Exploring Montréal with an Ulterior Motive
When looking at the possibility of change, it’s natural for feelings to come up.
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I visited Montréal with the apprehensive mindset that I’ll move here in the not-far future. My fiancé got his dream job. He’s finally working in the industry he’s dreamed of getting into since he was a child. I’m very happy for him and quite proud of him, but there’s just one drawback — we live in Brooklyn, New York, and his job is in Montréal. Canada.
Canada’s cool and all, but immigration and the task of moving to another country is an incredible headache and undertaking of paperwork. It won’t be happening for a while yet since I’ll be staying at my job in NYC for close to two more years to finish a degree. It’s helpful to think that this will be a change we have ample time to prepare for, but when visiting Montréal, I felt like a spy.
Though the logistics for our cats and I are a bonafide nightmare, I’m still very happy for my partner. We’ve moved around a lot in our 7 years together and I’m game for moving to another country. It’s another crazy move in life that I can add to my bucket list of things-girls-from-small-towns-don’t-usually-do. It’s an adventure I’m willing to take, but I’m also a realist — it’s not an easy move.
I visited Montréal for the first time… with the knowledge I’ll be moving here hanging over me like a creeper reading over your shoulder on the subway.
(No judgment though if you are that creeper, I am too sometimes. Like hey… is that book you’re reading by my favorite author? Wait, no? Oh well…)
I’ve never visited a city before under these specific circumstances. It sounds trivial, but it’s something that really was haunting my thoughts. I felt like I was coming into Montréal with an ulterior motive. This circumstance is pretty ordinary for people moving to a new city for a specific purpose, but it’s just not a situation I’ve personally experienced.
