On the other hand...

After leaving it a little while and then reading back my last post, I've realised that in a short space of time my outlook has changed. I've moved past being anxious, stressed and scared and have just come to accept that what will be, will be.

To celebrate my new found excitement and positive attitude, here are the top 5 things that I'm looking forward to!

5. Holiday in the U.S of A
After months of preparation, form filling, saving and generally being an old maid - I need a holiday. I'm so glad that we have the opportunity to visit friends in California, travel a little and let our hair down. Hopefully we will arrive in Vancouver refreshed and ready to embark on our new adventure!

4. New jobs
If you have read earlier blog posts you will know that I am ambitious and crave a job I can get my teeth stuck into. If I wasn't moving abroad then I would definitely be moving to London to try my luck as another fresh young thing with a spring in her step and dreams of the bright city lights. Luckily, in addition to the beautiful scenery, Vancouver has just as much going for it in terms of career prospects and is a hub for creative industries - big thumbs up!

3. New apartment
It always makes me laugh when I look through Vancouver rental listings and see huge, modern apartments with floor to ceiling windows and swimming pools and gyms in the building described as "high rises". God only knows what Canadians think of our post-war tower blocks when they come over here! I can't wait to find our place.

2. New friends
I love that feeling you get when you meet someone and you just click, they get your references and enjoy the same things as you. I'm so excited to meet a whole new group of friends on the other side of the Atlantic and have a good old laugh as we swap stories and create new ones to tell to our friends back home,

AND THE NUMBER 1 THING I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IS....

1. Living an active lifestyle in an active city.
Rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, white water rafting, cycling, dancing, dragon boating, skiing, snowboarding, zip lining, sailing, rollerblading and just plain old walking about - I want to do them all....a lot!

1 week to go, the countdown has started...

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour

The fear...

2 weeks to go and the fear has well and truly set in.
In comparison to my last blog, there's wind in our sails, wheels in motion and we're cooking on gas. Most of our never ending list has been crossed off, our furniture has been sold and 6 bin liners of stuff taken to charity.

We've also handed in our notices at work, asked our landlady for references and booked our holiday travel and hostel in Vancouver for when we arrive. (Like many others we went for the Samesun, purely for its central location and lively bar!)

The stress however has been showing on both of us, and as is always the way in life, manifesting in completely conflicting ways.

This is me:

Whilst I have dealt with the pressure of the impending move by attempting to be super super organised, happy clappy and forever positive (in a freak mid life crisis kind of way), my other half has decided the best way is to "go with the flow...whatever" and stops just short of adding the "man"  on the end. People always say house moves cause fireworks and it seems were no different! We decided to take a leaf out of each others books and actually found that we have quite enjoyed it. So while I have enjoyed sitting back and letting the decisions be made around me, Mr L'amour has actually enjoyed making plans and as a result has become more excited and involved in what we are going to be doing. 3 cheers all round!

Something else that has been helping me keep my spirits up and the doubts at bay at this late stage are new friends. We are so lucky that in this day and age, although we haven't even moved yet, we have been able to speak with other Brits who are already in the area, some newly and some a bit more experienced, and ask for their advice and opinions. I can't tell you how good it feels to know there are others in the same boat as you, with the same worries and questions and the peace of mind that brings. On facebook there is a group for those heading out to Vancouver in the next few months and we have already been arranging white water rafting trips, ice hockey games and nights out each time a newby reaches the city. If any of you reading this are moving soon, I can't recommend highly enough the benefits of speaking to others in your position.

Through this blog I have also been in touch with the lovely Lizzie Gross, who also writes about being a Brit abroad. Her blog recommends a fab book that has finally turned my frown upside down!

You could really rename this book 'How to move abroad and retain both your sense of humour and your partner!'
Its packed full of fun quiz's, with questions such as "How many alcoholic drinks have you had since take off?" (The correct answer is - "I started on the champagne in the departure lounge...") as well as useful tips outside of the usual 'how to file all of your documents correctly". I particularly like the mantra of the book:

I AM AN ELEGANT ESCAPE ARTIST WHO WILL EMIGRATE EASILY

One can only hope...

Anyway, Lizzie has been so lovely and encouraging. We're really looking forward to meeting up with her and her Mr L'amour and thanking her in person over a bottle of wine....or two.

