runaway

I lived here before.

In 2000, after getting a tech diploma, I moved to the Seattle area from the east coast with a man I barely knew because he got a job here.  With the plan to improve my employment prospects, there was definitely an element of running away. It is easier to become a new person in a new place.

I quickly got my first tech job with a startup but within a year the dot com bust folded both our companies.

The relationship was a muddle but in that year I hadn’t taken the time to reinvent myself or to make any friends here that I could ask for help.

Without work or work visas, we retreated together to Canada in the dark with everything we could fit in a U-Haul and with two cats.

Then while working in Quebec in 2006, I got the surprising offer to go back. It was a “hell, yeah!” decision. And I hadn’t wanted to leave the PNW the first time.

The big furniture that was purchased here and stuffed in the U-Haul was shipped back west at no expense to me. But it was not moving east again. I said goodbye to that stuff this month as it was trucked away for donation and disposal.

Goodbye Stuff

I frequently drive by the area where I lived in 2001, but today I walked around, looking at a few familiar places and a lot of change. So many construction cranes. So many new apartment buildings. So many people moving here.

I am a resident alien grateful for the opportunity I’ve had. And I am grateful for the ability to move back to a safe home country on my own schedule.

Goodbye Places

In 2001, returning to Canada was a hasty “run away! run away!” retreat. This time, it’s the goal in an almost 3 year plan. I leave in less than 5 weeks.

Goodbye stuff, goodbye places. Hello to what’s next and to the end of running away.

References and related links:

• PNW: Pacific Northwest
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