Moving Forward.
Normally, if it's been a while since I said hello, I tell you I'm not going to apologise. However, it's been 2 and a half months!
Wow time flies when you're .... incredibly stressed. I'm sorry, I wont tell you that it wont happen again, you all know it will and it may be sometime between posts for a while with the upcoming move!
Which leads me to the piece I'm hoping to finish and post this evening.
Most of you that know me personally, know that we are about to embark on a brand new adventure. So, I thought I'd tell you all about it.
We're moving to Vietnam. Crazy right?
For many reasons, some within our control and some outside of our grasp, we are leaving the UAE for a complete change of scenery.
Yep, we're leaving the sand behind. (Well, until we find nice beaches)
These last two years have been confusing to say the least. We've met some incredible people who we can now call friends, we have experienced incredible places and done things as a family that we could have never imagined being able to do, however its not all been rose smelling wonderfulness.
Our first 9 months were 'unsettling' to say the least and since then its been an emotional rollercoaster of up and down periods. We've had many stumbles and inconsistencies along the way (certain things that I cannot share online unfortunately) and we've never really felt like we were able to settle and call this place home.
It's a shame, as I said, the people we can actually call friends are certainly going to be missed, our routine that we managed to get ourselves in will be strange to walk away from.
Don't even get me started in regards to the moving stress.
It is definitely worse than when we first came out here.
Moving here was a straight shot. We packed up 4 large suitcases and we were on our way.
This time, we've accumulated more shit over time, the kids are larger (as are their clothes and belongings) and not only do we now have to make one trip back to the UK with 4 suitcases, a bag, 2 boxes, golf clubs and kids but we are tripling that trip.
6.5 hours to the UK.
6.5 hours to Dubai (with a 3 hour lay-over)
6.5 hours to Hanoi
Give or take an hour or two.
These last few months have been the most stressful time of our lives to be honest.
Firstly there is a lot more paperwork in terms of the VISA process. It's been a lot of back & forth trips to Abu Dhabi, government buildings here in Al Ain and hospital check ups.
Paying 60 GBP to send a letter by DHL!!! (That's not even the half of it!)
Organizing ourselves, trying to be ruthless and getting rid of much loved items that have been apart of our lives for a while now.
Selling stuff has been an absolute nightmare. People online can be so completely awful!
I've had rude, abusive and completely vulgar messages coming across my Facebook which hasn't made checking in on my followers easy. I've barely wanted to look at my heaving inbox ... wondering what kind of contact I've received this time.
It doesn't help that I'm a bit of a hoarder. I always think that I'll be able to make use of something (even when its not been touched in years and a genuinely have no idea what its for!)
However, we're on the home stretch now. All large items are gone, smaller items are either gone or I'm not desperate to sell ... I'll either give them away to friends or leave them for charity/free somewhere.
The car is almost gone, buyer is in the process which has been a huge relief. When you have finance on a car that you have to settle before leaving the country, it's a scary thought as those weeks tick down to your flight out of here.
Then there is the thought of being back in the UK.
It's no secret from my close friends and family that I was not myself last summer. I was a wreck. Ended up paying to see a councilor to try and untangle the thoughts in my head.
To this day, I'm not sure if it was how long I was home for or the thought of going back to the UAE but it scares me that I may collapse again.
Although, we are only home for 4 weeks instead of the 13 I spent back home last year.
I can't confirm if I think this is a good thing or not. I guess it will be good for my mental health but I have missed my friends and family so much this time round, knowing I have such a short space of time with them is upsetting.
So many plans in the making, just need to find time to fit them all in (and afford them).
So reading this, I'm sure you can tell that I've had a lot on my plate ...mentally and quite literally. (now I'm hungry)
I've been spending my days cleaning, selling, organizing, researching and when I finally get the kids to bed and put my feet up ... I just wanted to stick Pretty Little Liars on Netflix and forget about any thought that was going through my head ... hence my quiet manor as of late.
So ... Vietnam!
We're moving to the city of Hanoi and unlike when we moved here, we've done an incredible amount of research.
We got to choose our accommodation, actually seeing the house itself, the street, the area and distance from the schools. We didn't get to see/know any of this coming here so it was always a worrying factor, not knowing exactly what you're going into.
We've research into the schools, have been sent more information than we've been able to read through ... it's just been an incredible process that we've had all the help needed for.
We're going from a 3 bedroomed apartment to a 3 bedroomed house with garden space, funky gadgets plus malls, pools, BBQ gardens, parks, golf and more right on our doorstep. Not to mention, the kids school being a 15 minute walk away ... I get to walk my boys to sch
ool!
We're going to be 20 minutes out of the city in a much quieter, tranquil area. Meaning we get the peace but still have city life within reach when we want it.
Money looks great, life looks great, it just seems to good to be true right now ... time will only tell.
(Not my photography - Obviously)
Of course I'm nervous, I'm moving further away from those I love, we wont be visiting home as often and it's a brand new lifestyle ... I'll have to settle with culture shock all over again but I'm definitely excited. More so than I was when we were discussing life in the UAE.
Jackson will be starting school, which completely sets my anxiety on edge. If we were back home, he'd be doing maybe 3 days a week but half days.
Over in Hanoi, he'll do Monday - Friday until 12pm for a couple of weeks and then full weeks of full days.
I'm not sure how I'm going to cope without my best friend at home, so I've made plans.
Not only will I be able to actually keep my home in a functioning fashion (unlike the tip I currently work with) but I'm going back to school ... sort of.
I'm not going to go into too much detail right now until it's all set-up and confirmed but I'll be studying from home/online.
I've always wanted more for MY life. I'm a mum and that's great but I have always been the kind of person that needs something for me. For the unqualified, uneducated lady over here, working international would be hard. I need those qualifications behind me if I ever want to secure a job whilst living oversees and that's what I shall be attempting to achieve ... so, watch this space.
Hopefully this jumble of words explains why I haven't had the time to think.
We now have less than 4 weeks before our flight home, I hope to post at least once more in that time and hopefully over the summer holidays. I'm not making any promises, you know me by now (insert wink emoji here).
Take Care,
The Anxious Mother x