So go on, go and have a look at lovely Lizzie's blog Marmite to Maple which you can find here.

Where was I? Oh yes, the fear. My fear comes in 2 forms and looks something like this:

1. I don't have a job lined up for when I get to Vancouver

That's ok, I tell myself. You have saved plenty of money to get by, and something will come along. (The counter argument to this of course is, "What if the right job doesn't come along and you end up in a fab city doing a crap job?" this however, could go on forever...)

2. I don't have anywhere to live when I get to Vancouver

Yep, I have the same sick feeling in my stomach as this poor girl. Again, I'm sure there is something out there with my name on, but I have learnt from past experience that it is very easy to end up living with a complete weirdo or in an expensive hovel.

So, before you all go to bed tonight, if you could all just say a prayer to the God of moving to the other side of the world, (I'm not really sure what he/she's called...) and just check that he/she/it has got my box checked for that fab, well paid career job and modern apartment in the heart of Downtown, I'd be forever grateful <3

I AM AN ELEGANT ESCAPE ARTIST WHO WILL EMIGRATE EASILY

Here's hoping...

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour

I ain't no Mary Poppins...

My! How things have moved on! Since my last post, life has included a lot of these... 

 and these can be found everywhere...

because we have a date!

and even more excitingly,

we've booked a flight!!!

Although life has thrown us some of it's curve balls of late, we have finally made some progress and committed to leaving the UK on Tuesday 6th September for a short holiday with friends in California, before boarding a Greyhound bus to take us over the border and up to Vancouver a few weeks later.

You may remember me mentioning on a previous post how happy I was to find Icelandair - and how useful ( and realistic!) I thought their baggage allowance was. This was a major factor for us as we will need to take summer/winter/ski and work wear with us in addition to our snowboards, for a reasonable price and as we wanted to fly to the US first, it really was hard to find an airline that would encompass all of this without breaking the bank. So after much debate, we decided a 2 hour layover in Reykjavik more than made up for all the money we would save trying to ship our stuff over or paying the extortionate excess baggage fees. On top of this everyone I have spoken to from the company in various departments have been so helpful and friendly - I would definitely recommend them to my friends!

So what's next? Well as you can see from our list -  a lot!

The pink lines are things that are done, and that's not many. Especially when extra items are getting added on a daily basis.

Most tasks are quite simple and wont take very long: ie: 'phone bank to tell them I will be overseas', however, these are followed on the irritate-o-meter by the median jobs such as 'fill out tax forms' , which are followed in turn by the jobs we really really don't want to do, like 'empty the garage' or the dreaded 'sort through the tupperware'

Unfortunately, it all has to be completed in some sort of order - with a lot being left until the last minute as we gradually palm things off to unsuspecting family members (my nan received 2 lovely Gothic black candelabras when she last visited, accompanied by the ever present warning of"careful - I might want that back in 12 months!") or as we sell what we can on eBay.

So, 9 weeks to go. Where are we at? Well, we have...

• informed the landlady of our intention to leave
• sold most of our furniture to the new tenant
• booked our flight and started looking at things we want to do in California
• sold ~ £300 worth of clothes and DVD's on eBay on our first attempt
• started moving non everyday items to the other half's mother's loft
• errrrrr....read books on Canada?!

So were not that organised, but we are getting there. Over the next 9 weeks I'll try and keep you all updated on how its going until....my first Canadian blog!

I cant tell if I'm excited or terrified!

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour

Excess Baggage...

IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE! My Canadian work permit is in hand! (Well I say that, I receive the real thing at immigration once I get there but I have my confirmation letter of introduction, its close enough!)

After only 10 days at the Immigration Office in London, my application was approved and emailed to me. Even though my other half had already received his, I was still a little shocked as to how fast the process was. I have frequently been on the Work Canada facebook group  which is a great forum for those moving abroad - full of like minded people who are either worried about the same issues as you (where will I live? How do I open a bank account? Where do I find the cheapest beer? How will I survive without Primark?) or answering them for you (It will be fine!), and was expecting a wait as some of the poor mites have for 14 weeks! I felt a bit guilty typing in my comment that my LOI arrived in 10 days flat.

