Moving Cities!

Could I have overcome the bug of being “busy”? Looks like! Yippeeee!!!!!

I am starting this post from my c-programming class….. (as the codes are not entering right now, rather than twiddle my thumbs, I might as well just WRITE! So let’s jump right into it as this post is lonnngggggg overdue!

I moved cities, no, countries, errrh…. CONTINENTS!!!!! earlier this year and the build up to that is what I intend to share albeit in part! (No, you don’t wanna hear all the parts where I went to buy crayfish, ogbono and egusi from the markets, do you??? You do??? Hmnn, Okay, lets deal with the salient points first!)

Loving my life as an aviator (let me see if I can find photos to re-iterate this fact), and going from desk to desk one lazy afternoon, I stumbled on co-workers discussing the near completed outcome of their Canadian permanent residence visa applications, I joined the discussion  and voila! Here I am! (Really Tola! Is this how you intend to skip all the good stuff?…. lol, naaa not really!)

With very little passion (at first), I gave it a shot and put my application in gear!  Wrote IELTS, got my Credential assessments done and everything happened rather quickly! One fine morning, I woke up to the very coveted mail whose subject read “Pret-a-visa”! Heck! I even read it in French! I was excited, super excited and this wasn’t about leaving the country (cos if you know me, you know how much I love the tropics! how much I love gidi! how much I…… (hmmmmn that’s strange. I may have run out of reasons, but you get the drift. lol) the feeling when you accomplish a goal is literally second to none! When you write something down and actually get it done! whoop! I love it!

Basking in that momentary joy was thrilling! It was finally here…. and then rather quickly…. (just like the soundtrack accompanying footsteps in Nigerian movies when something scary is about to happen, y’all know that sound! lol),  I wasn’t sure anymore! Was I really going to leave? did I really want this? Was I ready for such a big move 10,000 plus kms away from the steady availability of authentic Nigerian Jollof rice and all the home brewed goodness that lived here?

The need to stay “laser focused” when you have finally (or even whilst trying to) come to a decision is very important! The following points in no particular order will help you greatly when considering that big move!

1. Be Pyschologically PREPARED  The excitement of leaving base can wane very quickly leaving you in actual fact confused and terrified about your move. No, we don’t expect that you have it all figured out right off the bat, but asking the right questions and researching opportunities even before you leave base can help set your mind right! Did I mention “keeping the right company too”? this is very important (and I refer to keeping with people with a positive mindset and a can-do attitude about life). Back to your major move – make that decision and own it! The blues will come, but don’t stay there for too long! There’s too much ahead to deal with (the good, the crazy and the dilemmas – waiting! ) you do not have as much time as you envisage you do ladies and gentlemen to spend playing ini-mini-mani-mo on a decision you clearly took sans the influence! (that’s some benefit of doubt there! lol)
2. Disposing Property???? START EARLY!  We Nigerians are world champions for holding on to property – the ones we need and the ones we don’t. Sentiments would have to be put in the shredder at this stage! If you need to let go of that car, furniture, dinning table, you wanna start early, if you have valuable property that may fetch you some funds when sold and you know you cannot or will not be transporting it with you across the borders, get rid of it! while you can still get value for it! How many of you have been there? You have something for sale, tons of people make offers, you get a bit too comfortable and hold on to that thing, time passes and now you really do need to sell it but then you are only getting offers HALF your intended sale price!!! en hen! Don’t do it to yourself, if it’s something that you need to let go…… let it go! (plays frozen soundtrack and let’s hair down at this point)
3. Resigning from work   We often speak about not burning bridges and it may now seem overflogged, but legit – don’t burn it if you can afford to keep it. Start to draft your letter when it becomes imminent you would be leaving. Speak with your bosses and stakeholders about it and leave on a clean slate – as much as you can. Make up your mind and do this on time too! You want to be able to handover seamlessly and still be able to ring work a month later to say “whuddup buddies”! I do get that some people can’t be bothered, they either have bosses who they deem the devil’s right hand man and are so fed up they just wanna leave – but that’s a conversation for another day! (closes the door gently, picks up flip flops and runs out of room on this very dicey topic)
4. Get a journal and WRITE THINGS DOWN  It will surprise you how at this point, it would appear your grandma’s memory is better than yours! There’s just too many moving parts and things can get moving pretty fast pretty quickly! With so many things happening all at once you are GUARANTEED to drop balls if you don’t have a guiding memo! Write down everything! The littlest things, yeah, that one you think is “just there” and can be done anytime…. Just do it! Add dates and set expectations for accomplishing them. I had good intentions! great intentions in fact! to see certain members of my family before I left but I got pretty overwhelmed in my last few weeks (even with all the time I thought I had) before I left the country and it didnt happen! How did i come to to be braiding my hair the morning of the day I was leaving? hmmmmn (we are getting there ….or maybe that’s a story for another post really. lol)
   
5. Say bye to friends and family – properly  As logical as it appears, people rarely get the chance to say goodbye to friends and loved ones – properly. I’m not saying a text or a whatsapp call from“obodo-oyibo” informing them that you have left (when in actual fact – you have arrived). Put things in perspective and ensure you are able to go visit your mum, dad, siblings (if you don’t live with them), that aunt, uncle, who helped raise you, those friends who had your back when you needed them ….. saying bye to them with a hug at least (if this is geographically feasible) may leave them teary eyed but it would be worth it!

I know I haven’t spoken about the craziness of getting my hair done on the very day I was to leave! We women! lol. We are just awesome! (I see men nodding their heads saying ….”we’re glad you people know”. hahaha). I’ll probably have to do that in another post too.

In conclusion, moving cities can take a toll! yes it can! but if you are adequately prepared (please no getting up and running out of your country like someone was pursuing you! – except of course someone really is), it does help to ease things!

If you have a similar story or experience of moving under crazy time frames or going from having so much time to NO TIME at all! I’d love to hear it! Drop me a dm or a message in the comment section!