A Broad Abroad

For the past several months I have been getting ready for my life as a 49 year old graduate student at the University of Aberdeen. I have moments of what the hell am I thinking. I just left a well paying job and I’m leaving behind amazing friends and community to start all over in a new city and country. 

But not the first time I’ve done something crazy. Back in 2021, I walked 500 miles across Spain and I was unemployed and spending money I shouldn’t spend but I came out on the other side with a job and a new view on life. A wise friend once told me and they know who they are, that I have the ability to land on my feet and when I really want something I somehow manage to make it happen. I guess that’s my superpower or one of them.

The Decision

What does it take to make this kind of decision at my age? Answer – making sure you don’t live a life of regrets. Actually, I don’t have many regrets and the only one regret… the opportunity to study abroad. It wasn’t something that was available as an undergrad as I was an untraditional student working a full and part-time job and attending classes at night. I feel most of my life has been untraditional. Who wants a traditional life? Where’s the fun in that? 

So, why Aberdeen? Honestly, I was just looking at the different universities in Scotland and came upon the University of Aberdeen and the Business Consulting & Psychology program caught my eye. Especially, the psychology part – I’m basically going to learn how to better manipulate people to get desired results. Just kidding or am I…

Seriously, for those that know me know how much I enjoy project management and I see this as an opportunity to expand on those skills. Many might be asking what I hope to do with this degree but right now I’m just going to enjoy the experience of being a student again and will be figuring that out as I go through the program.

Preparing for the Move!

So, how do you prepare to relocate to another country? Selling almost all of your shit and keeping only the things that have meaning. Although, I’m pretty sure I’ve kept some stuff I don’t need. Like do I really need to keep all three of my paddleboards. No but am I – Of course! There’s something freeing about getting rid of “most” of your stuff. The Camino taught me that when all I had was a backpack, which I still had more than I needed but lesson learned. Getting rid of my belongings was easier than I thought. The hardest one was my car which I’d had for 12 years and got me through a lot in all those years and never let me down. Great news is that I sold it to my friend’s daughter – it’s her first car and it’s nice to know I’m keeping it in the family.

The stuff I did keep is in a very small storage unit and I did reach a point where I just put it in storage. So, fun times when I get back and need to go through it. Along with selling my car, I also needed to re-home my spider plant along with several other plants. For those that are not familiar with my spider plant, I bought it several years ago at the Roslindale Farmers Market as a wee spider plant that grew into a monster of a plant producing excessive amounts of spider babies. Where now I believe she has grand baby spider plants. As one of my friends once said – Such a whore of a plant. So, full circle for my whore of a spider plant was re-homed to the Roslindale Farmers Market Manager, Madison. I know she will be cared for well. And if you’re interested in knowing, I provided over 200 spider babies from this plant that were handed out at the market over the years.

So how did I get rid of the rest of my belongings – more than one yard sale. I participated in the Rozzie Flea Market, 3 Yard Sales at my apartment and one final yard sale at my mom’s. Overall I made about $2200 and that’s not counting the sale of my car. Not too bad! The stuff I didn’t sell was donated.

The Long Farewell

So, I was accepted into university in March and a few people knew shortly after and I made the final and official announcement in June/July. Giving more than enough time for my work and friends to come to terms with the move. Many asked… You are coming back to Roslindale?! My answer: Not sure it all depends how things work out over here. I want to keep my options open. But if I come back it will be back to Rozzie.

Fun things I learned giving advance notice of my departure –

1. You now have enough time for a proper transition at work.
2. You might end of helping to hire for your position at work and with onboarding – yes this happened.
3. Asked to provide a bit more time to help with transition after your last day- but hey a little extra money never hurt.
4. Have more than one farewell party – RVMS Board, Work and Final Farewell with Family and Friends as well as dinner and drinks with friends.

What I have learned from #4 is the amazing community I have built for myself. I can’t imagine being able to do this without the support of my family and friends. I had more than one person offer to open up their home when I was moving out of my apartment, which I did a month before moving to Aberdeen. And of course the incredible support from my Mom, who I think is sort of getting used to my crazy trips, plans, etc. But hey life is short and you never know where one of those “crazy” adventures will lead.

Finally to my friends – you better be flying your asses to Scotland to visit me!