And this is how it starts...

"And this is how it starts..."
 -  'Sex', The 1975

My life tends to be narrated by an internal music player which always knows the right songs for each moment! I was wondering how to get this going and those very lyrics started playing in my head.

I should introduce myself. My name is Mel. I wanted to start this blog as i've recently made quite a big decision to move to London.

Yes, the City! The big smoke, the Capital, LDN...the big one. I'm sure even for an experienced mover London presents quite a challenge - however i've never moved. That's a tiny lie, I have moved a couple of times. I moved from my childhood home into a new home with my mum, and then into another home also with my mum, and then into a friends flat temporarily, and then into my current residence ON MY OWN (..okay, with other people - but not parents). That makes it sound like I should be some sort of moving pro - but what i've failed to mention is that none of these houses were outside a 2-mile radius. Aaah, not so ballsy now, are we?

That's right - in 26 and 11 months I have never lived outside of a 2-mile circle. I'd like to be able to say that wasn't deliberate, but it totally was. I should be part of some sort of Settled Anonymous group: 'Hi, my name's Mel, and I can't move.'

Anyway - the long and short of it is that until I was 20 I didn't really have much opportunity to move as I was trying to sort my life out. Once i'd done that, and university was on the cards, I had options to move (London or Guildford - I know right, so far away)......buuuut I didn't do it. I chose to tell people it was a financial decision - I was saving more money by being at home, yadda yadda. Everyone thought I was being terribly sensible. But the truth of the matter is that I was terrified of leaving. I've learnt over the years that I really quite like being settled, knowing exactly what is going to happen and when, and not having any surprises. That's not to say I don't like new adventures and activities, just not in my home life.

So...that takes us to 24 years old. I did my whole degree from home (involving a 2-hour commute - EACH WAY). Very conveniently (as I had no plans to move) - I found a job only a 30min drive away from home. Bonus! No moving going on here, nope. So I got stuck in at work and carried on commuting. I did eventually (with a fair bit of pushing) move out of home, but only 2 miles down the road. Where I have lived comfortably in the same room, same house, for almost 2 years now.

And that brings us here. I love my job, and I love my colleagues (and as we have deduced thus far, i'm not too prone to itchy feet). BUT i'm watching friends move, get promotions, settle down etc. and i'm beginning to see that none of this is happening to me. Of course, this isn't because i'm terribly unlucky - but because if I'm not going to change anything, nothing will change. With this in mind I applied for a job in London - not fully expecting to get even an interview - but lo and behold, i'm hired!

How this fits into my 'plan' i'm not quite sure. I have always harboured dreams of living a bohemian lifestyle in Cornwall (St.Ives if you must know) - working enough to live and surfing as often as I can, and generally lounging about eating pasties with perfectly sun-bleached hair (in this fantasy I've also somehow gained a good-looking husband, two blonde kids and a perfectly tanned and toned figure. Also a dog. Sometimes more dogs than kids, depends on the mood.)

I had tempered this with moving to Bristol - close enough to surf but still likely to have jobs more ambitious than selling ice-cream. London is not close to surf. But it does have jobs, so swings and roundabouts.

Anyway, i'm getting distracted. LONDON! So here it goes. The big adventure. The big move. I'm still convinced as soon as I try to leave Reading hailstorms and wind will appear in a Truman-esque episode as I get closer and closer to the Berkshire border - but i'm sure the final drive will actually be quite uneventful.

This is the final cutting of the apron-string. Like pulling a manky old plaster from a hairy arm - I know it has to happen, and I know i'll be better for doing it, but I also know the process is going to sting and there will be that moment where you try to convince yourself you can either keep the plaster on forever, or peel it off r-e-a-l-l-y slowly. But you can't.

I'm very lucky. My new job is central; leaving me with all options open for locations to live. I also have friends who can put me up in the beginning - taking any pressure off. I have friends who live nearby and I will probably know people already there. So in terms of a softy, softly approach - this is about as good as it gets.

I just need to really do this justice by learning as much as i can from the job, and throwing myself into a new location. So this blog is here to make sure I do things in London so I have something to write about, and is also something I can use to keep me sane in the inevitable 'what have I done?!' moments that I know will arise, and are probably very normal.

Signing off,

Tiny Fish (location soon to be: Big Pond!)

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