I remember being in tears on the cold bathroom tiles, scrolling through news updates about yet another border closure. Our dream of moving to Canada was slipping away, and I honestly wondered if we should just give up.
Dave and I had been planning this move for two years—one last big adventure before “settling down.” We had secured IEC work permits and were preparing to quit our jobs in June 2020. Then, the world shut down. Australia’s strict travel regulations made moving overseas nearly impossible.
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We had a dream of moving to Canada, yet it was slipping away due to COVID, along with our other big dream: the wedding we’d been planning for years
To make things more complicated, we were also planning our wedding. A classic “big white wedding” we had dreamed of for years. Family flying in, dancing all night, and that perfect princess dress. But every time we set a date, a new COVID wave hit. Borders slammed shut, venues closed, and family couldn’t attend. We postponed again. And again.
Then, just when we thought we had everything sorted, our wedding venue went into liquidation—and we lost our entire deposit.
Meanwhile, our Canadian visas were ticking down, and we had to decide fast—take the leap and move, or stay and settle in Sydney
The clock was running out on our Canadian visas. We faced a decision: stay in Sydney and wait it out, or take the risk and go. We spent late nights scrolling apartments in Sydney, wondering if we should give up the dream and settle.
Yet deep down, I knew: if we didn’t leap now, we never would. I didn’t want to wake up one day wondering what if.
But then, the sudden arrival of the vaccine gave us the push we needed to finally make the move to Canada
When the vaccine finally arrived—and just before our visas expired—we made the wildest, scariest, BEST decision of our lives. We’d go to Canada. But first, we’d get married—just not the way we had imagined.
We postponed the big wedding another year and threw together a magical elopement in just three weeks. On November 6, 2021, we got married on a clifftop overlooking a wild beach in New South Wales. Just us, our closest family, and our amazing celebrant.
Three days later, we boarded a flight to Vancouver.
We also finally got married on a clifftop in New South Wales, maybe not exactly as we’d pictured it, but in the coziest, most meaningful setting we could have dreamed of
It was far from the big celebration we once planned, yet truly magical, intimate, and full of love
Once landed in Canada we had no idea where we’d live or how we’d settle in, so we rented a car and set off on a spontaneous road trip to Banff
We landed in Canada on November 9, 2021—two Aussies, a couple of suitcases, nowhere to live yet, but hearts full of dreams. We stayed in a hotel, then rented a car and drove to Banff through snow and rain, completely unprepared for the weather.
Massive floods and landslides trapped us in the Rockies. The only way back to Vancouver was proving we lived there. We didn’t—yet. The only thing we had was my job offer letter, crumpled in a suitcase. It worked.
After weeks of living out of suitcases in tiny hotel rooms, we finally found a permanent place to call home, and steady jobs to go with it
For three weeks, we lived out of suitcases in a tiny hotel room. I started work immediately (thankfully, I transferred with my Sydney company), while Dave searched endlessly for an apartment. I got horribly sick—probably the stress of an elopement + international move + pandemic chaos.
Eventually, we found an apartment in Burnaby and finally exhaled.
But the next hurdle was Dave’s job hunt. He worked a ski season as a lifty, then finally landed a full-time role in February 2022. That’s when things started to click into place.
With the basics in place, I poured my heart into building Oceanus Adventure
It was a passion-fueled travel blog born from spare hours after work, weekend hikes, and a dream bigger than any paycheck
With the basics settled, I turned to my real dream: Oceanus Adventure. By day, I worked my 9–5. By night and weekend, I built a travel blog. I wrote guides, pitched brands, and explored every trail, beach, and snow-capped peak we could reach.
I didn’t earn much at first—but I didn’t care. I kept a giant spreadsheet of adventures, and for every trail we crossed off, I added five more. This was the life I wanted.
A few years later, that near-abandoned dream became a life we love with a cozy home, puppy, and a passion turning into a career
We now own our first apartment in Vancouver. We adopted a Goldendoodle named Winnie. And I’m this close to making Oceanus Adventure my full-time gig.
Four years ago, I cried on the bathroom floor, convinced our dream was over. That same dream turned out to be the best decision we ever made.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the most difficult and unexpected turns often lead to the best parts of the story
Life rarely goes to plan—and that’s the best part. The path that seems out of reach might just lead to the story of your life.
So here’s my hope for you:
Take the leap. Book the flight. Push the wedding back. Elope on a cliff if you have to. The best stories never start with “we played it safe.”
We’re still out there, chasing the wild, one trail, coast, and mountaintop at a time
Follow our latest adventures on Instagram or explore our growing collection of travel guides here.
And who knows? Maybe it’ll spark your own “we did it anyway” story.
