To many leaving Canada was a silly idea...not to me.
Being aware of the fact that Canada is a massive and beautiful filled with most of my loved ones I always knew staying in one place forever was not for me. Ireland has always had a pull for me but I could never really figure why until soon after my 26th birthday. I found my self at the end of a contract job and really nothing keeping me where I was. So, there was no better time then to start somewhere new and that place was Belfast.
I know when a place is new there is a honeymoon phase but when you are 3000 miles away from home and less homesick then when you moved three hours away you have to take it as a sign. Upon moving here the people were great scenery was amazing and I met my now fiance :)
Belfast is a city that just seems to wrap you in and when you find your circle feel a part of something pretty early on and that's exactly what I needed. Coming from a job in finance I knew one thing when it came to work which was I didn't wanna do that anymore. Irionically like most people new to Belfast I did end up working in a banks call centre for a short time. Shortly after I took a job as a sous chef which was one of the best jobs I've had to date and where I met some of my closest friends here.
I do miss my family and friends but I needed to do this for me. It has proven to be the best way I could teach myself that doing things for yourself doesn't always make you selfish. I am lucky that when I moved I met my Fiancé, he and his family has been a huge help to settling here and especially when I have the inevitable homesick days.
This past spring I needed to prepare everything to apply for my next visa and before then I was not sure if that was something I wanted to do or if I wanted to go home and settle there. Now that I am still in the process of reapplying I know that I want to stay in Belfast because I have not done all I want to here and I love the life we are building here.
XO