How a Year Aboard Might be Just What you Need to Decide What to do Next

Film reviewer Owun Birkett decided to take a year out abroad and went to live and work in Canada - he shares with us the ups and downs of living abroad. Have you done this? Tell us your story!

Living abroad may seem like an exciting idea; you get to travel and really have the experience of the culture and lifestyle. On the other hand, it is quite a daunting one. Travelling thousands of miles away from home and having to start a new life (even temporarily) takes a lot of courage to even walk through the security gate at the airport. Counting down the clock till you have to wake up at silly o'clock in the morning, making your way to the airport and then your emotions hit a brick wall. You're slowly realising you're leaving your family and friends who you've known nearly the whole of your life behind! These emotions and thoughts came crashing down when I arrived in Vancouver, Canada on 13th May, 2011 (Friday the 13th, I may add!).

It came as a bit of a shock when I was sleeping the first night at a hostel in Downtown Vancouver. It wasn't like going off to university halls and living away from home that only takes a couple hours by car/train. I travelled to an entirely different country and only way to travel is by plane (9-10 hour flight). I don't necessarily want to be a joy kill but living abroad isn't easy as it sounds! You have to save up funds for starters because you will want to explore your surrounding area before settling down on finding a job and place to stay. That's the other problem; finding a job and house and how long will that take? If you put your heart and soul into it, then you'll find something quicker than you think! Though you have to be prepared for the worst and be able to act on your toes. My advice is go for anything you can get, so at least you're bringing some income in and you can find something better and more suitable in the meantime. Even if you hate the job you're working for, grit your teeth and get on with it.

I may make it out it's no fun and games but once you get the hang of it, it comes very natural! You start to make new friends, take up new activities that weren't available or weren't aware. Vancouver had a fantastic lifestyle, there was a abundance of activities to choose from; swimming, cycling, roller-blading, hiking, snowboarding/skiing, sailing and the list goes on! Even check out various Top lists of places to go to in your area, venture out to the unknown!

The biggest thing about living abroad is being able to live independently! Being able to sort out your own problems, how to react to something when things go downhill. One example; I got mugged during my second visit in Seattle, WA. I told the thief to just take my backpack and leave! Luckily I was still carrying my phone, wallet and digital camera. My iPad, iPod and various other items were amongst the things that were in the backpack but that didn't bother me at all! Though what did bother me is I eventually realised the one thing that is most important; my passport. Your passport is your holy bible, your prized possession. I felt sick to my stomach when the realisation hit me; I'm a British citizen with a Canadian working holiday visa and visiting USA. My question was; how the hell do I get back?! So my friend (whom I haven't seen for 10 years) just so happen to be around. I remembered I kept a receipt of the visa waiver I had to pay to cross the border. ALWAYS keep receipts, you never know if it will be useful! So I called up the Peace Arch border, told me to go to the nearest Consulate. Though it was closed (being the weekend), so they advised me to come to the border and explain the situation). So my friend was more than happy to drive me there. We finally arrived and my heart is beating like crazy. I told them exactly what happened, showed them the receipt and other pieces of ID. After doing some quick checks, they allowed me through! The border officer advised me to contact the consulate first thing on Monday. In the end, I did eventually receive my new passport before I had to fly back home. Traveller's insurance is also VERY important! If I didn't have traveller's insurance, it would've cost me $200 for passport replacement plus $40 for a courier fee.

If there's one thing I say to you if you're considering on living abroad on a temporary basis; DO IT!!! I cannot stress enough that even though you'll eventually be counting down the hours, days, months you'll have to leave; it's the experience that counts! I have had plenty of comments from friends and even family members how much they envied me and wanted to do the same thing. You only live once, why not make the most of it?

So what do you think? Is this something you would contemplate as the next step for quitting the 9 to 5? 

Love Nova and Owun xxx

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be a bit cheeky, go on...

Today in honor of Sundays and enjoying the time before Monday kicks in...I invite you to be cheeky, to be playful, to have a little fun....you deserve it ;-)

Here is me sticking my tongue out at you..cheekiness done for the day...time to return to being solemn and serious...

How are you spending your Sunday?

Love Nova xxx

The summer of new starts - tips on decision making

So summer is here, for now! I hope everyone has been getting a good dose of sunshine?! It's amazing how differently you can feel with a little more light and warmth. It's been a while since I posted as I have worked non-stop for the past few weeks and the blog sadly got a little neglected. But...this weekend was a surprisingly free from work one and I have a moment to catch-up on the lovely bits of life like writing and sunbathing!! 

So... the summer holidays are upon us which means the real work begins now that I will be earning less from my job which is changing from full time to part time (argh scary!). I have been thinking of a million and one ideas to supplement my income as well as building the life coaching business and writing more books. The big idea has hit me but I have to decide whether to invest in it and make more over time from it or to go the cheap route and make less but invest nothing at all....tricky! 

It got me thinking about how we go about making big decisions and what the best methods are for doing so. I have done my research and bring you the top 5 tips to help you if you are facing any kind of big decision.

1. Relax - it may be the hardest thing for you to do when your head is swimming with various panicky thoughts but you can't be sure of your decision making capabilities unless you are calm and have the space you need to think things through. It doesn't need to be a long time, just a still and calm time. 

2. Be intuitive - Write down your options. Is there more than one answer  to your problem? More than one direction this decision could go in? Write them down. Then intuitively pick the route that calls to you the most loudly. This is probably the decision that will be for your highest good. The route you pick intuitively is the one you most want to do.

3. Be logical - Write down all the possible and likely consequences to your decision. Who will it affect? What will change as a result of the decision? What will have to be sacrificed (if anything), what will be gained and lost? What is the worst and the best that could happen in each of the scenarios? Could you lose money to gain time? Might you have to move house? How do you feel about these options? Do you have support from others if you make one decision but not if you make another? 

4. Pros and cons - For each possible scenario or outcome from your decision write down the pros and cons. This is not simply about choosing the one with the most benefits, it is about seeing in black and white what is important to you. I was once considering moving area, if I had moved there were lots and lots of 'pros'. The 'pros' of staying put were virtually non existent, save for one very important 'pro'. This one 'pro' outweighed all the other 'pros' of moving and so it made my decision for me because I suddenly realised what was most important.

5. Go for it - once you feel that you know which decision to go for with more certainty than you have for the other decision (don't assume that you will feel 100% sure or even need to, before making a decision) then put your all into it. If you go at it halfheartedly you are less likely to make a go of it, more likely to fail and therefore more likely to not trust yourself in future decision making scenarios. This will simply make decision making harder and harder as time goes on. There is something to be said for just tossing a coin and seeing how you feel when it lands - quick decisions can be just as powerful as ones that you think through for months, the worst thing you can do is make no decision at all because nothing will change and change is what you are looking for.

How do you make big decisions? 

Love Nova xxx

Exciting Times!

Well today is an exciting day, I can finally start to tell people officially what my plans are for the new business - I had to wait until it was announced to everyone at work before I gave it a real push. So now to get to the business of writing many more articles and the next book and launching the coaching business. 

There are already three stories of how others quit the 9 to 5 successfully on their way, so watch out for those coming soon! An article on Forex trading (as requested) and how you can do this for a living is coming soon too....plenty to look forward to and plenty to keep me more than busy!

Any more requests for articles please let me know! In the meantime here is to being brave and walking towards your dreams no matter how many steps it may take to get there.

Love Nova xxx