Fast and Furious
When I was younger, I remember being obsessed with study-abroad or moving abroad-blogs. I would read everything I could find so I could vicariously live through other people’s adventures.
It feels a little bit odd to now be on the other side. Not that I have an avid reader-fanbase (but shoutout to my five to ten regular readers, mainly consisting of friends and family who already get most updates from me personally anyway).
I remember reading about others trying to arrange their visas, green cards, or residency permits. Book flights, search for apartments, and tell family goodbye. Now that’s going to be me.
Am I brave?
Although, I have a significant advantage: I’m not going abroad without any support on the other end. In fact, I likely wouldn’t even have steered toward Canada if Sky weren’t Canadian. Who knows, I suppose, but dating somebody from there was definitely my catalyst at this point in time. Aside from my personal lovable travel buddy, there’s also his family on the other end - and considering his family is quite big, we’re not exactly going to be on our own.
Someone recently told me I was “brave” for taking this step. But I’m not sure that what I’m doing is brave exactly?
Sure, it’s not nothing. But it’s not like I’m going somewhere where I don’t speak the language or don’t know anyone. It’s also not a “dangerous” country. My home country will be one 8-hour-flight away, so if there’s an emergency, I can get there in a day. So “brave” (or anything close to it) isn’t quite the word I would use personally.
The 401
At the same time, I don’t want to downplay the significance of it either. Sure, I do and will have it easier than loads of other people. But ultimately, I am going to have to completely rebuild most of my life. Besides my partner and his family, I don’t have friends or relatives in the country or close by. When I move there, I won’t have a job yet. The healthcare system confuses me, and I’ve never even quite figured out taxes in my home country despite filing them for close to 10 years at this point, so I don’t even want to think about what that will look like in a foreign country…
Do you know what I’m currently most worried about? I can count the amount of times I’ve driven in Canada on one hand, and none of those drives included a highway. If anyone ever claims that driving in Germany is scarier because (some of) the Autobahn doesn’t have speed limits, tell them they’re wrong. Because at least most drivers stick to the rules, and maneuvers such as overtaking are quite orderly. I’d rather have a Porsche passing me while going 210 km/h on the left lane than a random jeep going 100 while zig-zagging across all lanes and overtaking me on the right unexpectedly.
Call me brave when I drive on the 401 through Toronto.
To read more of my Canadian adventure, click here.
