It Was a Surprise to Me!
I had a vision of what kind of blog I was going to write, what I was going to say when I sat down on my days off and described my trip to Vancouver. I figured I would get my pictures on my computer and edited, that the memories would flow forth, and I would compile some kind of interesting story (I hope) for all of you to read. I still might do that, I’ll probably do that, but it isn’t what has sprung forth in my mind.
Let me start by saying how the whole trip to Vancouver came about. You see, there’s this little thing called Twitter, a cool social media app on phones and computers that let’s you spout bursts of brilliance in 140 character increments. There are a ton of regular Joes, politicians, stars, athletes, parody accounts, and the like, all of which tweet throughout the days. Well I got on there because I wanted to see what Craig Ferguson was talking about on his show when he referred to it, and that was February of 2010. I then started following more and more people, and one of these people I followed would prove to be the catalyst for something I never could have seen coming.
Alkaline had been my friend on another web site, and I had talked to her periodically for years, so I added her, and we would BS a bit here and there, and then I added a friend of hers, and we all talked. I learned a bit about Vancouver from them, and laughed at our conversations as we went on into the wee hours of the morning. Through those two I added another Vancouverite, then another, and another, and so on… over the last couple years I have followed a fair amount of people from that Province, and I have been in contact with them almost daily ever since.
Last year they put out the idea of me coming up there and visiting, and I kicked it around, but I had already promised my vacation time to a couple big events that I could not miss, WEfest and Kev and Emmy’s wedding, these were things I would not miss for anything, and so I didn’t. Well, 2012 rolled around, and no one told me that they were getting married, so I had an extra week just sitting there, what to do…what to do… Ah yes, let’s go to Vancouver, what the hell, eh?
A passport attained, a flight booked, and all I had to do was count down the days between February and July 23rd, easy enough. It seemed to take forever, but then as it got closer, it flew by, soon I was packing my stuff and getting ready to drive to Billings to fly to lovely British Columbia, via Salt Lake City of course? That’s the flight that worked on my time table, so that’s where I went. I was nervous, because I didn’t technically know these people, but yet I did. You can’t talk to people daily and not get an idea of who they are, unless of course they are not honest, which is always a risk you take, but hey they’re Canadian, they won’t take both kidney’s.
The drive to Billings was easy, and I got more excited as the miles ticked away. My timing was perfect for checking in, getting a pat down, and getting on the plane, no time to get nervous. Quick flight and landing and I had a little time to kill before the next leg, but not much. I was soon showing my passport and boarding the jet headed to Vancouver. I read my way through the flight, and soon we were descending, coming into a foreign country, a new city, a pile of possibilities. It was cloudy, so I was thinking it would be anticlimactic and I wouldn’t see anything, but then we got under the clouds, and all I saw was water with a few ships upon it, but holy hell it was real, it existed, this was really happening. The idea that had come up over the last couple years, the idea that I said what the hell and went with, the idea to go to Vancouver was real, and here I was.
I believe my heart began to beat a bit faster, I had a kid at Christmas feel to me, even though I knew I still had to get off the jet and go through customs, I was excited, I was smiling, I was here! I triple checked that I had my passport handy, my form was filled out that they had given us, my instructions on finding my destinations were all within grasp. I was here, there was no going back. Customs wasn’t so bad, the questions always kind of make me laugh in my head, but I answered honestly and went and got my bag.
I got on the airport’s wifi so that I could contact people and let them know what was going on, exchanged my money, and proceeded into this bright new world called Canada. Finding the Skytrain was easy enough, figuring out my stop had been done for me, and as it was getting to be rush hour I opted for the cab ride to my destination. I arrived in the early evening, and the rest is history.
I met so many people, people that I had talked to numerous times, people that were part of my world even though they are thousands of miles away. I did so many things in such a brief stint of time, things that were both touristy and relaxed. I wandered around a city with tall buildings, yet I never felt small. No, I felt alive rather. Here I was in what could be considered the exact opposite of my town, here I was in a city with more people than my state, here I was in this laid back and beautiful city, and I was loving every second of it.
