From Adelaide to Melbourne

I probably should have kept this blog going as I moved from the States to Australia in order to chronicle the trials and tribulations of being an expat. But now with almost a year past, I have remained silent--though I guarantee I have probably had a lot to say on the subject. But, I find myself on the horizon of another big move; though this will be the first time in a few years the move takes me only to another state and not another country.

23 January 2009: I arrived in Australia and moved to Adelaide to start a life with my fiance and to find my first full time job and do all those things an adult does after leaving university.

20 June 2010: I am boarding a plane to move to Melbourne in order to start a new job, arguably a new job that will set me down the professional path I want to travel. For the first week or two, I will be alone, navigating a new city from a hostel (until I finally secure suitable accommodation). I am leaving behind most of my belongings, my husband, my pets and the place I have had to call home for over the past year to set out on another adventure.

I seem to regularly leave behind my comfort zone. I confess I find it a bit exhilirating and just as terrifying.

I do have mixed feelings about uprooting myself so soon after settling in. I have made friends and most of my husband's family lives in Adelaide. I have settled into a routine, with local pubs and local parks. But, despite all the aspects I have found to love in Adelaide, I have struggled with feeling like I am still in a small country town. Granted the population is over 1 million--so for Australia, it definitely earns city status. But, it's 9 hours from any other city over a million people. It is painfully isolated (I don't know if I would survive in a real Australian country town).

I confess. I am a city girl. I thrive off the vibe on the streets, the buzz and hum, the people, the smells (most of the time anyways) and the lights. Melbourne has this and more. And when I think of that, I know that I am doing the right thing. I wonder what place in my heart Melbourne will hold (could it ever beat out Toronto?) and what impact it will have on my journey.

All I know right now is that, I'm a city girl. And I'm heading back to the city lights.