I was originally going to move back to Perth when I finished Uni in 2012, but a year beforehand, just after I started this blog five years ago, I decided I wanted to stay and work in London for a while. Four years later and I’m finally making the big move back. I feel like I’ve had the most incredible few years in London, but lately I’ve been disenchanted with it and feel like I need a new adventure.
I handed in my notice at work as soon as I got back from Antigua at the beginning of June, as my visa was approved while I was out there, and as I had a two month notice period, my last day at work was 4th August (hence my leaving drinks that meant I was super hungover when I went to Geneva the next day, haha).
I’m so excited! I really need this break, I never had a gap year and I’ve never had any time off work where I could actually afford to travel or do anything. But it certainly hasn’t been without it’s stresses that’s for sure; I was a nervous wreck while I was waiting for my visa application to be approved. It took a little longer than usual, which I was prepared for, as I had some issues with the my old visa. I was on my Dad’s 457 visa when I lived there as a teenager, and I was still in Australia when it expired in 2010 and had to be put on an emergency visa. This wasn’t my fault – I was due to fly out of Australia two days before it expired, but the volcano in Iceland erupted and my flight was cancelled – I couldn’t get on another flight out of the country for two weeks.
Anyway, so basically on my new visa application form I had to answer ‘yes’ to ‘have you ever overstayed a visa?’ and so I knew it would take longer to process while they checked out what happened before. I gave them as much information as I could and thankfully it was approved with no problems, but oh man it was so stressful waiting to find out if it would be OK or not!
Then handing in my notice at work was so. hard. I loved my work place and my amazing team, so it was so hard leaving them and knowing I might never have it so lucky again. They’re all awesome and I miss them all already, even though it’s only been two weeks since I left!
And then there was the health problems. As you may know my cryotherapy operation on my lingual tonsils didn’t work, so I had another operation in July. The problem was it meant taking two weeks out from work, seeing friends, and making the most of London. It was so frustrating! Also there have been a fair few mini freakouts when I’ve counted how many times I’m likely to see certain friends before I go. I overthink way too much ha! It’s also scaring the hell outta me that I have zero free weekends between now and when I leave – eek! So if you’re a friend of mine and want to see me before I go, please do tell me when you’re free ASAP so I can save you a date!
I’m not entirely sure how long I’ll be gone for, it probably won’t be forever and will most likely be just for a year, but we’ll see how it goes. I have a feeling I’m going to miss London far too much haha, but I really just need to get this whole Australia thing out of my system so I can come back and actually feel settled in the UK instead of constantly planning to move away ASAP. But who knows, maybe I’ll fall in love with Australia even more and end up staying there 😉
Oh, and if you’re friends/family, COME VISIT ME! I’m also welcoming people at Christmas, as my parents have already told me they won’t be visiting me for Christmas :'( sad times.
So, any questions just ask, and if you want to know why I love Perth so much, check out this post! And hopefully I’ll see most of you before I go! Oh, and I can’t WAIT to be back on the beach swimming around in this ocean again….
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
Congratulations on this exciting news and wishing you all the best for your move down under!
It sounds like you have definitely got a plan to make the most of your time left here. Best of luck for the move and enjoy your travels before then!
Lisa | Not Quite Enough
This is so exciting! It sounds like you've got an amazing couple of months coming up, especially with visiting all of your 'bucket list' London places. Good luck and don't stress too much about leaving!
Steph – http://www.nourishmeblog.co.uk
YAY! Though selfishly, we will get to see you a heck of a lot less!
I'm going to miss you so much C, but i'm going to take the opportunity and come and visit you. I need to tick Aus off my bucket list!
X
Congrats on the amazing news Catherine! I hope the move goes really smoothly – sounds like you've had your heart set on Australia for years so you must be very happy 🙂 Your travel plans this summer sound super exciting, too – hope you and J are having a great time! x
Tamsin / A Certain Adventure
I'm glad to hear that all is sorted although you'll be missed. I have a friend who is moving to Melbourne with her husband at the same time, she's got a lot of admin to sort! Good luck with all of that
Amazing news, congrats and good luck with the big move!!
Lauren x
Elle Bloggs
Thanks so much Elle! 🙂 x
Thanks so much Lauren! 🙂 x
Thanks Tamsin! I'm so excited!! Jas and I had the BEST time in the US, I can't wait to write up all the posts now and edit the vlogs 😀 x
Hehe aw, imma miss you guys heaps! x
Thanks Steph, I'm so excited for my big new adventure but the time is going by so quickly haha! x
Thank you Lisa! Super excited for all the travels and the big move! x
Thank you Shikha!! I'm so excited! x
Amazing news!!!! Congratulations and good luck, I'm sure everything will be really good