After 8 nights and 8 days, I had a good idea of what this city held for me, I had a good idea of how wonderful the people are, I flat out knew how great my friends are, because yes, they are my friends, as sure as I sit here typing this. I had conversations with my friends that would lead to them asking me what I thought of their city, I love it, and would end with them telling me I should move there. I would smile and agree and continue on, knowing that a piece of me was getting touched by the wonderment of it all, a piece of me that would never be the same. At the airport when I was waiting for my flight back to Salt Lake City, back to Montana, back to my “real” life, back to what I had briefly escaped, the love started pouring in through tweets and texts. I felt the lump form in my throat as I saw that what I felt about my trip and these people was being mirrored back to me, it made it hard to leave, but yet showed me what I could expect when I returned.
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to avoid Vancouver, and I knew I didn’t want too. I have another week of vacation, I thought, I could use that to come back, hey maybe I come back during hockey season, how cool would that be? I mulled things over in my head as I flew back to my country. In the few days since I have left BC, I have discussed the trip with family, friends, and coworkers, and one thing kept coming up, my love for that land and those people. I couldn’t get over the fact that this big city felt comfortable to me, and ideas began to worm into my head.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could get a work visa and go up there and live? Wouldn’t it be cool if you figured out what you needed to do in order to live there? I wonder what dual citizenship would be like? I wonder how hard that would be to get? What would I do if I moved there? Could I survive in that atmosphere? Could I be a city slicker, the thing my Grandpa Dempewolf had always said I was? Could I make this a reality?
The more I talked about Vancouver, the more I fell for her. That city had grabbed a hold of me, and still hasn’t let go. I talked about my trip, about my experiences, about the people, and in the last couple days I have come to a decision.
I am moving to Vancouver.
I was talking to mom, and I said, I think I am moving to Vancouver, and she merely responded, I think you are too. It wasn’t a surprise, it wasn’t a fight, and when I mentioned it to dad later in the day, I was met with basically the same response as mom. This was a foregone conclusion that I didn’t know had been made.
I have been preparing for a move for a while now, saving money, paying down my student loans, everything that you need to do to have a future, but I never had a set plan for what I was going to do. Vancouver changed that, hell Vancouver changed many things.
I have research to do on what paperwork I need, what hoops I need to jump through, what I can and can’t do. I will do this research.
I have to find employment there so that I can live. I will find employment.
I will have to have somewhere to live, a big decision to make, as it is expensive. I will find somewhere to live.
I will have to be able to survive the rain. I will buy rubber boots and an umbrella.
I will have things I have to do, and I will do them.
I am not going to rush this, as it is a big deal, but within the next six months or so, I will be living in Vancouver.
I am not doing this for anyone other than me. I have to see if I can hack it in a city, and if I can’t, well that’s fine, at least I tried.
I owe it to myself to try this. I owe it to myself to live my life. I owe it to the Matt I always thought I would be.
I had always heard of people I respect getting started in their fields by jumping in and figuring it out as they went, well this is me jumping. I might be planning a bit more than they did, and I might not be, but this is what works for me, and I do pretty well when it comes to things that work for me.
I know it will be scary, but it is also exhilarating. I know I will be homesick, but I will also be around fantastic people. I know I am leaving my comfort zone, but that’s exactly what I should do. This is exactly what I should do now, at this time in my life. Right now my roots aren’t that deep, but everyday I stay here, they work themselves deeper into the soil and take firmer hold. I don’t want to look back and wonder why I didn’t do that, why didn’t I at least try it?
Tonight I was thinking about this move, and there is nothing that doesn’t make sense about it. The timing is right, the feel is right, the city is right. I usually have a voice in the back of my head telling me why I shouldn’t do something, and when it comes to this, that voice isn’t coming up with anything, even that voice knows this is the right decision.
What do I have to lose? Money? I can always make more. Time? That’s an arbitrary thing. Experience? Impossible Security? Possibly, but I can always find that again.
I honestly have nothing to lose by doing this, and I know that to be true.
This is the right decision for me, and now is the right time to decide it.
My life is going to get shook up in the future, and I look forward to seeing what happens when it does.
I had a vision of what kind of blog I was going to write, what I was going to say when I sat down on my days off and described my trip to Vancouver. I figured I would get my pictures on my computer and edited, that the memories would flow forth, and I would compile some kind of interesting story (I hope) for all of you to read. I still might do that, I’ll probably do that, but it isn’t what has sprung forth in my mind.
