In any case, we're very proud of him that chose to embark on an adventure on his own. Going backpacking in another country would be intimidating for anyone, never mind an 18 year old who's never really had any significant travel experiences alone. We're a little nervous for him as his guardians, proud of him as parents and jealous of him as people. Cyrus has already been in contact with us and he's doing fine. I can't wait to see him again already.
We don't exactly know when we'll be seeing Cyrus but we're pretty sure that we won't see him again until we're in Canada. Recently, we made the decision to return to Calgary, likely in August 2014. There are a number of reasons for our decision:
- we have 1 year left on our visa and we don't know if it will be renewed or extended
- we do not want to become Australian residents mostly for financial (Superannuation, cost of applying) and emotional (we are NOT Australian and don't want to be) reasons
- if Zaren and Cyrus choose to go for post-secondary education the cost to do so in Australia is very restrictive for non-residents (almost the same cost as going to Harvard)
- we want Keva to be able to finish high school in Canada
- we miss home and all the things that come with being there (including most of the people reading this)
Because we want to return for Keva to complete grade 11 and 12 we are planning to be back in time for the start of the school year in September. However, we could leave sooner if:
- I can get a job in Calgary
- the home we're currently renting is leased to someone else quickly
- we can tie up all the loose ends here and prepare for life in Calgary
1. The company that employs me was recently bought by a large US company that has a big office in Calgary. I've already approached them about a transfer but there is no guarantee that there is a spot available for me. If not, I will have to either quit outright or request a redundancy. If I get a job with them in Calgary I'll have to negotiate the terms of my move (costs, timing, rates, etc.). If I get a redundancy my employer will have to fly us all back to Calgary (except Cyrus), provide sea freight and possibly provide some temporary accommodation. If I quit they'll have to pay for our flights home (except Cyrus). So, there is a lot of decisions and activities that are dependent on what happens with my work.
2. Our home lease expires in November. Since we're leaving before it expires it's considered a "break lease". What that means is that we are responsible for paying the advertising to rent it, we are responsible for showing the home (open house) and we're responsible for paying the rent on the home either until our lease expires in November or someone else rents it before that. So, we're preparing to list the house this week and home an open house next weekend. If the home is leased quickly we could return to Calgary before August depending on the situation at work.
3. We have a car to sell and a bunch of electrical stuff (lamps, TV, heater, fans, exercise bike, etc.) that we need to sell since we can't use them in Canada. We've already finished registering Keva in highschool in Calgary. And we've already begun looking for a house to buy- we've narrowed down the neighborhoods to 3 with 1 clear frontrunner. We have a tentative mortgage with the bank, however, if I had a job in Calgary to return to it would make the mortgage terms much better for us.
So, little by little we are getting closer to our return to Canada. There are obviously a couple of large hurdles to overcome but we're confident that things will work out. In the meantime, we are going to go back to Bali at the end of June as a going away gift to ourselves before we leave our home away from home and return home.
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