So in approximately 3 weeks, we will be packing up our life and moving to the UK. Which is weird, as nothing much has changed at all. We’re still in our house, with all our furniture, it’s school holidays with the kids, and life keeps on keeping on. 

The big reason is, we are still waiting on our visas to move over. You see:

• Without a visa, we can’t book flights
• Without flights, we can’t organise shipping, and pet transport
• Without a departure date, we can’t rent out our AU house, or sell our cars, or cancel our AU life
• Without an arrival date, we can’t organise UK accommodation
• Without UK accommodation, we can’t look at kids schools, or a bank account

The list goes on and on. We’re in a bit of relocation limbo. But that will only last for a little bit, because the moment those visas drop, it is going to be a tsunami of things to do. We are trying to sort out as much of our life admin as possible, but I am sure it will come down to the wire.

The big thing is we are starting to get more and more excited. With the weather colder, we are finding ourselves connecting with our UK dream here in Canberra. Frequenting cosy pubs, going for rambling walks with the dog, and genuinely picturing ourselves overseas.

The girls are currently looking forward to it. Sophie (7), can’t wait at all, constantly asking when we are arriving, and telling EVERYONE she meets (random shop clerks, strangers, you name it)  that we are moving to Bristol. Jazzy (9) is excited, but I feel she will really, really miss her brilliant mates here in Canberra. 

Both girls are excited for their “new voices”, which is interesting, as we still don’t know what those voices will be. Our aim is to live in a village about an hour’s commute from Bristol, which means we could be in Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Devon, or even Wales. All of which come with different accents. Personally, I’d love little Welsh accents bouncing around!

For those of you who like details, I will be starting a new job with Amazon / IMDb based in Bristol. Part of the new role, is a fantastic relocation package. We have consultants looking after each part of our move, visas, flights, shipping, housing, transport and everything in between. That has meant we aren’t terribly stressed at the moment, but I’m sure that will come..

But for now we’re just playing the waiting game, holding out to get confirmation of the visas, and the first crest of the tsunami…