 |
| In front of the Tower Bridge in London last summer |
I’m moving to London tomorrow. I can’t believe this day has come.
I have a one-way ticket to join Liebling in the UK. I leave Friday evening and arrive at London’s Gatwick airport on Saturday morning. I have truly become the queen of overnight long-haul flights- this will be my third in less than two weeks.
Always the procrastinator, I still haven’t packed anything. I am daunted by the fact that I am only allowed to bring one 23 kilo (50 lb) suitcase with me on the plane. I am shipping the rest of my personal effects and it may be months before I see them again, so I am aware that I need to choose very carefully what I bring with me now. I have spent the last few days trying on things in my closet, testing out their viability/practicality/level of style for what promises to be a long, wet winter in London.
I think that once I get to London I will sleep for the next 100 years. The break-neck pace of the last three months has been taxing.I alternated between being a teacher, student, tourist,and back again, straddling hemispheres and suffering divergent time zones as I vaulted between Asia and the Americas. I studied and partied on opposite ends of the United States. I came home to Toronto.Then I travelled and studied in Guatemala, Honduras, and Chile.
I need a good rest, but wont allow myself to stop moving. I miss teaching. I want to get back in the classroom. So the job hunt begins as soon as I touch down in the UK.
And then, there are people to meet and things to see in London. I can’t wait to explore all the options and opportunities that such a large, vibrant city can/will/should afford. And all this from our new, centrally located London flat.
For anyone keeping score, this is my fifth move abroad. I moved to France for a year two separate times, worked in Mexico for a year, and just spent two years in Hong Kong.
As a little girl growing up in Canada, I never dreamt this would be my life.
But now that it is… I can’t believe I never set foot outside of North America until the age of 21.
I feel like I’ve been on the road forever.
Because now I can’t separate what was “just a hobby” from who I am.
Because being on the road/exploring/voyaging/touristing is me.
I love the sensation of living abroad, the taste, the smell, the confusion, the triumph, the
disappointment, the newness, and I am indelibly marked by this lifestyle, just like Hester was marked by the scarlet letter.
I am Oneika… the Traveller. London, bring it on.
Psst! Don’t forget to “like” me on Facebook if you haven’t already! Your support is much appreciated!
89 Comments
So excited for you Oneika! London Town is one of my favorite cities and I'm sure the adventures will never end there. As far as the packing goes, as the English say, keep calm and carry on!
I wish you all the best! Good luck in London!
Kisses from HK,
Nicole
I am SO happy for you! I adore London and have friends there and now this gives me one more excuse to try to visit next summer. I'd love to meet you in person! Safe travels!
I'm super excited for you! Cant wait to read about your adventures!
fantastic post…and OH how I love London 🙂 Excited to see what's next for you!
So beautifully written. I wish you all the best. I LOVE that you and your long distance relationship have worked out. Que bueno!! All the best, my dear. Look forward to reading more. Cuidate and thank you for sharing your journey through life with us.
LOVE this post!
From a fellow Toronto girl, congratulations on your move to London.~~
I'm really excited for you! Best wishes and safe travels.
Very exciting! All the best in the next phase of your adventures.
YESSS!!! Go girl! xo
the countdown begins!!! I'm so excited for you. This will be a great new start and I can't wait to read about your new adventures.
Safe travels to London! I am so excited for you and Leibling finally to be together! 🙂
Safe travels girl. Hope to see you soon on this side of the Atlantic!
Bon voyage!!
Look out, London!
Safe trip!! Hopefully I'll find a way to London soon.
Good Luck in London!!! I've enjoyed reading about your travels and expat life so I'm sure it will be exciting.
Yes, bring it on indeed! I am super excited for you. Good luck. I'll be waiting to read all about this new adventure when you land on the flip side.
how very exciting! congrats and safe travels!
Yaay!!! I hope you enjoy London and all that it offers!!! *throws confetti in the air*
good luck moving oneika!!!! don't worry about clothes, you will buy everything new there anyway… at least that's what i did when i moved from berlin to london 😀 😀
lots of love from hong kong!!!!
http://www.chungkingdiary.wordpress.com
Not that you need it…but good luck.
After meeting you in person and realizing that you are even more amazing than your online persona makes you seem, I have total faith that you will be able to conquer London 🙂
You.Go. Girl! Keep striving to achieve all of your dreams and more, and good luck on this next leg of your journey! Can't wait to read about it!!!
omg i can't believe the time has come either! very excited for you and all the new adventures you're about to embark on!
xo
*standing ovation* Excellent post! You are such an inspiration! I look forward to all your new adventures so don't sleep for TOO long. 🙂
have a safe flight and looking forward to sharing in your adventures in London and Europe. Take care.
Yeeeees!..Love conquers all
This is only the beginning of great things to come
CHEERS MATE!
Good Luck Oneika… i wish you the best on your new re-set mode.
http://theeternaltravelerwannabe.blogspot.com/
Congrats on the move, and for the record, I seriously don't think you even slept since before you left for HK! 😉
Hi Oneika! I always wanted to read your blog and kept forgetting. I see your name in Kyle's blog all the time. i read a few posts and I love it! how could i not see it before!!? Good luck in London!!! I loved London!! and living in europe must be an amazing experience!!!
