Welcome To Hong Kong
/We made it… and lived to tell the tale… at least so far! Moving around the world with a 2-month-old and 2-year-old is no joke, but at the exact same time has been the most wonderful experience we could imagine.
Let’s take it back to the beginning. In December 2018, we packed up and headed on a whirlwind adventure to visit family and friends over Christmas. Crazy to think we stayed in our condo on Hawthorne for the last time on December 8th and spent the next 3.5 weeks on the road before you know, flying 18 hours to Sydney. Portland, OR > Connell, WA > Sandpoint, ID > Seattle, WA > Park Cities, UT > Los Alamitos, CA > Dallas, TX
We made it back to Dallas for a few nights in our old house before ‘moving’ to Sydney, Australia for a few weeks or a few months (I would have stayed forever! I mean other than the fact that we’d be thousands and thousands of miles from everyone we know and love. They’d all move there with us, right?).
Our expat life started in Manly which is a beach community in the north of Sydney. We owe it all to my friend Jess who lived in Sydney and said we MUST live at the beach while we’re there – especially since it was the middle of summer and we were only there for a short time. Luckily Ross didn’t need to go to the CBD (downtown Sydney) often but when he did it was by fast ferry. Talk about the best commute in the world!! Finley, Ry and I would join from time to time and it became ‘Finn’s boat.’ Even now, you say ‘Hey Finn, want to go on a boat?’ She says, ‘Me see Opera House!’ We’ve set the bar high….
Being in Sydney was a surreal, amazing experience. Although Ross and I did start referring to it as ‘purgatory in paradise’. It was a bit strange to be there indefinitely, in someone else’s house. Once our visas came through and we had our move date, we really soaked in every single minute.
We flew to Hong Kong on March 24th – giving us the chance to celebrate Ross’ birthday in Oz with two of our closest friends, Eric and Allison. Finley was the sweetest well-wisher you will ever meet. She spent hours making and decorating his cake and told him Happy Birthday every chance she got. He got to celebrate with one of his favorite coffees, watch Kelly Slater surf and walk through a VW van show. I think he had a pretty great day.
We made it to Hong Kong just barely in one piece the next day. We crushed the departure from our Airbnb, getting our million bags of luggage checked, navigating the airport… and it all went downhill after takeoff. We made the mistake of flying during Finley’s naptime… that she didn’t take. We’re all lucky to have survived. It did make for a pretty hilarious arrival in HK watching her deliriously wander around baggage claim. We made it to our new home!
After two nights in a hotel, we officially moved into our new apartment in the Mid-levels neighborhood in Hong Kong. A month and a half later, I’ll venture to say we’re ‘settled’ which is a pretty amazing feeling. Still have lots to learn about our new city and aside from Ross’ sweet co-worker Joe, wouldn’t say we have any friends... I take that back; Finley has made friends with everyone in the building and Riley with all the ladies in the grocery store. Oh, and Ross with the man at the French cheese shop! I guess we’re getting there...