In late 2017, I was really missing the UK so I decided to return for more than a holiday. I wanted to stay longer than a few weeks of fun and good times and fully immerse myself into everyday, normal Manchester living with all the grey areas in between.
Lucky for me, Joe goes where I go and was happy to come along 😆 With a few commitments keeping us in Sydney until the end of 2018, we decided that 2019 will be the year! I gave myself 11 whole months there so I could get back to Australia in time for a good friend’s wedding.
January
On 2nd January, I packed as much as I possibly could into a 30kg case and off we went! It’s difficult trying to pack for four different seasons but I figured whatever I don’t pack can always be bought over there. On arrival, my brother picked us up from the airport and we immediately got fish and chips for dinner which is exactly what I’ve been dreaming about for years. My previous UK trip was so short and sweet (10 days!) that I hadn’t got around to it and I had regretted it ever since. Sausage, chips and gravy are the best 👌 It was also great seeing my nephews Louis and Max again for the first time in 15 months.
Although a couple of friends kindly offered us their homes for the first few nights, I knew we needed to move straight into an Airbnb to begin sorting our lives out ASAP with no distractions. We booked 20 nights in a cosy garden apartment in Bramhall which was the perfect base to recuperate from jetlag and to apply for jobs and somewhere to live. Our host Ian lived who next door was extremely warm and welcoming. He popped over to visit us every couple of days for a chat and to see how we were getting on — even offering to take Joe for a game of golf and to help me with my interview prep. We shared his joy when Airbnb upgraded him to a ‘super host’ 😆 Although this was a stressful few weeks, I have fond memories of enjoying the novelty of being back — mostly around food! Teacakes, Ready Brek, Red Leister Cheese, Hoola Hoops — so much healthy eating.
Read my blog post on Bramhall Hall.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsyqxbqh9fz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
During that first couple of weeks, I explored Bramhall Hall, enjoyed a little bar crawl with friends (and was properly introduced to gin!) and almost got a job with St. John Ambulance in their marketing department. This was the most brutal rejection of all — I had one phone interview, two in-person interviews along with two presentations (that I had to intensely research and prep for) and an editing exam. I got pipped at the post by someone who worked in marketing for their competitor The British Red Cross. I felt so sure that I had the job that I stopped applying elsewhere and lost two weeks in my job search. Lesson majorly learnt!
Nevertheless, some good news came along and we managed to find a flat just in the nick of time (I had even booked another Airbnb just in case we couldn’t swing it). This was a bit of a struggle as we were both unemployed at this point but by going down the private landlord route, along with some savings and a guarantor (thanks Jonny), it all worked out in the end. Our new flat was in Fallowfield which is a vibrant student suburb in south Manchester. I wanted to be close to my old home village Cheadle, yet close to the city centre so this is the perfect in-between place. It also has a Sainsbury’s, Wetherspoons and busses into town every 30 seconds — what more do you need?
One factor I hadn’t considered before the big move was furnishing the flat. It was semi-furnished with a bed frame, mattress, small fridge, washing machine and oven, but other than that, completely empty. Of course, all of our things were in storage back in Australia so absolutely everything had to be bought from scratch. From a kettle, toaster and cooking and eating utensils, to bedding and all the miscellaneous things you don’t think about. We had stupidly not budgeted enough for this at all and it used a huge chunk of our savings. As we only needed these items for 11 months, we knew there was no point going overboard or buying anything high-quality so we led a very minimalist year. No cute homewares or cosy decor, no fluffy pillows and no new clothes unless absolutely necessary as I knew I couldn’t get it all back. The clothes part wasn’t difficult as I’d done that for the past 18 months so we could save money for the UK but the rest felt tough. One thing I was missing was space to get ready in the morning — notably using my dressing table. Now, I had a storage box on the bathroom floor, but we soon got used to it. By the end of the year, it felt completely normal! I like to think we’ve taken something from this experience that you really don’t need a lot to live comfortably.
In better news, we got some snow! It had been snowing lightly on and off for a few days but it was never heavy enough to stick. That was until I woke up one morning and everything was covered in a blanket of white. Joe was completely unbothered but I was like a kid on Christmas morning, waking him up so we could go outside. The silver lining on unemployment meant we could to go to Platt Fields Park for a long walk to enjoy the snow properly. We also got to celebrate Max’s 2nd birthday this month which was a lovely evening watching him blow out his candles and play with his new toys.
February
Back in December, I missed a phone call from a couple of Manchester friends who left a drunken voice message telling me to keep the 4th – 7th February free and to have my passport handy. They had previously booked a trip to Dublin for our mate Fred’s 30th and that night while on the gin, they had the bright idea to book me onto the same flight. It turned out to be the best four days ever!
Read my blog post on Dublin
https://www.instagram.com/p/BteBt16hnAq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
This month, I also got a job! I was feeling anxious throughout Dublin about not having one but I needn’t had worried as, by the end of the month, I was working in my new role as a Content Marketing Specialist for Exposure Ninja. Although I had originally planned to leave the world of freelance and return to a standard office job, it was a good opportunity to learn something new, write more and be flexible around my travels for the year ahead. In hindsight, it has been the ideal job so perhaps it was meant to be that I didn’t get the St John Ambulance job after all.
Finally, the UK experienced the warmest February day on record at 20.6C. It doesn’t sound a lot but it was beautiful! Coats were off, pub gardens were brimming and the flowers were blooming. It was so bizarre but everyone was so happy for 3 days 😂
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuZSt-WBjUD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
March
March was a quiet month as we were a bit miserable! Joe was hating his job as a team leader in a care home for brain injuries as his working hours were all over the place and it was a bit of a toxic environment. We barely saw each other and to top it off, our flat was plain depressing with a leaking roof in the bedroom. By the end of the month, Joe had to quit his job as it just wasn’t worth it and not how we wanted to spend our time in the UK — even if it meant being skint for the foreseeable future.
Moving overseas (or anywhere, really) looks like fun and rainbows but it can be hard to get settled. Although we knew it was temporary, it was hard because it felt like we had rolled backwards five years to how we were living when we first got to Sydney in 2013, but better things were coming! March ended on a positive note for Joe though as he had already planned to go to Amsterdam for his birthday weekend with his school friend from London and they had a great trip.
Her Cup of Tea 