So work permits are done. We can now work legally in Canada as soon as we like, we've just got to book our flights, get our medical insurance, sell our belongings, empty our flat, find somewhere to live in Vancouver, find a job, open a bank account, get a cell phone, get a SIN number (like NI number) and then REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELAX!

On the subject on flights - these airlines are driving me CRAZY! Please can someone explain to me how you are supposed to enjoy a 2 week holiday, let alone a complete move with a baggage allowance of 20 kilos?!

I'M LOOKING AT YOU CANADIAN AFFAIR

AND YOU AIR TRANSAT

AND DON'T THINK YOU'VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT THOMAS COOK!

It's all well and good advertising cheap prices, but if I cant actually take my belongings with me, its not much use really. British Airways were fantastic when we travelled to Vancouver with them in March. Their 30 kilo weight limit  with a £30 charge for an extra bag of the same weight was a god send for us to be able to transport our ski/snowboard equipment. However I just cant stretch to their £900 price range.

Thank God then for the little known Icelandair. They're "keeping it real" with their baggage allowance of two, yes TWO 23 kilo bags for international flights as standard plus a generous carry on allowance. Plus their fares are reasonable. They fly direct to Toronto and Seattle, with Connections in California and Vancouver - perfect!

So today I have pinged off an email to them, to the effect of "are my eyes deceiving me?!" and I hope they can help. It beats paying £250 to have our stuff shipped out any day!

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour

Application heaven!

Great News! No sooner had I clicked 'publish' on my last post than my phone started flashing like an old man at a bus stop. My other half has received his Letter of Introduction today - only two weeks after his application was forwarded to immigration (the expected wait is anything from 6 weeks up!)

This means that he could get a flight tomorrow, receive his work permit at immigration and start working straight away! Of course, this isn't our plan - but it's nice to know its in the bag. You have a year from the date of issue to enter Canada and receive your work permit so we have plenty of time to get everything in order.

I am still waiting for my LOI. As my application was forwarded to Immigration at the London Office a few days after his I am hopeful I wont be waiting too long!

Next job....flights and medical insurance.

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour

Application hell...

So today I find myself six weeks on from my last post and the pangs of guilt for not keeping it up to date have finally had effect. The last six weeks have been hectic for all kinds of reasons (nothing new there) and the next six dont seem to be slowing down either!

So whats been going on since my last post? Well the first thing that happened was that we recieved our police certificates back (no shaddy pasts here!) and I finaly got NatWest to sign my proof of funds form. That meant that all we had left to do was to make sure our application forms were complete and signed and send them off. Incomplete or incorrect applications are automatically denied - which meant an evening of obsesively checking applications for us. It didn't help that the IEC changed the forms mid way through us filling them in either! But such is life.

One Application

So we sent our applications of to the Canadian Embassy in Paris via Airsure at the Post Office which, we were assured, meant we could track our applications all the way to their destination. WRONG!

The estimated delivery time to France is 2-3 working days. By day 4, I was nervous. The online tracking on the Royal Mail website only told me that the package had been handed over to the French Postal Service and there was no other information. So I called Royal Mail to ask where my package was. The guy I spoke to told me that once it had been handed over to the French it couldnt be tracked at all and Royal Mail had no responsibility for it being delivered, the best I could do was put on my best French accent and pettit-pois my way through a conversation with La Poste.

Needless to say, I was less than impressed. Why did I just pay you £10 to track my item to Greater London, Royal Mail?hhhhhhmmmmmmmmm?
Luckily on 24th April, I recieved an email stating that my application had been received and I stopped harrassing Royal Mail.

Then on 3rd May I recieved another email stating that I had been accepted on the condition that I wire the visa fee of £90 into their French bank account within 10 days. Once again, NatWest failed me. I dont know why I was surprised, but surfice it to say that I am looking forward to taking my business and substantial overdraft elsewhere! Thank the Lord then for the lovely man in Barclays who rescued me with only a few days left to upload my proof of payment and not only asked why I was transfering the money and went through it all with me to make sure that I had included all of the mandatroy information on my reciept, but also waived the £25 fee because of the stress caused by other banks! What a lovely guy!

