Tag: Moving Posts

So if you’re here, you’re likely thinking about moving to Spain at some point. I know this, because that’s my end goal as well. Maybe not forever, but likely for a year or more. One of the first hurdles you may encounter is opening a bank account. Once you have a long-term stay visa or a temporary residence in Spain, you can open an account as a resident. But there are certain advantages to having one sooner. For example, I thought moving larger amounts of money from Canada to Spain would probably be much easier when I am actually physically present in Canada, so I thought opening a bank account before heading back should make things smoother. Given that I was in Spain for a month recently, I decided to go down to the bank and try to open an account – you need to be physically present in Spain […]

In just a few weeks, I’ll be boarding a plane and making the roughly four hour trip to Ontario (seven if you count a quick nacho stopover in Calgary). As I’ve indicated on Facebook, my plan is to move to Hamilton, Ontario for probably a year or so, mostly to work with Dale on some projects at BraveNewCode. Without a doubt I’m looking forward to a new change, as I originally moved out here to Chilliwack to help get BraveNewCode off the ground, something that happened nearly five years ago. In terms of logistics, Ontario is actually quite a bit better for me. It’s closer to Europe, which I love visiting. It’s close to many other cool cities, such as New York, Boston and Montreal. And it’s also just a short hop to the Caribbean. My girlfriend is from Brazil, and it’s much easier for me to fly from Toronto […]

Today marks the two week mark before I’m officially homeless. It’s the first big milestone for my adventure, and I’m looking forward to finally hitting that point. I have about 80% of my apartment boxed up, with only the kitchen to go. I’ll slowly box up the remainder this week, and hopefully start transferring everything into storage next weekend. Tomorrow my landlord is bringing some people over to look at the place and hopefully rent it out. He hasn’t seen the apartment in about six months, so hopefully he doesn’t find anything wrong with it. I’m counting on getting my full damage deposit back to put as a deposit for my place in Buenos Aires, so I’m going out of my way to make sure there’s no fault when I’m out of here. That’s why I’m also paying for house cleaners to come on the 29th and do one final […]

It’s strange living in my apartment right now. I have half of the place boxed up, and am slowly selling the rest of it off. Even though my bed is still set up, it doesn’t really feel like home anymore, so I’ve been sleeping on my couch in the living room. That couch was one I bought back in 2001 in Ottawa, and we’ve been through a lot together. When I leave this place it’s going to its final resting place at my sister’s house, but it’s been a comfy companion for the last ten years. My bar stools sold tonight, as did my entertainment unit. In terms of large furniture, that leaves my bedroom suite, my kitchen table set, my coffee table, and everything in my office. I’m not too worried about those items, since I suspect most of them will sell rather quickly on Craigslist. But, after I […]

Well, after nearly 13 years, I’m finally back home. It’s been quite the rollercoaster ride really, looking back over that period of time. I left Chilliwack back when I was 18 years old to attend university. When I graduated, I moved myself across the country and spent a few years in Ottawa working in the high-tech sector out there. Then I moved back home and did a bit more school, and finally ended up at CounterPath, where I have spent the last five years working away. The move was pretty uneventful thankfully. My dad came out in the morning to help, which was totally appreciated as it turns out we didn’t have enough room for everything. After the truck was loaded on the Vancouver side, I was pretty beat. Thankfully I had a nice drive out into the Fraser Valley which sort of reinvigorated me. By around 5pm I had […]

I left Vancouver yesterday afternoon to head into Chilliwack and pick up the keys to my new apartment. On the way, I stopped and met a really old friend of mine from high-school, and we had a few beers and a plate of nachos. I have to say, it was a rather strange feeling being in my apartment all alone after the landlord left. I sort of just stared around at the empty apartment, trying to digest just how I felt. Without a doubt, I am excited. I am definitely looking forward to what the next year or two will bring, and to enjoying life at a slower pace for a while. I spent the night at my dad’s house, then returned to my apartment this morning to coordinate furniture deliveries as well as TV and internet installation. My apartment actually has a patch-panel on the wall, so I can […]

Just waiting for a shirt to dry, and then I’m heading into the office for my last week of work. Hard to believe it’s coming up so soon to be honest. I have a few meetings this week where I’ll finalize the hand off on a few of my projects, and then I’m done. On Wednesday night (two days!) I’ll be heading out to Chilliwack and getting the keys for my new place. I haven’t even really thought that far ahead yet, but somehow I’ll end up out there and my car will stay there going forward. I haven’t even really begun to pack yet, so this will be interesting. I’d like to take my laptop in to be fixed, but I can’t really do without it currently, and they said they’d need it for a few days. Also, I plan to load my car up with electronics prior to […]

In just four days, I get to swing out to Chilliwack and grab the keys for my new place. First thing I’m looking forward to is turning the heat on in the new apartment, as it was pretty cold there when I swung by for a visit in December. My furniture is supposed to be delivered on January 20th, but I think I’m going to put the call in to deliver it on the morning on the 15th or something. I have to leave work a bit early on the 14th to make it to Chilliwack in time to do the walk-through on my place, but I’d like to do that part myself and meet my landlord as well. I’m planning on leaving my car in Chilliwack from that point on, so I’ll probably take a bus or catch a ride with my dad to the skytrain on the Thursday […]

My mom reminded me tonight that at this time in exactly two weeks, I’ll no longer be in Vancouver. The time sure has gone quickly. I actually get the keys to my new apartment on the 15th, so I might head out on the night of the 14th and grab them in person. I’ve been slowly organizing things in my current apartment, and strangely enough, I really don’t have that much stuff here. I’ll probably load up my car on the 14th with all my valuables and drive those out to Chilliwack myself. I also need to find my Shaw cable modem, which apparently I’m to bring back to Chilliwack for them to reactivate. On the 18th I’ll grab the truck and do the final deed. The only thing I still haven’t quite figured out is what to do about a phone. I’m going to keep my current Vancouver number […]

On Monday I made the trek to Chilliwack out from Vancouver. The timing was actually perfect, since the roads were fairly bare when I left Vancouver, and are now pretty clogged up with snow. It’s been snowing off and on here in Chilliwack, but at least driving around is feasible. The forecast is currently calling for rain for the next few days, followed by more snow probably on Monday. That basically means I’ll be making the journey back into Vancouver sometime this weekend, hopefully before the next wave of God’s winter-fury hit’s British Columbia. So far, it’s been a very relaxing time out at home. I’ve been bouncing between my dad’s house and my sister’s house, and have had a chance to visit most family members so far, which is great. I have to say though, it’s a bit strange being out here knowing that in just a few weeks […]