End of Part I

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It was with some sadness that I packed up my few belongings, cleaned and tidied and left my first Stockholm flat for pastures new. It has been my home for about 5 months and I will really miss the view out of the living room window. But I wasn’t prepared to deal with the inconveniences of having the place ready for viewings at 24 hours notice as my landlord is likely to have to sell up, with the consequence that I would need to move out at the end of December anyway. Why does that matter, you ask...? Well, because my plans have changed once again!

The contract that was supposed to be 3 months, which turned into 6, has now become almost 12... I have agreed to stay on until the end of March 2010, for a number of reasons - there are some projects going on that I’m interested in that won’t be finished until then; my boss has dangled a significant career carrot for me back in London next year if I do stay; I have become rather loyal to my staff and don’t want to leave them just now when things are still in a fair bit of turmoil; plus I’m actually enjoying my social life here and we’ve got some fun plans in the pipeline for winter (skiing, both downhill and cross country, ice skating, ice hotel, northern lights)! I know I’m giving up on the 12 month career break idea, but the travel isn’t totally forgotten - this spell in Sweden actually ticks off some of the “meeting new people, seeing new things, experiencing new cultures” criteria anyway, I’m off to Canada for 3 weeks to join Rowena on her trip, plus I have negotiated the opportunity of taking some extended leave between Sweden and London to do some more (although that will depend very much on whether I can bear to miss out on what will be happening in London at that time). Also, I think I’ve realised that making a new life every time you move on is actually hard work and rather tiring and I may well prefer to do the travel in smaller chunks than a whole year in one go. Either way, the decision is made.

So all of that saw me haul my belongings up to Simon’s flat near St Eriksplan on Wednesday evening to take residence in my temporary abode... Where I sat on the step outside his door like a bag lady, waiting for him to come home! Unlike a bag lady, I brought my own booze...

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