How I did it: I work at a summer camp in Ontario, and there are employees there from all over Canada. The first steps toward the actual move were taken in October '07.

I was chatting with one of my camp co-workers on MSN and he said he was worried that he wouldn't be able to find someone to fill the fourth spot on his lease for this year. I said that I would be interested, and talked to my parents about it (at that point I was still living at home)

From there, we looked at me transferring to a university up here in Halifax, and then I went to visit for New Years to experience some Haligonian culture. I fell in love, and my mom and I came back for St Paddy's day to tour schools.

I made my decision in early May, and signed the lease to move in September first.

After that, it was just an issue of getting my international student visa (my university was a fantastic resource here)

Voila, here I am

Lessons & tips:
Get in touch. If you know anyone up there, ask them questions, get the scoop from a person who already lives there about the job market, social scene, any thing that interests you. Often, there are city websites that have this information if you don't know anyone who lives where you want to move.

Just do it! If you think about it too much, it will remain an idea in your head rather than becoming a milestone event in your life. :)

Oct 04, 2008, 12:33PM PDT | 6 comments | 9 cheers