So, Now What?

Well, the adventure is over — granted, still waiting on suitcase (due later today); not yet in my house (January 1); have to buy a car (eeh); must sort out banking (here & in UK) — but it’s fair to say that after four years of planning, moving, living, and travelling, the big adventure is wrapping up.

The question I’m being asked the most is: are you glad you did it? And the answer is a resounding yes. Not everything was perfect; I won’t miss winding narrow roads, or refrigerators that sweat inside, or opening a window every time I shower; but I am so glad that on December 17, 2019, I said to my sisters, ‘I think I might move to Shetland or Orkney for a year or two.’ And they both said, ‘Yes! Do it!’ I have learned a lot — yeah, yeah, all that ‘growing as a person, finding myself, yadda, yadda, yadda’ — but if I had to distill it down to one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I’m not as averse to change as I thought I was. That was quite a revelation for a girl who, after moving every two years as a child (my dad was in sales, not on the lam), had grown to absolutely dread the idea of upping sticks, of moving houses, of living elsewhere.

But my question is different. My question to myself is: so, now what? I have been thinking about the future and what I might do next. The choices are much broader for me, now that I have had my little ‘change-doesn’t-suck’ discovery. I could renovate my house. I could move to London, Ontario. I could ‘green’ my house. I could move to a remote Canadian town on the sea. I could resume my volunteering here in Milton. Or . . . . I haven’t really shared this idea on the blog up until now, but . . . . . I could buy a motorhome and travel across Canada for a year. That last idea has been bouncing around in my brain for over five years now. And it’s looking more and more attractive. Something to think about.

A friend suggested that I needed to ‘wrap up my story’ on the blog, and she’s right. I think I’ll take a pause from blogging, at least for a while. I know I have to update my Gallery (and I will do that in the near future). And I may have one or two settling-back-in-in-Canada hiccups that I want to capture over the next month or so; so there might be the odd blog post now and then. I do think that once I start narrowing down my options, and if I do decide RV’ing is my next adventure, I will most definitely resume this blog.

But for now, I want to say thank you to anyone who has followed me on my journey – I am absolutely flattered at the number of people who have come up to me over the last couple of weeks to tell me they were diligent readers. As glad as I am that I went to Scotland, I am equally glad I decided to record it as I did.

That’s all folks! (Or, as we say in Scotland, ‘See yu, Jimmy. That’s us then, hen.’)