It’s been a while. More than three years since I made the big move to Scotland. Time flew by. I can’t believe it’s already been 3.5 years that I decided to ‘take the plunge’ and move here. No regrets so far. I enjoy living in this beautiful city, in this insane beautiful country. I’m surrounded by green hills and I have yet to experience being bored by them. Another way to describe how I feel about living here: ‘Far away enough to do my own thing, close by enough to go home when I need to.’

If it wasn’t for the pandemic, obviously.

COVID-19

Crazy times we are in. Nobody could have predicted this current scenario. It’s been hard on people being socially excluded from basically everything in their lives for so long. Especially at the beginning, during lockdown. No people on the street, shops closed, only the necessity shops. Who would have thought that there was gonna be a time where the once-a-week visit to the supermarket would be the highlight of the week? I’m grateful more shops, cafes and restaurants have opened up again, that the hairdresser is taking appointments now and that we can go outside the 5 miles radius by car. It’s not normal life yet, the masks make sure of that, but we are counting our blessings. It can all change, just like that. We’ve seen that.

For this social butterfly, I won’t lie, it’s been tough. Being deprived of basic social interactions took the fun out of it for sure. Strange to have days, weekends and routines blend into one like they did. The virtual calls with friends & family from far and away were kinda nice, as I did not feel like I was living abroad when catching up, since we were all equals behind a screen in our respective homes, but Zoom calls can simply not replace face-to-face catch-ups. I missed running around on hockey pitches or meeting up with bike groups. Missing sport AND sport socials. By the way, it was just plain weird to have pubs closed for business. Not being able to meet up with palls over a pint. I had concerned family texting me when pubs were shutting down in Scotland: how are you doing? Are you coping? Barely people, barely.

One of my life virtues is that I can travel and take flights on a whim. The travel restrictions have been – and still are - extremely challenging. Also working from home every day: not my cup of tea. My studies have always been spent in university libraries on campus. I really hope that our office is opening up shop again in a few weeks’ time, as intended, but in this era: nothing is certain.

Project management

That is not to say that I don’t have a lovely home. Au contraire. I moved to another area in Edinburgh last year. I never thought in my lifetime that it would happen to me, but there I was: managing an unexpected, all-encompassing renovation project for my new house. So many decisions to make throughout. Various guys that were helping me fix up the place can testify: I did not leave stones unturned.

I’m not one of half measures you see. If you go for it, you might as well go all in. I was thorough and made sure that what was done, was done right. A lot of energy went into it. It was worth it though, because the house is great now. It’s spacious, functional, decorative and most importantly, homey. In that regard, the pandemic was very timely.

Flip side

On the bright side, a few good things came out of COVID19:

I’m back doing regular yoga, continuously amazed at the deep stretches I can now do. The virtual classes twice a week, without the commute, save me quite some time. I also got back into cooking. Earlier this year, two friends talked to me about ‘winging it’ in the kitchen: not overthinking cooking with complicated recipes and grocery lists but be more spontaneous by working with what you have. It proved to be the golden tip for this year!

The cupboards (of my beautiful new kitchen) are now filled with a wide range of condiments and sauces and the freezer is stacked with food. I don’t have to go to the store to fix myself a tasty meal. I can’t tell you how much progress that is in my life lol. Picking up my chef skills was a 2020 new year resolution, but it took a pandemic for this new routine to truly kick in. Proud to making decent, non-sticky, rice these days and that I can FINALLY measure the right amount of pasta for a dish by eye. No more leftover pasta! I also baked my first banana bread the other day and todays’ muffins turned out pretty good.

Rooted character

Keen to keep up all of this new stuff. But that is not where it ends. There is another one to tackle. A hurdle I’ve been struggling with for a long time. That ugly thing called work/life balance. I’m in Marketing and I love the job and the profession, but I tend to over commit, work too many hours in a day and take things a tad too seriously for my own good. This is actually a trend of quite a few years. I’d like to refocus some of my energy and spend more time outdoors. It is time to turn things around and make a few lifestyle changes. My plans are to get a dog.

Off the grid

Other than the two Rottweilers I encountered when I was delivering the local newspaper as a teenager, I’ve always liked dogs. I just never thought it would be something for me. It did cross my mind occasionally, but it was either not the right time or I wasn’t sure I would be up for the task. I believe I’m now ready for this new kind of commitment.

I recently moved to a new house and not only is my new place of great size for a pet, I have a nice garden now and there are lovely walk paths in my area to take a dog for daily strolls. Plus, I think I would make a terrific dog owner.

Leasing

Before getting a dog, I first would like to test the water and develop my so-called dog owner skills. And I think I found the perfect way. There is this community called Borrow My Doggy where dog owners and trusted local dog walkers & sitters across the UK come together to share the care of a dog. How nice is that? I very much like the idea of helping out households with regular dog walks or occasional dog sitting and I expect to pick up a couple practical – and welcoming - dog tips along the way.

It’s a new arena for me and it will be quite an adventure, but it feels right. Like something I have to do to change my life for the better. I am pretty excited about this! I’d like to use this blog to share my journey, my first experiences and how I am getting on with it all.

That’s it. The cat is out of the bag, or should I say dog? Stay tuned! :-)