Today is the day.

Today is the day I head over the pond! You would think I would feel more prepared, especially with this dragged out transition in my life. I’m still not fully packed, and instead I’m writing in this blog.

A couple weeks ago I was reminiscing about my last year of living in London, and I wrote something that I never ended up posting for some reason... in any case, here it is:

“I can remember thinking to myself within my first week in London, 'why does everyone keep asking me if I'm alright?' It almost gave me a complex. Do these people know something about me? Are they worried I'm not handling London very well?

 As it turns out, that's just what they say to everyone. Canadians say things like "How's it going?" or "How are you?" but Londoners say "You alright?"

Over time I eventually started saying it myself and coming up with appropriate responses, all of them beginning with "Ya good thanks!"

 By the way, this is why if you ever ask a British person how they're doing; they almost ALWAYS begin the response with "Ya". Ever noticed that?

 I can't even begin to describe the countless conversations I had with Londoners from various ends of the city, mostly because I had no idea what they were saying at first. I can still hardly understand my boyfriend's brothers. Once I got used to it and started interpreting some accents as if they were a different language (they really are), my mom came for a visit and very amusingly reminded us about how conversations can get lost in translation. Poor mum sat next to a friend one evening and more or less had to nod and smile after awhile. There are only so many times you can ask someone to repeat themselves.”

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Something I've noticed about traveling and I suppose it's the same with most things in life, is that I really cherish a place right before a transition. For example, yesterday I went for a walk outside (here in Ottawa) and it was beautiful and sunny, the birds were singing, people walking by would smile and say hello... and it felt good. It felt more than good- it felt almost euphoric. Canada will always be my home.

Once I get to London though, everything is going to feel incredibly exciting and overwhelming in a "this is the best city in the world" kind of way. The trick that I want to figure out is how to maintain these feelings about any place I happen to be in the world. Not just that, I want to capture this feeling about everything in life because it's true what "they" say: everyday really is a gift.

I've recently had some reality checks that were a blessing, because I started to get myself down about really trivial stuff. They were "first world problems" as it turns out. Things like minor back problems, confusion with work related stuff, misplacing important documents... oh my god I'm so privileged, WAKE UP LAUREN!

So there you go- it's time to finish packing and today I will appreciate every moment of this huge transition. While things aren't necessarily easy in life, it definitely doesn't mean it's not going to be worth it!

xx