Nat Joins me in London

2018 began snowing heavily. They gave it what I thought was a creative name - "Beast from the East". And it looked like my life was starting to come together. I was finally back with Nat albeit long distance, I was making a bit of money, my life in London was a bit chaotic but it was also shaping up nicely.

Over the years, having moved houses many times for various reasons, I had built what I call a "packable life" where I could just easily pack and move at a moment's notice if needed. I physically owned only the most essential things to survive - a laptop, phone, clothing etc all that can fit in a 30kg suitcase always waiting for the next move. It was liberating in a way knowing that I had built up a life in 2 countries owning only things that can fit in a suitcase.

At work, I excelled. Pol moved on to other projects and I got the added reponsibility of maintaining the product. We moved to a brand new office in London wall, and I got a seat with a great view overlooking the city. It was absolutely fun there with a really great team the likes of which are very hard to find. They were not the best of "talent" money could find from somewhere in the world, but they were the best of "people" both which are very different.

And to add to all this, after 2 years of mentoring and interviewing, Nat eventually joined me in London. She had shown great resilience throughout those 2 years rarely missing any of my teaching sessions. I remember the day when I received her at Heathrow. All those years of never having given up on her culminated in that moment when we were finally together. In 2012 we met for the first time, in 2014 we split, we got back together again in 2016, and in 2018, 6 years since I met her the first time, she was there with me again. And this time, nothing was going to come in our way, we thought.

For the first few months, she had to live on her own as I couldn't have my partner in my room. Eventually we decided to move in together in a new house in Dalston. And for the rest of 2018, we got busy with work and had the time of our lives.

In the December of that year, my friend Tin returned back to Australia.