I read about your blog on Clutchmagonline.com. I was intrigued because you were the only Canadian listed. I live in rural Saskatchewan. I've read a few of your posts and am exciting about your adventures in London. It's a wonderful city.
Valerie
Bon voyage et bon courage!
Such an exciting new chapter! All the best in London, I'm sure it'll be full of adventure 😀
Just found your blog! I'm a Coloradan, but we have a love of France in common. I did my study abroad in Brittany. I travelled to Toronto recently too. Looking forward to reading more!
Thanks so much for the well-wishes, everybody!
@Quiana: Would love to meet you, too! Hit me up the next time you're in London!
@Mimi: I see you got your travelling shoes on!!! Awesome!
@Ritchie/Valerie: Yay, a fellow Canuck! Never been to SK but have a few friends from there. I would love to go in the winter! Thanks for stopping by!
go on girl! the world is yours!! isn't that sooo exciting!!! 🙂
@Kristina: Thanks for the well-wishes!
Such a great post, Oneika! It even brought tears to my eyes- I'm so happy for you!
You are going to do wonderfully in London. Once again, I am so very proud of you. (You know what I mean.) *hugz*
Your life is so enviable, I never left the US until I was 20 for study abroad in France and I just spent the last 8 months teaching in France. I'm back in the US now for the time-being but I will be living vicariously through you. Thanks for the amazing blogs and uplifting experiences! It gives hope for other black female travelers 🙂
Right on my man!
I was just telling my friend about that.
Why is it I always really feel like you do?
obviously like your website but you have to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts.
A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very bothersome to inform the truth however I’ll certainly come
again again.
Amazing! Its genuinely amazing post, I have got much clear
idea on the topic of from this piece of writing.
Hey there! I’ve been reading your site for a long time now and finally got the courage to
go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Texas! Just wanted to mention keep up the fantastic work!
Good write-up. I certainly appreciate this website.
Continue the good work!
It’s actually a cool and helpful piece of info. I am
satisfied that you just shared this useful information with us.
Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
My brother suggested I might like this website.
He was entirely right. This post truly made my day.
You can not imagine simply how much time I had
spent for this info! Thanks!
Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search
Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog
to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results.
If you know of any please share. Cheers!
I like the helpful information you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly.
I am quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here!
Good luck for the next!
I am really enjoying the theme/design of your web site.
Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A couple of my blog audience have complained about my website not
working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera.
Do you have any suggestions to help fix this problem?
Paragraph writing is also a fun, if you be familiar
with after that you can write otherwise it is complicated to write.
I was suggested this website by my cousin. I’m not sure whether
this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about
my problem. You’re incredible! Thanks!
Admiring the persistence you put into your website and detailed information you present.
It’s great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed material.
Excellent read! I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to
my Google account.
This blog was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something
which helped me. Thanks a lot!
Thanks in favor of sharing such a fastidious idea, article is fastidious, thats
why i have read it completely
Hurrah, that’s what I was exploring for, what a stuff!
existing here at this blog, thanks admin of this web page.
Hello i am kavin, its my first occasion to commenting anywhere,
when i read this post i thought i could also make comment due to this brilliant paragraph.
Thanks for the marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you may be
a great author. I will remember to bookmark your blog and
will eventually come back from now on. I want to
encourage yourself to continue your great writing, have
a nice weekend!
Its not my first time to pay a visit this site, i am visiting this website dailly
and take nice information from here everyday.
Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering
if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form?
I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one?
Thanks a lot!
It’s in fact very difficult in this full of activity life to listen news on TV, therefore I simply use the
web for that purpose, and obtain the most up-to-date information.
Hey are using WordPress for your blog platform?
I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and
create my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for
health supplement
Hello, of course this post is really good and I have learned
lot of things from it regarding blogging.
thanks.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to
your site? My website is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would truly benefit
from some of the information you present here. Please let me know
if this okay with you. Appreciate it!
I do not even know how I stopped up here, however I thought this submit used to
be great. I don’t recognize who you might be however definitely you’re going to a
well-known blogger if you happen to aren’t already. Cheers!
Hello! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new
iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading
through your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Keep up the excellent work!
It’s going to be end of mine day, except before ending I
am reading this wonderful paragraph to improve my know-how.
I do not even know how I ended up here, however I thought
this submit used to be great. I do not recognize who you are but certainly you are going
to a well-known blogger in case you aren’t already.
Cheers!
This text is worth everyone’s attention. When can I find out more?
Admiring the dedication you put into your
blog and detailed information you offer. It’s nice to come across a blog every
once in a while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed material.
Great read! I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your
RSS feeds to my Google account.
Wow, this piece of writing is fastidious, my sister is analyzing these things,
thus I am going to inform her.
Hello! I just wish to give you a big thumbs up for your great info you have here on this post.
I’ll be returning to your blog for more soon.
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something
which helped me. Thanks a lot!
Why is it I always really feel like you do?
That’s an awesome point
Wonderful views on that!
Why is it I always really feel like you do?
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you
hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to find out
where u got this from. thanks a lot
Comments are closed.