Change is our only constant

This year is the leap, the leap we have taken to cross the ditch.

A few years ago I had this crazy dream about moving to New Zealand- to join my people (I constantly joke about hobbits as I am 5'1).

My husband, who at first thought I was nuts, has done everything in his power to make this dream come true. We got the keys and moved into our new home on the 31st of December 2019 in NZ.

This "journey" hasn't been without problems and has almost fallen in a heap a few times.

This is the thing about long term goals though, there are things that oppose you and it's about how you overcome them.

The first thing that will oppose you is fear. I am terrified of moving away from everything I know and starting new. I am afraid of running out of money. I am afraid of failure. I am afraid that I am leaving good opportunities at home. Most of all I am afraid that I am abandoning everyone I love to be selfish.

If your goal is moving away you have to accept that you will miss things in peoples lives, weddings, birthdays, babies, sadness, happiness but most of all you will miss those people you love with all your heart and you cannot replicate time with them. This has been the biggest hurdle for me, I'm terrible at goodbyes at the best of times and the realisation that I will miss milestones in family and friends lives is devastating to me.

This aspect of "grief", the loss of something you haven't even got yet, eats away at me, the FOMO on their lives makes me sad and afraid.

The reality is though that true relationships and connections with people will last geographical distances. You just have to find ways around it, an unlimited phone plan to Aus, facebook, instagram, skype, surprise visits, letters and perhaps even this blog.

Once you get over the fear your new opposition is money. There will never be enough and time will always be against you. We postponed plans in 2019 when we originally planned to move as we financially could not afford to move. This turned out to be for the best as we were in a better position this year to move than last year, and were better prepared.

This ultimately still drags the time out further- hence why it's been even harder to leave.

While this all seems like doom and gloom, Dave and I never lost sight of our goal. Both of us are still very happy about the move.

When we arrived in Cromwell a week ago we've felt like we've arrived home, the mountains, rivers and the people all make us feel like we are home.

We have moved to somewhere where Dave and I could explore endlessly and never get bored and we are both so excited about the landscape that surrounds us. While this decision wasn't made lightly we both new this new chapter of our lives would be fun and like a constant holiday for us. The beauty of New Zealand is unable to be truly captured on camera, you can only live in it to really experience its charm and wonder.

I leave on Monday for my new home after spending a few weeks in Australia seeing friends and being depressed by the bush fire smoke. I leave with a degree of sadness but mostly just excitement.

I plan to write in this blog while I'm away, selfishly I think it will be a therapeutic and an easy way to document my travels. I also hope this helps others who may want to make the decision to move. Mostly I hope my grammar and phrasing isn't judged too harshly by friends who are English teachers.

While this is the end to some things it also the beginning of others and life cannot stay static and "comfortable". You do not grow when you stay in one place (unless you're a plant) and I believe true personal growth is doing something that scares the hell out of you.

So to my friends, it's not goodbye, it's see you soon. I'll talk to you all later.