Let me start by saying how the whole trip to Vancouver came about. You see, there’s this little thing called Twitter, a cool social media app on phones and computers that let’s you spout bursts of brilliance in 140 character increments. There are a ton of regular Joes, politicians, stars, athletes, parody accounts, and the like, all of which tweet throughout the days. Well I got on there because I wanted to see what Craig Ferguson was talking about on his show when he referred to it, and that was February of 2010. I then started following more and more people, and one of these people I followed would prove to be the catalyst for something I never could have seen coming.
Alkaline had been my friend on another web site, and I had talked to her periodically for years, so I added her, and we would BS a bit here and there, and then I added a friend of hers, and we all talked. I learned a bit about Vancouver from them, and laughed at our conversations as we went on into the wee hours of the morning. Through those two I added another Vancouverite, then another, and another, and so on… over the last couple years I have followed a fair amount of people from that Province, and I have been in contact with them almost daily ever since.
Last year they put out the idea of me coming up there and visiting, and I kicked it around, but I had already promised my vacation time to a couple big events that I could not miss, WEfest and Kev and Emmy’s wedding, these were things I would not miss for anything, and so I didn’t. Well, 2012 rolled around, and no one told me that they were getting married, so I had an extra week just sitting there, what to do…what to do… Ah yes, let’s go to Vancouver, what the hell, eh?
A passport attained, a flight booked, and all I had to do was count down the days between February and July 23rd, easy enough. It seemed to take forever, but then as it got closer, it flew by, soon I was packing my stuff and getting ready to drive to Billings to fly to lovely British Columbia, via Salt Lake City of course? That’s the flight that worked on my time table, so that’s where I went. I was nervous, because I didn’t technically know these people, but yet I did. You can’t talk to people daily and not get an idea of who they are, unless of course they are not honest, which is always a risk you take, but hey they’re Canadian, they won’t take both kidney’s.
The drive to Billings was easy, and I got more excited as the miles ticked away. My timing was perfect for checking in, getting a pat down, and getting on the plane, no time to get nervous. Quick flight and landing and I had a little time to kill before the next leg, but not much. I was soon showing my passport and boarding the jet headed to Vancouver. I read my way through the flight, and soon we were descending, coming into a foreign country, a new city, a pile of possibilities. It was cloudy, so I was thinking it would be anticlimactic and I wouldn’t see anything, but then we got under the clouds, and all I saw was water with a few ships upon it, but holy hell it was real, it existed, this was really happening. The idea that had come up over the last couple years, the idea that I said what the hell and went with, the idea to go to Vancouver was real, and here I was.
I believe my heart began to beat a bit faster, I had a kid at Christmas feel to me, even though I knew I still had to get off the jet and go through customs, I was excited, I was smiling, I was here! I triple checked that I had my passport handy, my form was filled out that they had given us, my instructions on finding my destinations were all within grasp. I was here, there was no going back. Customs wasn’t so bad, the questions always kind of make me laugh in my head, but I answered honestly and went and got my bag.
I got on the airport’s wifi so that I could contact people and let them know what was going on, exchanged my money, and proceeded into this bright new world called Canada. Finding the Skytrain was easy enough, figuring out my stop had been done for me, and as it was getting to be rush hour I opted for the cab ride to my destination. I arrived in the early evening, and the rest is history.
I met so many people, people that I had talked to numerous times, people that were part of my world even though they are thousands of miles away. I did so many things in such a brief stint of time, things that were both touristy and relaxed. I wandered around a city with tall buildings, yet I never felt small. No, I felt alive rather. Here I was in what could be considered the exact opposite of my town, here I was in a city with more people than my state, here I was in this laid back and beautiful city, and I was loving every second of it.
After 8 nights and 8 days, I had a good idea of what this city held for me, I had a good idea of how wonderful the people are, I flat out knew how great my friends are, because yes, they are my friends, as sure as I sit here typing this. I had conversations with my friends that would lead to them asking me what I thought of their city, I love it, and would end with them telling me I should move there. I would smile and agree and continue on, knowing that a piece of me was getting touched by the wonderment of it all, a piece of me that would never be the same. At the airport when I was waiting for my flight back to Salt Lake City, back to Montana, back to my “real” life, back to what I had briefly escaped, the love started pouring in through tweets and texts. I felt the lump form in my throat as I saw that what I felt about my trip and these people was being mirrored back to me, it made it hard to leave, but yet showed me what I could expect when I returned.
