The adventure (nearly) begins

It's midnight. I'm surrounded by papers to be shredded, clothes to be packed, to-do lists to be ignored, and half-drunk, cold and icky looking cups of Jasmine tea (yes, it sounds pretentious - having gone off the 'hard stuff' (Tetley) recently, it's my only hot drink option. Life is hard).

My left eye is twitching very slightly, but uncontrollably, and my hair looks like it belongs in a zoo.

And what's responsible for this (pretty poor) state of things? Me. Or, to expand on that - my decision to emigrate.

Following a recent holiday to Australia, meeting family and enjoying the general lifestyle of the southern hemisphere, I decided to pack up my life as a London Girl About Town, bite the metaphorical bullet, and move to sunny Sydney. Oh, it all seemed like such a good idea before 1) shipping companies became involved, and 2) I began a to-do list. The naivety. The innocence. Having merely one "to do" list soon spiralled, and now I have lists and reminder post-it notes surrounding me. In fact, this is what I resembled only a few days ago:

Now, I'm not doubting the move will be worth it, but now that we're T-46 hours (i.e. 46 hours until I step on that 10pm flight to Sydney, via Singapore, if you must know) - I suddenly feel the stress catching up with me. In a bid to alleviate it, I have just inhaled a chocolate muffin whole (almost). In retrospect, I believe I resembled some form of python, swallowing it's prey. Not the look I usually go for. But I digress - back to the topic in hand.

Being very fortunate to have wonderful friends, family, and adopted family back home in London & beyond, who I will miss a huge amount, I have suddenly realised the value of the internet. No, not just for Asos, Amazon,  or Facebook stalking your crush (although obviously, those are all very worthy internet based activities, and should be pursued to the fullest extent).  No - allow me a serious moment - the internet does even more than that. It keeps you in touch with the people you care about. And equally importantly, it keeps you in touch with people who've previously slighted you, and who you can now show off to. (I joke. Following a recent facebook cull, I can solemnly say that my days of internet-based showing off are, for the most part, over.)  Anyhow - the short story is that I'm a very lucky girl to know so many special people, and Kleenex is being kept in business by my emotional reaction to leaving them, even though it's not goodbye, merely "see you later", "a presto", "auf wiedersehen for now" or "до свидания" - yes I looked that last one up...)  With thoughts of keeping my London Massive (as they're known) informed, and the world at large entertained, this blog is designed to share my stories of emigration and life Down Under in a witty, web-based, photo-inclusive format. Enjoy. 

Boys and girls - the adventure is almost upon us! My penultimate London sleep beckons, and it's time for me to get off the Macbook (no - I'm not a PC), go to bed, then wake up, panic, pack, panic and pack some more, and finish that bloody to-do list.

Until tomorrow,

Belle de Sydney

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