Before we did the move I had planned everything to the littlest details. I had countless Google Sheets addressing costs of the move, monthly costs once we moved to Sheffield, costs of getting us up and running in the rental. I had sheets with the best second-hand cars available on the market. One about the best washing machines and tumble dryers and others I’m a bit embarrassed to share details of. I planned for everything.
But there was one thing I didn’t plan for.
A global pandemic! I haven’t been to Malta since I said my last goodbye on the 16th October 2019. That means it now has been over a year since I’ve seen my family, especially my mum – whom I miss so much.
Back in October 2019 I was already planning to spend a few weeks of summer 2020 in Malta. I was hoping to see the island from a different perspective and maybe restart to fall back in love with it. Of course that didn’t happen, and I have no idea when I will be able to get back to Malta.
So here I am, a year later, working as a freelance writer and calling Sheffield my home.
How did I get here?
I’ve been writing full time for close to 15 years now but this is the first time I’m doing it freelance. Before we moved I was the head of communications and PR at an iGaming company based in Malta. I resigned my post but also made sure to have a few clients up my sleeve to keep me going for around 10 hours a week once we moved.
In the meantime I would be a homemaker. I would get the house up and running, make sure our daughter settles and feels at home and start working on finding our forever home.
Then Covid made an appearance
By January we had all settled and I was ready to start ramping up my work. I had found a few clients through my contacts and was happily working away. Then in March most of Europe went into lockdown and I lost most of my clients (based in the UK and Malta). Schools were also closing so that meant I had my daughter full time (she was 3 and in preschool). This was challenging and I am more than thankful to have a support network here in Sheffield via my husband’s family.
By June a few clients started coming back and my daughter had gone back to school for two days a week. At the same time we were concluding the sale on our home as our landlord asked us for his rental back. Yes in the middle of a pandemic, and yes I know we were under no obligation to move. We thought it would be easier to fast track the sale of our house rather than look for another rental which would lock us in for another year. By mid-June we had the keys but the house was nowhere near ready to be moved into.
I’m the queen of organisation and multitasking
Now we had a month to get our home ready. The bathroom needed to be completely ripped out. A wall needed to come down and all rooms needed stripping of wallpaper, plastering and painting. I was coordinating workmen for the skilled tasks and we were also trying to fit in as much manual work we were able to do.
By mid-July we had a liveable house and moved out of our rental with a day to spare. My Fitbit tracker had more steps on the 14th and 15th July than I had in all June.
Where am I now?
Of course we are loving our new home even though some places still need a second coat of white paint. Work is also going well and I’m a lot more confident in my abilities about what my writing can do. So I am ready to take the next step and that’s launching this website.
As with our home, there’s still a lot of things that I need to tweak on here but I am trying to subscribe to the saying that done is better than perfect.
In the meantime I’m also keeping all my fingers crossed for a vaccine so I can further explore Sheffield and more importantly get to visit my family back in Malta.