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to avoid Vancouver, and I knew I didn’t want too. I have another week of vacation, I thought, I could use that to come back, hey maybe I come back during hockey season, how cool would that be? I mulled things over in my head as I flew back to my country. In the few days since I have left BC, I have discussed the trip with family, friends, and coworkers, and one thing kept coming up, my love for that land and those people. I couldn’t get over the fact that this big city felt comfortable to me, and ideas began to worm into my head.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could get a work visa and go up there and live? Wouldn’t it be cool if you figured out what you needed to do in order to live there? I wonder what dual citizenship would be like? I wonder how hard that would be to get? What would I do if I moved there? Could I survive in that atmosphere? Could I be a city slicker, the thing my Grandpa Dempewolf had always said I was? Could I make this a reality?
The more I talked about Vancouver, the more I fell for her. That city had grabbed a hold of me, and still hasn’t let go. I talked about my trip, about my experiences, about the people, and in the last couple days I have come to a decision.
I am moving to Vancouver.
I was talking to mom, and I said, I think I am moving to Vancouver, and she merely responded, I think you are too. It wasn’t a surprise, it wasn’t a fight, and when I mentioned it to dad later in the day, I was met with basically the same response as mom. This was a foregone conclusion that I didn’t know had been made.
I have been preparing for a move for a while now, saving money, paying down my student loans, everything that you need to do to have a future, but I never had a set plan for what I was going to do. Vancouver changed that, hell Vancouver changed many things.
I have research to do on what paperwork I need, what hoops I need to jump through, what I can and can’t do. I will do this research.
I have to find employment there so that I can live. I will find employment.
I will have to have somewhere to live, a big decision to make, as it is expensive. I will find somewhere to live.
I will have to be able to survive the rain. I will buy rubber boots and an umbrella.
I will have things I have to do, and I will do them.
I am not going to rush this, as it is a big deal, but within the next six months or so, I will be living in Vancouver.
I am not doing this for anyone other than me. I have to see if I can hack it in a city, and if I can’t, well that’s fine, at least I tried.
I owe it to myself to try this. I owe it to myself to live my life. I owe it to the Matt I always thought I would be.
I had always heard of people I respect getting started in their fields by jumping in and figuring it out as they went, well this is me jumping. I might be planning a bit more than they did, and I might not be, but this is what works for me, and I do pretty well when it comes to things that work for me.
I know it will be scary, but it is also exhilarating. I know I will be homesick, but I will also be around fantastic people. I know I am leaving my comfort zone, but that’s exactly what I should do. This is exactly what I should do now, at this time in my life. Right now my roots aren’t that deep, but everyday I stay here, they work themselves deeper into the soil and take firmer hold. I don’t want to look back and wonder why I didn’t do that, why didn’t I at least try it?
Tonight I was thinking about this move, and there is nothing that doesn’t make sense about it. The timing is right, the feel is right, the city is right. I usually have a voice in the back of my head telling me why I shouldn’t do something, and when it comes to this, that voice isn’t coming up with anything, even that voice knows this is the right decision.
What do I have to lose? Money? I can always make more. Time? That’s an arbitrary thing. Experience? Impossible Security? Possibly, but I can always find that again.
I honestly have nothing to lose by doing this, and I know that to be true.
This is the right decision for me, and now is the right time to decide it.
My life is going to get shook up in the future, and I look forward to seeing what happens when it does.
AUG 07, 2012 04:12 AM
AUG 07, 2012 05:15 AM
AUG 07, 2012 09:44 AM
AUG 08, 2012 11:33 AM
yes! I've been in love with Canada for a loooooong time. I feel like they are my long lost people...besides...you're a total hunk. I'd go with you. for sure. 
AUG 09, 2012 10:21 AM
That's awesome you found a connection with Vancouver and the people there. I would say good luck moving out of your comfort zone, but it sounds like you got this. 