My proof of payment was recieved on 10th May and my application forwarded to the London High Commission for immigration to look at on 11th May. While all this has been going on my other half has been studying for exams and I have recently found out that I face redundancy. Although the last few weeks have shaken us up, made us question our initial plans and prompted me to start playing the lottery (so far I have won £5.70 - begginers luck) we are determined that we will make it on to that plane!

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour

Print, complete, post, repeat...

Print, complete, post, repeat.
Since my last post this is pretty much how I've been spending my time. The International Experience Canada visa is a bit of a minefield to get your head around at first, but when it comes down to it the form itself isn't that hard to complete, it's the additional forms that go with it.

The first thing we needed to do was to each complete an ACPO Police Certificate form, which takes 10 days to be processed and the certificate to be returned to you, confirming your good character (naturally). The cost of the certificate is £35, but BUNAC recommends that you obtain a copy to show any potential employers once you arrive in Canada which is an extra £5 per copy. Again, the form itself was straight forward and self explanatory, with the only time consuming part being that you need to have a passport photo certified by a professional (from a list of occupations) who has known you for more than 2 years. More information on ACPO Police certificates can be found here.

While we're waiting for our police certificate we've got on with completing the other necessary parts of our visa - and therefore spent most of Saturday having passport photos taken (these need attaching to the visa application) and visiting both of our banks in order to get our all important 'Proof of funds' form signed. I was already a bit apprehensive about this as I had read on both the Work Canada facebook page and also the BUNAC twitter feed that it was notoriously hard to get your banking establishment to sign anything , and judging by my past experiences with banks - I knew that they are not renowned for their helpful nature!

The proof of funds form looks like this:

All that it requires a bank employee to do is check my bank balance before adding their name, my name, a signature and a bank stamp - taking all of 5 minutes. Unfortunately it took me 2 separate visits, a bit of a fuss and a 30 minute wait before my bank would consider signing my form! I, like many others I suspect, was told that "banks don't do things like this anymore" and that they were not permitted to put the banks stamp on any documents whatsoever. My argument that thousands of people take part in this scheme every year, therefore it must  be possible to complete the form fell on deaf ears...twice. Third time lucky and I managed to convince the lady who was helping me to seek advice. 5 minutes later I had a completed form in my hand. Simple when you know how, eh?!

So now my completed visa is sitting waiting for my Police Certificate so that it can be sent off. The Canadian High Commission reserves the right to implement a cut off date for applications at any point, so I hope it hurries up!

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour

First steps...

Yesterday we made the first step in obtaining our Candian work permits and officially started the ball rolling. After talking at length with my partner about how he  feels about all this and reading all of the available literature on the permit itself, costs involved and job prospects we decided to apply for our visa through BUNAC.

BUNAC are the UK’s leading non-profit travel club and, as the market leader in work and volunteer abroad programmes, has enabled hundreds of thousands of travellers to explore the world. You can find their website here.

It is possible to apply for your working visa directly through the Canadian High Commission usig the International Experience Canada program (details of which can be found here) however, we felt the BUNAC programme fee of £254 was worth the peace of mind that their step by step advice during the visa process and walk in resource and advice centre in Vancouver itself would provide.

There are a lot of costs that I was not immediately aware of when preparing for an experience such as this - for example, it is a visa criteria that you have both medical and repatriation insurance for the entire length of your stay - for a year this adds up and my initial quote with BUNAC's in house insurance team Endsleigh, who have a work abroad policy ready to go, was in the region of £550. This does not include ski or snowboard insurance, so it will also have to be topped up and leaves you with the question, "if I broke my leg on the mountain, could I not hop down for free?"

I am hoping to receive the confirmation that we are booked onto the programme in the next couple of days, after which the visa application, including police certificate and proof of funds ($1,000 a month for the first 3 months) will begin in haste. The application officially takes 8-12 weeks to process, but as the scheme has recently changed (from one 1 year visa to two 1 year visa's) the Canadian High Commission is dealing with a huge influx of applications and is currently outsourcing the processing of the applications to the High Commission in Paris in order to meet demand. Therefore it could take much longer to receive our letter of introduction - without which you should not book flights or travel. As we plan to leave at the end of August/beginning of September in theory we have plenty of time - lets hope it flies by!

Aimée L’amour x

www.twitter.com/aimeelamour