The Plan

When Matt first brought up the idea of moving to the UK, I thought he was crazy. Drop everything and move to a completely different country? That's really not something that I can really see myself doing. Sure, it sounds nice in theory, but the reality of moving away from home and not seeing any of my family and friends for months at first seemed too overwhelming to even consider.

I guess part of me still thinks it's a little nuts. But, I'm warming up to the idea of an adventure. One of the main reasons I ended up convinced that this was the right move for us was the possibility of spending more time together as a family. For the last two years, Matt’s been traveling pretty much constantly. He’ll go on anywhere from one to three business trips a month. Some of the trips are short (a day or so), but others stretch on for weeks at a time. It seems that in his company, Matt’s become the go-to guy for travel. He's a mechanical engineer that works for a robotics company, and will go all over the world to talk to potential clients about technical solutions to their problems. Got an underground storage bunker filled with bombs that you’d like to dispose of? Talk to Matt, and he’ll figure out how to get the job done using some sort of cool robot. Do you have a room so contaminated by radiation that no human being can actually enter it? Matt’s your guy for solutions. There are so many interesting problems that he has to tackle every day, and he’s really dang good at his job. I’m proud of him. (Even though the technical aspects of some of his projects are sometimes way over my head.)

The problem is that I really miss having him home with me. Our daughter Frankie is only four, and it’s really challenging to take care of her all by myself. Also, I have a job too. I’ve worked as an instructor in the English Department at Colorado State University for the past twelve years. That means teaching three classes of composition or literature every semester. And you know what? That can really be a difficult, time-consuming job. There’s grading, class planning, office hours, department meetings, and an endless stream of student conferences and emails to deal with. When Matt’s gone, getting all of that done and while taking care of Frankie is incredibly difficult. Stressful, too. By the end of the day, I’m exhausted and don’t really feel very much like my otherwise cheerful, fun-loving self.

Plus, Frankie really misses her dad when he’s gone. I know that it’s hard for her to have him away from home so much. It’s not an ideal situation, not by a long shot.


So, something needed to change. We needed to find a way to spend more time together as a family. And when Matt brought up the UK idea, it seemed crazy. But the more we talked about it, the more we realized that it would solve a lot of the problems we were facing.

No, I don’t like the idea of leaving Colorado for months at a time. I’ll miss all of my friends and family terribly. And taking a semester off from my job at CSU, although a relief on some level, still feels incredibly weird. We’ll have to leave our senior-citizen pooch Roscoe behind, too. (He’ll be living with Matt’s parents, who have graciously invited him to stay at their house while we’re gone.)

But, this will put Matt, Frankie, and I all together in one place for a long stretch of time. That’s a good thing. Plus, with us living in England, Matt won’t be asked to take all of those business trips across the US (they’ll get someone closer to home to do that). And, a lot of the business trips he'll have to take in the UK, he’ll be able to do as a “day trip”—In most cases, he’d be home the same evening he left. And, if he had to go somewhere exotic like Paris, Frankie and I could actually go *with* him. That would give Frankie and I the chance to soak up the sights and see some really amazing places that we otherwise probably wouldn’t get a chance to see.

The company is giving us an amazing deal. They are going to give Matt a cost-of-living bonus, and will pay for a car, house, phone, cable, and utilities while we’re out there. It’s hard to say no to a package like that. We’re really lucky to have an opportunity like this, and I think it will be a terrific family adventure.

(It still feels a little crazy, though!)