Life is full of surprises.
3 months ago we had our sights set on a 2012 return to New Zealand. We imagined setting up home in Hamilton and “settling down”, putting our adventuring days behind us. Then at the end of last year Matt was offered a move to Google’s London office, a new location and a new set of challenges and opportunities. In short, a very tempting offer.
My first reaction was an absolute, no-holds-barred, with-all-of-my-being “NO”. But after a short time to process the news, it was clear we needed to give this some consideration. We couldn’t return to NZ if either of us would be feeling disappointment about the opportunity we’d passed up. So we spent some time considering. We weighed up all the pros and cons, we researched, we made a short scouting trip to London, and after much consideration we made a decision. We are moving to London.
It is an understatement to say this was a hard decision to make. I’m sad for the times we’ll miss with family and also keenly aware of our family’s disappointment over the time they’ll be missing with us and even more so with Micah. However, I’m also confident that London is the right move, the next chapter for this little expat family.
At the moment we’re in the process of organising and planning the details. The move is likely to happen in late April, contingent on visa processing times. We’re not sure where in London we’ll be living yet but we’re aiming to find a nice 3+ bedroom home with a patch of green out the back for Micah to run around in, within reasonable commuting distance of the Google office in Victoria. Easy, right…?
Although we’ve visited London several times it is a big city with lots of diverse areas, so any advice or comments from those with some first-hand London experience is welcome.
Comment from penny on 2012-03-12
Hi MATT, KAT & MICAH – Congrats! Exciting news for you am sure you wll love it. Thank goodness for skype!and no doubt the grannies will be saving for the next trip! Love from the Clarks