Since moving back to the US in 2010 after living in London for 2 years, life has been a heck of a roller coaster ride. I have experienced shock, hurt, euphoria, heartbreak, extreme stress, gut-wrenching pain, depression, happiness, adrenaline highs, sloppy drunken lows, lust, numbness and pretty much everything on the emotional spectrum not to mention 2 moves.
What I have learned is, you live, you learn, you love, you smile through pain, you laugh at the sheer joy of being able to feel the sun, rain, or snow on your face and you move on. There is no place in my life for bile, hatred, and jealousy - life is too short to curse the world for things that don't happen or bad things that happen to you. Bad things can happen to good people and good things can happen to bad people and vice versa. Did you know that the average life expectancy of an average person is around 65/66 years? There are about 526,176 minutes in a year - that is 34,790,757 minutes in an average lifetime. I would prefer to spend 98% of those minutes focusing on positive things and helping other people. The other 2%...well I have my moments, obviously. I am human after all. *shakes fist
Since moving back to the US, I haven't done too much traveling with the exception of visiting a few cities Ohio for work and some holidays, San Francisco to see some friends and their adorable baby, Singapore/Malaysia for a wedding, and Amsterdam and Madrid for another wedding. Okay, okay, so that may seem a lot to most people and there is a lot of the world's smallest violin playing going on, but trust me, when you have lived in Europe before, traveling about 4 times in 2 years is really nothing...
It brings me back to this exciting announcement! I have moved back to London for the forseeable future! I don't like using terms like forever and never because those get me into trouble when my mind is made up (I am stubborn - what?) But I plan on being here until I don't want to anymore. That is probably the most accurate and most truthful way I can put things down on paper.
I flew into Heathrow airport yesterday, 18th September, 2012 and landed around 10am. It only hit me about 10 minutes ago that I am actually moved here rather than here for another visit with my friends like I did back in late April. It felt like a ball of charge electricity - excited, happy, sad, and scared at the same time! I think it'll take a while for the feelings to sort themselves out.
London really is the city of my heart. There is just something so warm and satisfying about being here that I struggle to describe. Being here is like a warm bowl of soup and a delicious grilled cheese sandwich on a cold cold day - but for my soul. There is just so much to do, eat, travel to, and explore. I really cannot describe it without getting all teary. What I do wish was that there was some sort of teleportation device so that I could get my loved ones in the States here in an instant whenever they or I want them to be here. Alas...maybe one day.
I have a fully furnished corporate flat until I move into the house share this weekend or early next week with my awesome housemates. But boy, is this place gorgeous! I keep trying to pace myself and the speed at which I see and do things around London because I will pretty much have all the time in the world to do, eat, and explore.
As I am back - I have started to look for trips to Greece, Budapest, Malta, etc etc., so I am sure I will be a lot more active on this blog than before. Plus - I will also add restaurant reviews (London has so much good stuff!!!) and possibly some random video blogs if I can be convinced to show my face.
I will leave you with some pictures of the flat, the views around Canary Wharf where I am staying during the day and night, and some pics from wandering around earlier today (Camden and Chinatown)
