What was your Leap of Faith?

In our June newsletter, we asked you to submit your most dramatic, most heartfelt ‘Leap of Faith’ stories and we were genuinely bowled over by the responses. Thank you for the time you all took to recount your tales.

It was difficult to choose. Honourable mentions go to stories from Rudi about his family's epic immigration to Australia, Steve and his Damascene conversion to wine from beer and Linda, who turned tragedy into a triumphant gap year around Europe aged 55.

But Bill H from Klemzig, SA clinched it with his story of moving to Edmonton – the northernmost city in North America where winter is less a season than a test of character. 

An adventure of a life time

My wife had  just finished her PhD, in 2003, and was wondering what to do next. An email from someone in Canada purporting to be from the University of Alberta, Edmonton seemed just another scam to ignore and a problem to avoid. However, she mentioned  the email to her boss who upon seeing it  confirmed that she knew the sender. Thus began a long trail of phone calls  and discussion at home leading to the decision that we would take up the offer, even though I had no job to go to.

Our primary reason for going was based on the simple notion: "How would we feel in 10 years time if we had not taken this opportunity?" We knew little of Canada except that it was huge and the winters were extremely cold, -31C on some days and it was the original home of professional ice hockey. As the saying goes, "the puck was in play". 

Selling the house was deemed the best way forward as it ensured enough funds for a  deposit on a house in Edmonton. Thankfully, a dozen or so friends helped to clean, repair, paint and pack. We provided food and drinks, sharing many a good bottle of red at the end of the day as well laughter and tears.

Being told we were crazy only added to the excitement. Several weeks later, armed with high hopes and cash we landed at the Edmonton airport after nearly twenty hours flying time; tired but excited. Customs welcomed us, but the weather did not, greeting us with -10C, a frigid introduction to what we were in for the next five or six months.

Resetting our expectations as we tried to make sense of our new way of life was essential if we were to adapt. Despite an excellent credit rating in Australia, we were initially unable to get a credit card and car insurance was $5,000 for a $15,000 car because I had no experience driving on snowy and icy roads.

Once these and other hurdles were overcome, life became more routine, and Canada became our new home providing us with some of the best experiences of our life. Snow became our treasured friend, much to the chagrin of our neighbours, and the Rocky Mountains an awesome destination.

We returned to Adelaide after four years, for family reasons, but fondly recall our adventure into the unknown and pleased we were not left wondering "what if".