It Takes Two

Last month marked my two year anniversary in Sydney. My two-year subscription to this site even renewed! 

With two years gone by, I've held two job roles, been to two sales Kickoffs and traveled to two new countries with LinkedIn - Japan and India. I have lived in two corners of town, have run two workshops AND have run two City2Surfs (at the time of writing this post) Down Under. Now two visas in with one renewal to go, I've hosted two family visitors and two of my own birthday parties, and I even prepared dishes and entertainment for two Friends-giving dinners. 

Don’t get me wrong! Sydney is TOO far from home, too hot in summer and too rainy on Christmas. The time zone’s too hard sometimes and texting can be too impersonal. FaceTime is too much for some people and calling is too much effort after I've spent my whole week talking. But Sydney is also too beautiful to leave; it's too convenient to warrant buying a car. Trains are too easy and Aussies are too easy to hang out with. Their accents are all too charming and the surfers are simply too cute to resist. 

In my time abroad I’ve had two real crushes and two less-than-ideal workplace ones. Two dear friends have moved back home to the States... but I've already made 2+ work BFFs, 2+ lifelong friends (pictured below). I’ve held two gym memberships, retired two yoga studios and hosted two successful bookclubs. :) I've created two “homes” out of two apartments in my two respective neighbourhoods - while they're only about ten minutes apartment, they're still unique in their own ways.

In the past two years we've lost two remarkable matriarchs in our family. We've also had two cousin weddings and two new babes have been born -- make that three! I've seen two dear friends get married whose festivities I was lucky enough to join. I've also celebrated family, graduations, wedding preparations... I've had quality time with Kirb's two puppies and seen my two kitty nieces on visits home. 

Despite the 14+ hour flight to CA, I could never take too many trips home nor spend too many hours on the phone catching up (as Jill and I prove time and time again). I think I'll simply know once I've been gone too long. For now, I'll count my 2 [million+] blessings and remember that it must take two years [and then some] to feel like somewhere is home. ​​