below is from April as I was getting out exploring London. The tasks never end with a move. The next challenge I have ahead of me: finding the neighborhood I want to live in. And since Buckingham Palace doesn't seem to want any more Americans making their way in, I suppose I'll have to find another option. The advantage of this task is that the best way to accomplish it is to just explore the city, and lucky for me, we have had some lovely weather to do it. As with any property I am trying to find the balance between location (what type of atmosphere do I want outside my front door?), price (how much of an increase can I stomach after living in Chicago), and space (I was spoiled with a 2 bed/2 bath, how far down will I need to come in London?). And with that, let the exploring begin! Green Park / Buckingha...

It’s amazing how fast I adapt to my surroundings. Day one I was feeling claustrophobic and depressed. It's twelve steps from the front door to the back door. And twelve steps up to the lofted second floor. This is a big difference from my 1100 sqft condo in Chicago. But after unpacking, on day two life was already looking up. And by day ten, it’s a perfect little abode. Who have I become, I kind of like the small space.  Of course, that may be because I know it’s just temporary for this month. Or maybe it’s because I’m finally free from my quarantine and I don't feel trapped inside. Either way, today I’m happy with my tiny house and thought I would share a tour... (Hint: You can also see the Airbnb listing on the "Where in the world" page found in the menu on this blog).

I arrived in England on Monday morning and I was angry. Angry with myself for the first time in as long as I can remember. And I don’t mean an occasional passing thought like, “Damn, why did I do this?”  I mean I was angry with myself for disrupting my entire life again. Angry that I thought it would be a good idea to leave my home. Angry that I was not in Chicago where I was comfortable. Just angry. This was a new feeling for me and it only made me angrier when I realized how angry I was. It was a vicious cycle. Unlike when I arrived in New Zealand and had my friend Daniel to completely take care of me on arrival (he let me stay at his house and use his car while he was gone the first weekend and then we went camping with friends the next)... this time I had nothing but lockdown to look forward to and it felt really depressing.  It didn’t help that the only two people I talked to in the airport (in separate conversations), were a bit appalled at my decision to move to London ...

As difficult as I thought the last few months have been as I was getting ready to leave, they were nothing compared to the week leading up to my flight. Without the opportunity to have proper goodbyes and send offs, the emotional rollercoaster was catching up to me and taking its toll. But when I woke up on Monday morning, March 29, I put my game face on. It was a different kind of focus.  Saying goodbye and leaving people behind was no longer on my mind, the only thing that was, was how to get everything done in just 6 days... it exhausted me just typing this post. Monday:  Start my day with work meetings. Computer decides to crash and show only the blue-screen-of-death. Unexpected trip to my office to drop my computer off with IT. That's fine, I'll use the time to pack. Back at it packing boxes and loading up my car for another trip to the storage unit. This felt like trip #1099 but in reality was only trip 6 or 7. For weeks I've slowly taking boxes (labeled and inventori...

Almost exactly 11 years ago I embarked on a one-way journey to New Zealand. I knew I could only stay a year but it felt like such an adventure. That decision changed my life in ways that I couldn't have expected at the time. Now, eleven years later I'm standing on the verge of another international journey with my one-way ticket in hand. This time though, it's not the same. I'm older. I'm a home owner. I'm maintaining my career during the move. My friends have kids who are growing fast. Other friends have careers and lives that are taking them out of Chicago. We are in the midst of a global pandemic. And new relationships have been formed that could be lost when I leave. It's harder this time. Much, much harder.  Up until now it's been six months of playing a hurry up and wait game. My job needed to be sorted out, visas needed to be obtained and lockdowns needed to be lifted. And now that my departure is within just two weeks, I'm feeling all the sad...