My Canadian Journey

Welcome to my blog!!!!

Hi and welcome to my blog!!!!

Just over 2 years ago I moved to Canada from the UK, as a child I always said I wanted to live abroad and eventually settle in Canada, fast forward a few years, that dream became a reality and here I am.

I wanted to share my journey and experiences with you all, and it has been a journey for sure, moving countries is huge as it is, add covid to that hitting 6 months after my move, where I am still trying to settle and you get yourself one crazy journey with many up's and down's.

The build up to the months of my move from the UK to Canada I had to keep telling myself I have got this and if I dont like it then I can always come back, I always wanted to experience living abroad and now was my chance to fulfill this wish of mine.

The very first step for me was to make a list of all the things I needed that were super important, for example: documents, clothes for the time of year I was going to be moving there, all the things I needed to sort out before I left.

This process is long and tedious I actually lost count of the times I packed and unpacked my suitcase changing the items in them each time

It took me just under a year to prepare to move and I used this time wisely to research and prepare, I researched apartments, jobs, locations, cities and everything inbetween.

I also wanted to take my sweet time in moving because I wanted to mentally prepare myself for this move, I needed that time to understand what I was doing.

A lot of people asked me "do you have family there?" I would reply "no" and their next question would be "do you have friends there?" I would reply "no" then after an awkward pause they would reply "well you are brave to be moving", I remember always saying to myself "I am either brave or incredibly stupid to be doing this. We will soon find out"

This is why I wanted to take some time between getting my approval letter and actually taking that step, and that is totally okay, some would have been okay in moving asap, and some would take their time like me, there is no wrong or right way, everyone is different, you should do what works for you.

Any spare time I got I was on the laptop looking for work, just to see what the market was like, I also really buckled down on my spending and starting saving as one thing I will say, having a decent amount of savings when you enter the country is something that will give you peace of mind after moving here as sometimes you may not find a job right away. You will also need to spend on necessary things like food and transport, so having a good amount of money to fall back on was something that really helped me.

I also started looking for Airbnb's to see where I could stay for a month or so while I found my bearigs and found work, I began reaching out to them with any questions I had such as where they are based and so on. My idea was to find a place as close as possible to where I need to be but still within a decent price, I also made sure the only places I was looking at were with superhosts for my own peace of mind.

Staying in an Airbnb was going to be cheaper than a hotel and this is what I needed as I was looking at a month long stay possibly longer and I needed to be smart with my money, but you can do what you feel comfortable with and what works for you.

For me and my preparation research was key.

The more I researched the better I felt about the move, and with a step so huge of moving countries I wanted to make sure I was as prepared as possible to keep my stress levels low, as my friends and family would agree that I can get myself quiet worked up just with my own thoughts!!! 🙃

At the top of my list of things to sort was accomodation and work. I began looking at areas to live in, I was looking at apartments to get a rough idea of the cost of living in Toronto and what to expect, One thing to remember is that Canada is nothing like the UK in terms of the distance between point A to point B.

Everything is very spaced out in Canada so that is something to remember, alongside looking at accomodation I also was looking at Jobs constantly to get an idea of the Job market, my aim was to start sending out my CV's closer to the time of me getting on that plane and seeing what happens, if someone reaches out great, if not then that was okay too.

So after deciding on getting an Airbnb for around a month or so, this was where the work really started I would spend hours on the laptop through out the day, browsing for something that suited me, I didn't want to share so I wanted something enough just for me.

I began messaging hosts and asking how far they were from Downtown as I wanted to be close enough to be able access the places I needed to be. I can't remember how many places I saw, how many hosts I reached out to, and how many messages I sent. But for me it wasn't a choice, I like to be thorough and have a plan, I am not someone who can just land in another country I had never been to and just wing it, just thinking about that makes me uneasy haha, however hats off to those who are, everyone is different and you should do what works for you.

In regards to finding work everyday I was on jobsites and LinkedIn looking for work and seeing what they had in my field, what the pay looked like and how this would hold up against rent and grocery shopping in Toronto.

Doing this kind of research allowed me to know what kind of wage I need to look at for surviving in Toronto, which helped with job seraches and not having to google the currency exchange each time I would see a job that peaked my interest.

It also allowed me to know which jobs to stay away from as the pay wasnt what I needed to get by on, it can be scary moving somewhere and knowing that your whole ability to be able to stay in this place is based on finding a job, sometimes that can take time and sometimes it can happen quickly, this is why I was trying everything within my power to make this job seraching journey as stress free as possible (which is not a thing because looking for work at any point is hard and stressful, however for some reason trying to prepare for it made me feel a little better). I started updating my CV and I knew I had a long road ahead of me but the key for me was to not over think it too much, because that is how I freak myself out 🤯 haha!!! It was now time to book my ticket.

The next step was to pick an actual date for me to book my ticket, this wasn't as easy as I thought it would have been. I booked a few months in advance of my actual leave date as I wanted to give myself more time to prepare, more so mentally than physically as I wanted to make sure I was mentally ready to be moving to a country I had never been too and leaving friends and family behind.

I booked a direct flight on a Sunday, as I didn't want to leave on a weekday because everything is always busier on those days. I also chose a morning flight so when I got to Canada it would be during the day as they are 5 hours behind my time. It is just easier to navigate during the day then at night in a new place and ofcourse services are running as usual during the day, such as trains and subways.

So before I booked the ticket I had found an Airbnb I liked and messaged them first to make sure the dates I was looking at were available. Once I received confirmation back that those dates were available I went ahead and booked my ticket and then staright after booked my Airbnb. After booking these 2 things I felt a weight had been lifted, booking your flight and finding accomodation is like step 1, everything else kind of follows after this, it also gives you the push you need to get a move on as you now have an official leave date to work towards.

It was now time to physically prepare for this move, I had alot to do such as buy luggage, sort out my travel documents, look into travel insurance, pack accordingly and sensibly as I had limited space, and so much more. I knew the next few months were going to fly by, so I had to get a move on. 🧳

Moving Day Arrives

The day had arrived for me to officially move and catch my plane, I did not sleep the whole night I think I had maybe 30 mins of sleep if that. It was a nervous night for me as I was going into something I had never done before, I was going to a country I had never visited before, it was alot to say the least. In a few hours I would be catching a flight to Canada and I was kinda freaking out haha, to calm myself I shifted my focus by making sure I had packed all I needed and the one thing I will say is check and double check your documents that you will need to present to immigration, because other things you forget you could probably replace by buying again, but the documents are absolutely vital to your journey as they will allow you entry into Canada.

I didn't want my family to come to the airport with me as this would make it that much harder for me, so I said my goodbye's at home and headed to the airport. When I got there I went straight to check in my luggage, but before I even got to the desk I was stopped by an individual who works for the Canadian airline asking me my reason for travel and what documents I had with me. I showed my documents and he allowed me to go ahead and check in (this was before covid). I cannot stress enough on how important it is to have your documents with you and easily accessible.

I was at my gate and as much as possible I was trying to not focus on me moving to another country, I was trying to focus on seeing it as a holiday as this helped keep me calm haha.

We finally started boarding the plane, I took a deep breath and got off my seat to join the queue, I was feeling over all okay, nervous but okay, I got to my seat and settled in. It was time to take off and all I wanted to do for the next few hours was sleep and rest as it had been a crazy 48 hours for me. I was going to deal with next part of this journey when I reached Canada, but until then it was nap time. 😴😴😴