Life Part 2 Part 1

Before I do anything I want to dedicate this blog to my wife Jemma who has been my strength, my muse and my soulmate for 22 years. I also want to thank our brother and sister, Aarti and Gordon for the kindness, generosity and support on this adventure. Last but not least, I want to thank my kids. Meagan and Ryan wake up everyday knowing that they have crazy parents who packed up and moved halfway across the world. I miss my kids every minute of every day and cannot wait until I can hug and kiss them again.

It really stared about two years ago. My wife Jemma and I had been living in the same house, in the same town for six years. Longer than we had stayed put in our entire lives. Redlands California is a great place to live. It is a cultural island in the wasteland that is the called the Inland Empire in Southern California.

It started as an idea. "Wouldn't it be cool to live in London one day"? Like so many ideas and daydreams that we talked about, I figured that it was just that, a day dream. I was wrong and I am so happy I was. We planned, talked and discussed the idea with out kids. Their response was "okay momma and dada, you standing in front of the T.V.".

My first trip was in January of 2008. Jemma sent me out alone so I could get an unfiltered idea of what the U.K. was like. I remember getting my first passport. I felt like James Bond. My first trip was awesome. I was so excited when I landed at the airport that I had to tell the customs official that it was my first trip out of the U.S. He looked up at me and said in a smug way "welcome to the world sir". He stamped my passport and I was on my way.

I spent nine days purposely getting lost in London, dropping off resumes (CVs), visiting museums and soaking it in. I was hooked. London is a huge, imposing, old and crowded city. I couldn't get enough of it.

When I returned home, I knew I would be back. We sold our house in Redlands and moved into a rental. We were actually starting to make concrete plans. Then the best thing in my career happened, I was laid off, made redundant, fired, shit canned. It was the happiest day in my working life. My hand was forced. I couldn't just tread water and say maybe someday. I had to do something.