Category Archives: Family

Why we moved

Why we moved

When we first started telling people that we were embarking on an International Move, some asked why. It wasn't as simple as "it's a great opportunity". A lot of thought and prayers went into this decision and I am now going to tell you exactly "why we moved"...

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This is 'home'

My husband and I met in Dubai. We were expats and we enjoyed the lifestyle. However, after five years, we wanted a change. It wasn't a difficult 'yes' when we were offered a move to Europe. It was a fantastic opportunity for hubby as it would really boost his career. And for me: I was going to learn a new language. When we moved to Germany, I knew it wasn't a forever deal - I did not plan to retire there. And then we had a baby. Our family was now complete. Did we really want to start over somewhere else with a child? Why not?

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Miss E has always loved the ocean and being near the water. Our trips up north Germany was always a highlight for her.

Our List:

We had been living in Germany for 5 years, Miss E was 4 years old. My feet had started itching - they wanted to move. Hubby and I started thinking and talking about our options - which were quite limited. I have no higher education and hubby is in a sort of 'specialised' field. Our list of 'must-haves' was very short: warmer climate or at least four equal seasons per year; access to beach. Yep, that was about it. Both hubby and I grew up with easy access to the ocean or beach and it was one of the biggest things missing in our lives. And Miss E felt the same way.

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We love the ocean, clearly. Even when it was a bit chilly, we would bundle ourselves up and head out for some ocean air.

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It wasn't just the beach though, we craved Vitamin D

Happy Family:

There were many days I would wake up in Germany and think of beautiful sunrises and amazing sunsets. And I was always disappointed when I looked out of my kitchen window to grey skies. Miss E often talked about how she wished she didn't have to wear gloves and scarves and the thick jackets during the long winters. She has always been a very bubbly, active child, but in the summer months, she bloomed - just like here mama. But unlike her mama, she kept her bubbly personality throughout the year. I couldn't. Winters were very depressing for me. I would go days without wanting to leave the apartment. It was only because I had to take Miss E to Kindergarten and collect her, that I would force myself to soldier on.

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Summers were rather short, and so on the days we did venture out when the sun shone, we still needed sweaters

Our Decision:

It wasn't very difficult to decide to accept the offer to move to the Island of New Providence. Honestly, The Bahamas was never on our list of countries to move to, but we jumped at the chance to be near the ocean and wake up to bright skies all year around.

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Sun and surf

So you see, our reason for moving was quite simple: sun and surf.

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Miss E has enjoyed wearing her sleeveless dresses

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We have not worn jeans in months...we don't own jeans 🙂

Have you ever moved to a different country? What was your reason? Do you think it is easier moving with smaller children or teenagers?

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Smiles all around

Till next time, Lovelies
Zee

Our International Move – Part 1

Our International Move – Part 1

So, as you may have noticed, we live in The Bahamas. We recently embarked on our grand adventure and I wanted to share with you how it all went. So read on for Part 1 of Our International Move...

How it all started:

In July of 2019, my husband was given the opportunity to interview for a position in the Bahamas. We had been keen on doing an International move for a while, but our options were very limited. We also had a list of things we really wanted to have available in the next country or city (top of that list was access to a beach). Never once did Nassau, Bahamas ever come to our minds when we discussed our list. So when the opportunity presented itself, we were very excited.

At first glance, living on an island surrounded by water seemed most appealing. However, once the initial excitement wore off and more research was done (by yours truly), I started doubting whether such a move was best for our little family. There were so many things to consider: would Miss E be joining school; cost of living is very high; we would be expats.

Of course I did the only thing that one can do in such a situation - I grabbed a pen and paper and started a Pro's and Cons List. I spent three days on that list and the Pros far outweighed the Cons.

It almost didn't happen...

The Interview Process was a long one, with a few 'back-and-forths', and a period of 'no communication'. In August, we started doubting whether we were even being considered anymore - such was the silence from their end.

In September, Hubby received the good news along with the Contract. A few days later, we accepted the offer and our lives were forever changed. Lists were made; plans were put into place; the first set of important people were informed - it was the start of a thrilling rollercoaster ride.

This was on our visit to tell the family about our big plans.

Our priority was to speak to Miss E about the changes that were coming. It was important to me that she not only be included in some of the key decisions of our move, but also to keep the lines of communication open. At four and a half years old, we didn't expect pushback, but we wanted to ensure that she felt like she was included in the process and not just being told what to do and to 'deal with it'.

Then we decided to tell our families. They were happy for us, of course sad we would be leaving Germany. My family on the other hand, couldn't be too sad, because we were so far away anyway. Although now there is a 6 hour time difference, so that does make it harder to call or Skype.

When the ball got rolling, there was no stopping it

There were so many things to do that I had to start making lists. We had to give notice on our apartment; figure out the best way to sell our car; shipping our belongings; informing our Kindergarten; and all the while keeping our move off social media 🙂

Exhaustion slowly started creeping in and I was in desperate need of cuddles from Miss E

At first we wanted to ship our belongings to Nassau, but after much research and talks with a few people who already have made the move to the island, we realised that shipping would not be the best option. Not only would most of our electronics not work due to the voltage difference (it didn't make sense purchasing voltage converters), but shipping itself would be very expensive. Our only option was to store our expensive large items, sell off what we can and give away the rest. This was not going to be easy 🙂

We still did lots of fun stuff during this time of packing and planning.

In October, I had just returned from a Girls' Trip to London with my good friend, Sandy, when we got the news that my husband had to move sooner than we had initially planned. And since we had so many commitments and things to do, we couldn't leave together. our timeline got moved up by one full month, which meant we had to hustle on the packing. We rented a moving van so that we could take 80% of our belongings to a storage facility we rented for two years. Hubby drove the van up north, got everything packed into the storage container and made his way back home - all within 36 hours.

I treated Miss E to a Ceramic Painting session to distract her a bit and also to make sure we still got our time together during all the chaos happening in our home.

November 13 saw us selling our car and it was the first time since we said "yes" to this move, that it hit me that it was all real. Don't get me wrong: I knew what was happening. But with all the actual packing and telling people and getting rid of stuff, I didn't really have time for it all to set in: we were packing up our home of 6 years and leaving one continent for an island!

It didn't hit me yet that we were moving to another country...not until the day we sold our car 🙁

Two days later, I found myself sitting on the floor of Frankfurt International Airport holding and comforting my daughter - both of us crying. We had just said 'goodbye' to her dad who was walking toward Airport Security. We were going to be by ourselves for one full month.

"Goodbye, Papa. See you in one month."

This was just one more test of my patience, faith and resilience...To Be Continued in Part 2

Till next time,
Zee