about me….

this post is for those of you who don’t see me very often……

i decided last week that i for sure am going to move to the sunshine coast once i officially get evicted. that won’t likely happen before the end of the month so it looks as though i will be house-hunting for september or october first.

a lot of people have told me i won’t be able to stand the commute – and possibly that is true – but i really won’t know until i try living up there. in exchange for an extra-long commute i will get rents at half the price, clean air, no more random street noise, a short walk to the beach (everything there is close to the beach), and a community of just 25,000 people to share big space with. really, i have just decided to try prioritizing less pollution, cheaper rent, an option to possibly purchase a home one day, and a little land – for the time it will take me to get back and forth from the city.

the good thing about the commute is the fact it is entirely by public transit – ferry and bus – which means i don’t have to sit in my car, and can actually use the commuting time to work, read, do art… whatever. possibly i will be able to work from home one day a week as well (still have to float that by my boss).

things are changing for me now and i’m not sure what exactly the finished product will look like, how a move like this will impact my day to day life, interests, circle of friends, creative and activist projects – all that is up in the air. the move, plus my own personal transformative work have coincided to accelerate some aspects of my path towards a new life. i am a little frightened by this process, but also excited by it – who know what kind of a new me i will be?

i know one thing for sure though – when i move up to the coast – i am *definitely* learning to kayak in the sea. so at the very least, i will end up with a new recreative pleasure 🙂

i feel much better about the decision now i have made it. for about a month i was going back and forth about what i wanted to do, and finally realized i had to stop torturing myself with what i wanted, didn’t want, couldn’t have etc. when i realized how expensive it would be to rent what kind of a place i want in east van (house, yard, fruit tree….), the only thing that made sense was to accept the longer commute in exchange for more breathing room, more quiet, and more separation from urban life.

of course, after coming to this conclusion, i now want to get on with the process but have to wait until my apartment sells and i am evicted so as to cash in on the $1100 the landlord has to give me for making me move. this will cover my entire moving cost with movers. not only that, but once they give me 2 months notice, i can give them 10-day “short” notice anytime in that period and they still have to pay out the cash – which will give me flexibility in move dates and so forth.

in the meantime, i have to start sorting through my stuff – i have lived in this apartment for almost three years and have accumulated like a squirrel in the meantime.

so yeah, i’m excited about moving, but also mildly stressed about finding a place and packing. i just have to get started, and then i won’t seem so bad. the realtors haven’t even showed my place yet so i doubt it will go before the end of this month – though – you never know with this crazy real-estate market. i’m hoping to buy a house of my own on the coast if i like it after renting there for a few months. really – that depends on whether or not the commute is doable for me…..