✨ Your Integration Bestie ✨

「 The portal into your future life is often subtle, quietly indicating there’s a journey to undertake, a place to behold, an experience to undergo, a person ready to meet you, and words eager to be heard. It’s a trail of clues that only you can decipher. 」

Back in August 2023, I confided in a mentor about feeling homesick. As our conversation unfolded, he shared a thought,

“Maybe it’s not Australia you’re missing, but rather the feeling of being at home,” he suggested. “And if that’s the case, you can create that feeling wherever you go. The reasons you came to Europe still exist, and leaving now means you won’t find what you initially sought, will you?”

So much truth packed into so few sentences.

He was right.

However, the decision didn’t immediately become clear; it was more like receiving gentle nudges from the universe, slowly and tenderly. Even when I ultimately decided to make the move, I still wasn’t 100% sure.

And then I’d remember my mentor’s wise words again, “we don’t always know how it’s going to pan out, but we can always change our minds.”

The truth was –

I had no idea how to migrate to Europe and establish a long-term stay in the next three months by the end of October 2023 (the deadline I gave myself before hitting the one-year mark of my ‘gap year’).

All I knew was that I liked this version of myself when I was in Europe. Europe brought the next version of me out of me. I feel inspired here.

Australia will always be home, and I know I can always go back. I’ve lived the Australian dream, and now I want to live the European dream.

The mere thought of it sparked inspiration and creativity.

So I decided to stay.

Friends said deciding to leave or stay was the most challenging part, and I agreed. But as a Taiwanese-Australian without a European passport, I had wondered how to establish a life here as a resident.

I wanted to live and work there as a resident, not just a traveler. Also not as a student. I just wanted to continue living my life as it was, except being permitted to stay here long-term.

And not 3 years from now, but in just 3 months – how could this dream materialise?

[to be continued… ]