Back in Grimsby :: Thoughts on accepting unexpected changes in 2015

I’ve been working on this post for sometime, building it in my head, finally writing it out, and coming back to it with edits on edits. It seems fitting to publish this on New Year’s Eve, after a rather surprising and challenging year.

When I started writing this blog, Kevin and I were living in Cambodia. We’d quit our jobs, sold or given away most of our clothing, furniture, technology, etc, and moved across the globe on a new adventure.

Going into this, our expectation was that we’d live abroad and travel Southeast Asia & surrounding areas for 3 to 5 years, and then see where life/work led us from there.

What we weren’t expecting was my homesickness to result in a mandatory trip home at Christmas.

Still, we worked in some extra benefits to that trip. After going home for Christmas, we’d planned to travel through Spain to France, and then fly from Paris back to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

What we weren’t expecting was for Kevin to get hit in the mouth with a hockey stick while playing “pick up” hockey in Grimsby. When that happened, we got some quick dental work done, then headed to Portugal to finish the rest.

What we also weren’t expecting was to learn that recovering from a traumatic dental injury takes several months, not several weeks. Fast forward to December 31st, and we’re still 1.5 months away from a full resolution.

Back in February, when we were coming to terms with the recovery outlook, we realized pretty quickly that our goal of living 2-5 years in Asia was going to be postponed, and possibly replaced with a new plan that worked for our current circumstances.

Coming back to Canada in July, and having to re-explain that to everyone who thought we were still living in Asia, was harder than I’d expected. In a sense, I felt like we’d failed on this big journey that we’d planned and talked about for so long. For the sake of moving away, we’d given up both things and opportunities, and coming back so soon had me wondering if all that was in vain. It also feels weird to have only travelled for such a short period of time, when our “move” had been aimed that avoiding a type of rushed,”see it once, then head home”, type of travelling. And yet, the things we saw and accomplished during our travels were incredible. And as I’ve written before, there’s nothing quite like travelling to cure oneself of the notion that it’s even possible to ‘see it all’, so should I really be disappointed that I didn’t?

I’m still kind of grappling with these thoughts, but also trying to full embrace our current circumstances.

So… yes, we’re back in Canada. Yes, we live in Grimsby. Yes, our untethered lifestyle is indefinitely on ‘pause’. But I’m actually okay with that. And after a year of health/dental related drama and stress, I am more than okay with saying goodbye to 2015, and looking forward to whatever 2016 holds. If these past couple of months are any indication, there are many good times ahead for our life in Canada.