Four weeks ago, our landlord agreed to renew our rental agreement. We were excited, as we like living in our flat and have a friendly neighborhood. Also, a move this summer would have been a pain: our contract ends right between our long anticipated wedding ceremony in Romania and our summer vacation in Iceland. Three weeks ago, our landlord informed us he is selling our flat. And that thus, obviously, he had to give notice after all. Excitement over, hello moving stress!

Me between wedding prep and moving uncertainty

Let’s be honest, I am a mess. I don’t usually deal well with stress. Uncertainty causes lots of stress, and not knowing where I am going to live in 6 weeks is a fair amount of uncertainty. Planning weddings causes lots of stress, and as it happens my wedding party takes place in less than two weeks (but more on that later). Both of these together are a challenging combination. A few days back I wrote about the emotional outbursts stress causes me here. Naturally, these two major stressors make me even more volatile than usual.It is not pretty, and nothing I am proud of.

But back to moving. Once it was clear that any potential buyers of our current home would want to move in themselves, we knew we had to leave for good. Initially, we thought we would stay in the area. We really like it here. Our neighbors are decent, there is a community center across Bubsi and I visit a lot, and it is within reasonable commuting distance for Papa’s office. Rents have increased a bit in the area, but nothing we can’t afford. And in London, rents increase all the time. Moving in our area would also make moving easier, especially with limited time to spare. So all rosy and sunshiny, right?

Brexit and other things

Then in came the Brexit voting results. We were shocked. Until the last minute I had been convinced the UK public would vote to remain in the EU. But no. Vote Leave won. By a tiny margin, yet win it did. What does that have to do with our moving plans, you might wonder? Well, we live in London because this is where Papa’s job is. We like certain aspects of living here, but there are clear drawbacks, most notably the high costs for a sub-standard quality of life. Relative to where we moved here from, that is, which is Germany. So every now and then, we have dreamed of moving back to Germany. We were never serious about it, as we live decently here, have friends, and appreciate what London and British culture have to offer. But we are Europeans first and foremost, and identify with the EU and the freedoms it stands for. We can’t help but feel we are not really welcome in the UK after the vote. Somehow it reinforced the negative aspects of living here. And we had this odd idea: what if we could move back to Germany after all?

Germany or London, what will it be?

Papa’s company is actually based in the US, with their European main office in London. However, they have a lot of remote workers, and even a subsidiary in Germany.  Due to this, we realized moving might actually be a possibility. So Papa asked his boss, and it turns out it could work. Potentially. Because now with the Brexit, they do not know if it is possible any longer. Before the Brexit, it would have been easily done. The employer’s legal team will assess the information and get back to us in a week’s time, but chances are good we can return to Germany.

Is that great news? Yes and no, because it really is not much news. And it means primarily one thing: we do not know what will happen. If the company gives us green light, we will move to Germany. If not, we stay in London, and we do not mind as we like it here over all, too. What irks me is the week it takes them to sort it out. It is one week less to find a flat, or rather to even know where to search. A week closer to having to move out without a clear destination. Moreover, the week after that we have our wedding party, and I doubt we will have time to sort out anything non-wedding related in the lead-up to that (we are somewhat behind schedule there as well).

Four weeks

After the wedding, there will be four weeks left. Four weeks, to find a flat and make the move. The easy move is within London. Quitting the UK will be much more complicated, bureaucracy included. Not to mention finding a flat on short notice when you cannot view it in person, as you are abroad. Technically, less than four weeks because we do have to move before our current flat contract ends – we have a toddler, and a toddler needs a roof over her head.  Plus, we fly to Iceland on vacation (all long booked and paid for), the day after our move out day. We fly from London. Fingers crossed all will go well, somehow. Meanwhile, Bubsi enjoys the view from soon-to-be-no-longer our balcony…

Bubsi is playing… or contemplating… on the balcony