My experience moving away

I left South London in 2017 after living in the UK for 23 years. I moved to Kenya, Nairobi with little idea of what to expect but I stayed open minded.

I missed my friends back home, the mundane things we would do like meet up then go to the corner shop… not having them made me feel grateful for those moments even though I used to wish for something new and interesting to happen. It’s funny how life goes.

I kept in touch with my emotions, either by writing them down or overthinking (lol) and first came grief of a life that once was, then anger at the people I used to know for moving on without me then finally came acceptance. This acceptance was for the people in my life but also for who I used to be, who I was then and who I was hoping to become, regardless of who was still in my life. I learnt to love people from a distance, this helped to heal some trauma I have in terms of love, possessiveness and codependency.

People are only yours to experience in life.

Moving away saved me because it gave me a new perspective on my life and the walls I had placed for myself. I am lucky enough to have the support of my family who encouraged me to be brave and start a new life. My main goal was to see my grandma after 4 years and I got to hold her hand when she died peacefully (at 93).

I had to be selfish in deciding to move but not because people were telling me not to but because I was making excuses for myself. I felt like it would be too hard, too scary, I wont make friends, it will be too different all these reasons which were just pointing to fear. Maybe I might not find a job, maybe I will have no friends, maybe i’ll go broke, maybe I could even die! But all these things could also happen right here in my comfort zone. Then what?

Now 3 years down the line I’m happier, mentally and physically healthier and BRAVER to have made the decision to move, it showed me how strong I could be when I depended on it.

So anyone reading this who was thinking of making that move, regardless of what it is/where it is, JUST DO IT!