Rena in London

And so the adventure continues. Yes, I have FINALLY made it to London!!! After months of frustration with the Home Office (the UK Immigration office in Sheffield, England) all I have to say is this.....

One work permit denied;
Moving to another country without Wade (more work permit issues);
Watching Sheffield get flooded in June 2007.... PRICELESS

Okay, yes a little callous I know. Seriously though, they did mess with our lives during our 4 month appeal process. And yes, I am in London on my own while Wade temporarily moved back to Cayman to then transfer to Dublin in July 2007. So this is our adventure now. We commute between London & Dublin and everywhere in between! Good thing we moved to Europe for the main reason of travel!!!!


Anyhow, putting bitterness aside, I am settling into London slowly but surely. It is a big move and much more difficult than Cayman. Lucky for me there are a lot of great ex-Cayman people here to make London feel more homey. Plus am really starting to take advantage of everything London has to offer...SHOPPING (okay seriously deprived after living in Cayman for 4 years), theatre, comedy clubs, more pubs and restaurants than you can even imagine and well of course location, location, location. What a great jumping off spot for travel across Europe!!!

Stay tuned for our adventures. Although, I suspect that Wade probably won't keep a blog for Dublin ... so you'll just have to stay tuned into Rena in London.

Tally Hoe!

Return to Paradise

So here we are back in paradise or so we thought. Our return to island life reminded us that paradise is just that...…a pair of dice. Somedays you win and somedays you lose. If it were perfect, they would call it Heaven. Our first few days were definitely a losing streak having to deal with local laissez faire customer service and government bureaucracy (reminded us of why we left!!!). However, once we got the car and the water running, driving other people's cars and living in other people's houses is a good life!!! We crashed in on all our friends lives like a couple of crazy tourists bound to have two months of fun and earn our first paycheques of 2006. I'd have to say that soon everything was coming up our way. Life really doesn't get much better than leaving a stress free job at 5 everyday and enjoying a tropical Caribbean island to the fullest in your downtime. Plus, we had a gang of friends to catch up with and party, party, party with. Wouldn't you know it, Wade and I were both sick within 2 weeks of getting to the island. Too many late nights I guess!!!!

Unlike our previous departure, we were very sad to leave this time round. Although adventure once again beckons, we will very much miss all of our friends and the island life. Who knows, we may be back in the future, however, after a welcome back party and two going away parties under our belts, we may not be taken seriously the third time round!

Cheers Cayman!

Rena & Wade Around the World

Living in Cayman fuelled the fire for more extensive world travels and so we set out on our first around the world trip at the beginning of 2006. We quit our jobs, moved out of our apartment, sold our car (at least we had one left from hurricane Ivan), left paradise as we knew it and moved our few meager belongings back to our parents in Canada. And that's how 2006 started...unemployed and homeless!

I think we each had a momentary panic attack on the plane ride out of Cayman. I remember looking at each other and saying "I hope we made the right decision here." However, our ever growing excitement of a trip of a lifetime soon allowed us to put our fears behind us and so it began.

We started off with an estimate of 4 months of travel and extended to 5 1/2. We absolutely loved our trip and would be full of regrets if we had not done it. It taught us so much about the world and ourselves for that matter and has given us an inner sense of accomplishment. Who needs tours and travel guides!!!!

Rena & Wade Around Cayman

For just over 4 years, Grand Cayman, B.W.I. was our home away from home. This little mecca in the middle of the caribbean allowed us to "live the dream" of living and working in the Caribbean. Too bad we had to work otherwise it would have been even more enjoyable!

Our time was certainly not without it's trials and tribulations, however, I am sure we will look back upon it as a highlight in our life. Where else can you work in one of the largest financial centers of the world, albeit cows are tied to trees and chickens roam the streets, and have a world class beach holiday every weekend? I think one of the radio stations in Cayman sums it up best when they say "They [tourists] pay $5,000 a week to be here, you live here." It is very easy to lose sight of that when you are frustrated with the often "no worries mon" attitude of the island, particularly when you are in rush to get something done.

We will cherish the friendships and the fond memories this little island afforded us and it will forever remain in our hearts.