It’s now been 1 year, 4 months, and 2 days since I last wrote about my plant babies and my adventures on this blog.  Even though I haven’t been sharing the nitty gritty of The Plant Colony or my adventures as a traveling gardener, I can happily report that I’m alive and ready to thrive!

In the last 1 year, 3 months, and 2 days I have: visited 6 countries, gave away an entire (American) plant colony to friends and family,  moved to England to live permanently,  established a new (English) plant colony,  got a new job,  moved to a new flat, started my very first allotment, (finally) received my visa so I can stay in the UK (pending any new Brexit updates), and did my taxes for the first time as an expat (woo!).

The changes and sacrifices my partner Jeffrey and I have made have been tedious, stressful, hard, (some) disappointing, rewarding, home sickening, joyous, and (overall, mostly) exhausting. Living, working, and trying to establish ourselves in this new place has been inevitably tiring and sometimes lonely.  I couldn’t be more grateful for the friends and family I have so heavily leaned on the last several months and for their continuous love and support as I’ve cried, dreamed, laughed, and cried some more.  I’m also incredibly grateful for the inspiration I received from my online community, especially @my.comfort.zone and @meg.lambert on Instagram.  It was so nice to receive their encouragement and glean insight from them!

One of the many, many things I learned on this literal, physical journey as well on my metaphorical, emotional journey is that for me there’s no other option other than making it work; changing and going with the flow.  Back in August I was walking around my cousin’s neighborhood in London and came across some passion fruit climbing over a fence and onto the sidewalk.  I was tired and extremely frustrated that getting an apartment was taking so long.  On Instagram I wrote, ‘There’s a point where life gives you some kind of citrus and you say, “What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?’ It’s a tired, clichéd way of saying you have to work with what you’ve got. Moving to another country has been hard and there have been many hiccups and a few big stalls that have felt and that still feel unconquerable. I’m trying to look at these seemingly insurmountable tasks as an exercise in resourcefulness and perseverance. I’m trying to be like the passion fruit vine: evergreen even when it’s not in season.” Even in retrospect I don’t feel like this past year, 3 months, and 2 days has been my season, but I’m continuing to push through the change and hustling to “make it work.”

Even with all the April showers on the horizon, I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to a future full of allotment trials and tribulations; a summer full of traveling, and a windowsill full of plant babies.  TTFN (ta ta for now!)