Moving across the country from North Carolina to California was taxing but exciting at the same time.
A lot went into it.
The first thing we did was to find a place to live. Thankfully I was able to fly out and look around the area beforehand. The place we rented we did so, sight unseen. The renter’s office made it easy to see pictures and to set everything up. Once we found the place, we then knew we were downsizing. Which meant we needed to get rid of a lot of things. Half of our kitchen items were given away, our couch, dining room table, guest bed, desks, and more.
You might think, why move if you have to get rid of all that? We did this because we wanted a new experience and because of work. Another downside of moving was that I would be living on an air mattress with no furniture for three months while I was training. My husband would come with our stuff later.
Once that was set, we shipped out our car packed with things I might need for the three months: kitchen items, bath stuff, cat litter box, clothes, blankets, and pillows.
Then we had to fly with two cats across the country. We found an airline that allowed animals in the cabin under the seat because we didn’t want the cats to be put in the cargo area. That comes with all kinds of risk. We also had to sedate them so they wouldn’t be stressed.
When we landed, we rented a car and headed to our new place. Exciting and stressful. We went and bought an air mattress and food for the cats and me. But my husband had to get back to things in NC.
I was on my own, in a new place with no furniture for three months. For me, this was fine. I was working and wasn’t home that much. But for one of my two cats, the move and new home were stressful for him. He got bladder crystals, making him stay at the vet for three days. Then on top of that, I got a sinus infection from the plane. Keep in mind, I just started work, no paycheck yet, and my hubby had to pay for the move and rent.
After that, the three months passed fast. But on the other side of things was what my husband was dealing with.
He had to try and find a way to rent our house in NC. At the same time, he finished packing and found a way to move all of our stuff, as well as selling his beloved car.
Do we sound crazy yet?
After he had all that set and the three months passed, he came with our third cat. Then we waited another week for our stuff to get to us. My husband made a make-shift desk from boxes. Our neighbor offered us a desk, but we wanted to wait for ours.
Then the seven-year adventure began. One we wouldn’t take back. We saw and did a lot of things we wouldn’t have done otherwise. We met a lot of people and made lifelong friends.
Fast forward seven years.
Covid-19 happened, work was hard for me to find in the area where we lived, and renting prices continued to go up. Another reason we were looking to move was climate change. The summer months were getting hotter every year and would continue to do so.
We looked into places we wanted to try and live. Settling on Canada, the Toronto area, we set our plans in motion. As my hubby says, you can only take off so many clothes, but you can always put on more layers.
The first was to get a work visa. My husband was able to do this with his work, which had an office in the area. But the process of being approved took about four months. During this time, we went back and forth on if we wanted to try and stay. But things started to fall in place with our move to Canada.
After we got approved, we had to set a date and find a place to live. I had been packing for those four months; either way, we were moving from where we lived at the moment.
As I said before, everything started to fall into place, happening fast. But then something unexpected happened. We found out that one of our cats had a brain tumor. This made him have seizures and was making him confused. He would jump at sounds he would normally know. Also didn’t recognize my husband as he used to either. Now we had to decide if we wanted to put him through the stress of travel again while trying to give him his meds. The last time we moved, he had gotten bladder crystals. We had also just lost one of the other cats a few months earlier.
Not wanting him to suffer, we decided to say our farewells. And the date of our move was set.
Because of the moving during covid, we would have to stay in our new place without our stuff for two weeks. This meant, not leaving our apartment for any reason.
And again, we would pick a place to live sight unseen.
We were taking all that we would need in three suitcases—a good thing for food delivery. Now my husband uses the countertop in the kitchen for a desk instead of boxes. Our one cat follows us every time we move, not wanting to let us out of her sight.
Once the two weeks were over, we had to get our car and our stuff.
Again, a lot of stress, but now we will experience a new place, new things, and new people.
Good writing, true ‘life’ adventures.