How Did I End Up Here?

Summer 2015 has been unlike any other summer I can remember. After several fortunate and unfortunate events, this June I ended up having all the time in the world and sufficient savings to do just about anything. I’ve never been a big spender, so I traveled. I ended up in Manchester and just fell in love with the city.

I came here three times over the summer and each time a big thought in my mind became more realistic and tangible. What if I move here? What if I find a job and try to make a living in Manchester?

No, it wasn’t that chilled as it might seem! I was terrified at the same time. It’s a big move. I’ve been living on my own for six years, and I spent half of one living and studying in Malta. But packing up my life in Latvia and moving to the UK was BIG.

At first, I thought it might be impossible. Would I ever find a job that would pay me enough to afford living here? Don’t get me wrong – I’m an experienced and educated professional, but for a Latvian life in the UK is so much more expensive.

I just had to check the situation myself – I started looking into job sites and explored LinkedIn. I realized that my professional field – digital marketing – offers so many job opportunities! And it pays well.

The idea became more realistic and the challenge – more apprehensible… and scarier.

I have done quite a lot of thinking since then, and the more it scared me, the more I realized that this is it. If I won’t do it now, I might never do it. I might never try and see how it is to live somewhere else, to call another city my home in the long term.

I had to do it! For me, for my dreams, and to fight my fears.

What if I fail? So be it! It will be the biggest learning lesson of my life, whatever the outcome. I’m ready for it, so bring it on!

To be continued…

Note: This post originally appeared on Expat in MCR (expatinmcr.com) blog which has since been renamed to Dream Chaser (dreamchaserwrites.com).