So, Richard and I have made a HUGE decision, and this decision hasn’t come lightly or even overnight, even though it may seem that way to everyone. It is something that has been growing for years (for me), and since we’ve been together (for us). As I mentioned in yesterday’s post there was another theme that developed while we were in Victoria, and I figured I would mention it in a separate post.

We have decided to move to Victoria next year. Whether this will happen is still yet to be seen, but we have made a conscious decision to try.

When we first met, we decided that we would look at moving to Toronto or Vancouver when I graduated. I wanted Toronto, Richard wanted Vancouver. I wanted Toronto simply because I had never been there and it would be a bigger adventure for me. But I eventually agreed to Vancouver. I love that city with a passion, and have wanted to move there for about five years (since I wrote in my livejournal five years ago that I would definitely be moving to Vancouver within a year). Plus! I wanted to live there during the Olympics.

As time went by, we settled into our life in Calgary and started looking at homes and condos in Calgary. We decided we wanted to live in the far NW, or possibly in High River since it was such a nice place. Unfortunately, housing prices doubled and we were priced out of the market. Even with our combined salaries, there was barely a one bedroom condo in the city that we could afford. We accepted that we would have to rent forever…

So, the idea of moving creeped into our minds again. We figured, if we had to be stuck renting for at least a decade or so, we might as well be doing it somewhere we were happy.

The fact is, neither of us are happy in Calgary. This city is made for “nine to five” straight people with kids. It’s a city where if you don’t make over $100 grand a year, you’re screwed. It’s about suburbs, and big box stores…and lets face it…the people here in this city are starting to turn sour. This place is becoming incredibly unfriendly.

I want a lifestyle more suited to my own. I want to live in a place where being gay isn’t considered a crime by the majority of citizens, where conservative governments aren’t worshipped and praised, where there’s little artsy coffee shops with open mic poetry on every corner, where recycling and organic foods are the norms (or at least popular) rather than the exception, where you aren’t laughed at if you are a vegan or want to drink wheat grass, where the weather isn’t so hot in summer and rain is a little more abundant, where I can see water rather than brown grassy fields, where people are friendly to a fault.

I’ll stop there. Now, the truth is, all of the above reasons were what made me want to live in Vancouver. What I didn’t expect when I went to Victoria that it was an even BETTER fit for me (sorry…us) than Vancouver. If I was still 21 years old, single, and ready to party, Vancouver would definitely be the place for me, but something quieter, and a touch more gentle is even more appealing to me now.

It took us about 0.4 seconds in Victoria to realize that we were in love with the place. What really sold us was the idea of living only a couple blocks from the water (a lot of cheap apartments are that close). The idea of walking to the beach and watching the lapping water would be a dream come true for me. The rain in winter, and mild summers (temperatures usually around 18-22, and almost never over 30) is perfect for me! The history is amazing and so incredibly fun to explore…and…well…y’all get the idea.

I can hear your thoughts now, “You’re uprooting your whole life based on 2.5 days in Victoria??!!? Are you crazy?”

Three things:

1.) Yes, I tend to be crazy.
2.) I have never been one to stagnate. I’m a chaotic person, so the thought of moving to a place that I barely know sounds fun and adventurous, rather than scary or stupid.
3.) I understand that my “tourist” view of Victoria could be a totally false view, but isn’t that the fun of moving to a new, completely different city? You get to explore and find out what the city is really like.

And let’s face it, this isn’t the first time I have schemed to move to a brand new city. I didn’t feel like digging up the livejournals, but as I said, one proclaims that I’d be moving to Vancouver, and another that I would be moving to Toronto. Perhaps I need to stop posting in livejournal…I think it’s a jinx!

So, that’s my story, it leaves a lot of things in my life up in the air. Right now, I need to focus on the last four months of school, and then I can worry about whether I apply for my RN license in BC or Alberta. Then it’s really just about getting a job (easy), and then finding a place to live (less easy), and then how to get all our stuff there (hard).