If it weren't difficult, it wouldn't be brave.

So here we are again. It took me a lot longer to start blogging than I had intended. I was excited to have a ‘blogworthy’ life again and thought that I would begin as soon as I arrived in Australia—or before, even. But I couldn’t bring myself to write about what’s been going on my head—not publicly, at least. Truthfully, I didn’t anticipate how difficult it was going to be to move to (Australian) Victoria—or more specifically, how difficult it was going to be to separate myself from my life in (Canadian) Victoria.

Of course I had some idea—I spent June doing the rounds, saying good-bye and throwing around words like “the end of an era”. I knew enough to cry on the ferry immediately after saying good-bye to Kristin, trying to do so discretely behind sunglasses and failing, apparently, because an old Scottish woman named Aileen joined me and asked me what was wrong. After I told her, she (a mother of three grown daughters) offered me some pearls of wisdom: Of course it’s difficult. If it weren’t difficult, it wouldn’t be brave.

Her words comforted me then and have on many occasions since. The truth is, I left Canada and My People behind 11 weeks ago today, and I still have tough days. This is largely why I haven’t written until now—because until recently I couldn’t seem to summon up anything positive enough for anyone to want to read. No one wants to hear the girl who talked everyone’s ears off about moving to Australia wax sentimental about how much she misses Canada.

In the last few weeks, I’ve turned a corner and for the first time have been able to tell myself that I am really, really happy to be here (and actually believe it). Melbourne is fantastic, and I have a lot to look forward to in the next year.

So, I’m back. This is going to be a very different blog than it was in my backpacking days, because there are not likely to be any crazy late nights resulting in mad dashes to catch (cancelled) flights, any strange detours through the Former Yugoslavia, or any similarly debauched adventures. I am not travelling. I live here now. So this blog is going to be about what it’s like for a girl who loves and values her people to move 11,000+ kilometres away from them to create a new life.

And for those of you who have been reading since the beginning and are noticing a distinct shift in tone, I promise I won’t be so heavy-hearted from here on in.

It’s good to be back!

c.