Blog A Day - Day 20: A Moving Blog - The Story Of Me Moving Out…

Prologue

Why do I keep re-telling this story over and over, year after year?

Because I think it’s an amazing testament to overcoming adversity and I’m just astounded how far I’ve come in the past year - let alone 5 years.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

After college, I was offered a place at my chosen university and began studying there.

With me at university for the next 3 years and an on-going personal matter happening at home, my parents moved out to the Isle Of Wight - afterall I wouldn’t be home for the next 3 years - besides from occasion visits…

I drew up a quick plan to go on to study a masters in “Automotive Journalism” at Coventry, after my current course…

At the time (2020), the world was a very different place - I was heading into the course thinking it would be very much written-based - and for the first year it was.

Whilst at university, I found out about a “Highway Traffic Officer” job - this only having two entry requirements:

1. To live within an hour of the job

2. To hold a full manual licence

I got to drive (a fair bit), help out with incidents and accidents - and every day and incident would be different.

A combination of a semester on politics (public affairs) and having to interview people in the street (vox-pops) led me to fail the year.

I accepted it - and the thought process was “I don’t want to get to this stage next year and the exact same thing happen”.

Having only got in due to passion and a predicted grade (and the college wanting to pass me) I struggled a bit with imposter syndrome - was I smart enough to be there?

Little did I know, that 3 years down the line, this was the universe telling me my calling was elsewhere.

Even if everything crumbled, university was an absolutely incredible experience - sure, I may have been 4 hours up north, but it gave me the experience of living alone, having my own money, having to budget - having to sort 3 meals a day - and sort scheduling with uni - and money…money can’t buy that experience - and who knows, it may have ended up making moving out a whole lot easier…if I did ever move out…

I returned to the Isle Of Wight with my parents.

What followed was a 9-month hunt for a job.

Just four months after leaving university, it first dawned upon me…

Okay, £300PCM was a bit generous...

Chapter 2: Thriving Post-Uni

With my university dreams dashed, I set my eyes on the next goal: A manual licence.

I’d start taking lessons in May 2023 to pass in September (4 mo).

In the meantime, in late June 2023, I got my first job at Tesco as a temporary colleague. It was hard work, but I enjoyed most of it.

The main issue was that I was too slow - my job was comprised of two parts - replenish stock (enjoyed that bit) and check stock was in date (didn’t enjoy that bit) - and the latter was where the issue was.

I was too slow, and where I increased pace, my accuracy dropped, and by the end of my contract (Sept.) I was let go. Fair enough. Retail is fast paced - and they can’t keep everyone.

Upon being let go, they said they’d hire “festive colleagues” in October/November and it was well worth me applying.

In early November, Tesco started hiring in my local area, I applied as soon as they went up…and then my inbox went cold…

(a message to my parents, late November '23)

November 2023

With the Tesco dream also dashed, I didn’t want to spend another 9 months searching for a job - especially where the island offered so little - and fewer still that piqued my interest.

So I set myself a target for the new year: Move Out.

Okay, my priority for the new year may have been a little bit “unusual”, wanting to first complete the iRacing “ROAR Before The 24” race - but I had good reason.

In the 2023 event, I went from 35th to 16th - and I wanted to see if (in 2024) I could do any better - maybe not spin on lap 2, falling to last place. Maybe start high and finish high.

Race done (it was surprisingly uneventful), it was time to move out.

(09:19am - 15th January)

The plan was to “sofa surf” (stay with friends) until I got a job or house.

With my manual licence (passed in Sept ‘23) - I could now tick off the second box of living within an hour of the job/depot of my choice. Now I just needed to wait for a job to pop up.

Admittedly, progress was slow and come mid-March, I was exactly where I was at the start of the year - no job, and this time, no place to call my own.

Of note, I applied to Aldi, had an interview - but crushingly (at the time), it fell through - as I had experience at Tesco before, I was hoping I could make it into retail, but alas - it was not meant to be

I contacted a few minibus firms, but all wanted me to be 25 for insurance purposes

The spark that lit a wildfire...

A spark. I followed this minibus after a day out with a friend/friends “hey, I could drive that” I said, confidently - I asked then to take a picture so I could call them once I got back home or the following day.

At 09:30am, I gave them a call and they said for me to email them.

At 09:36am, I sent an email, and four minutes later, I got a response.

Later that week, I had a meeting with the training manager - and besides having an Isle Of Wight address on my driver’s licence, he was very happy to proceed (albeit with a medical test done first).

Shortly after my new licence I arrived, I swiftly booked a medical, passed it and was offered a job on the 12th April, to start on Tuesday the 16th.

By late May, I drove a bus for the very first time, passing my full-bus test on 11th June.

Within 3 months, I went from having just a full car licence, to passing all the bus tests, and now having a full bus licence.

Now with a stable income, I could now tell landlords I had a stable income (none of them liked universal credit - due to how little was given, and how much rent was/the unreliability of UC).

On May 10th, I began renting at my current abode.

As life has proven over the past 11 months, it’s not about the destination, it was the journey to get here.

University accommodation taught me how to live alone, the Highways Officer position inspired me to get my manual licence and move onto the mainland.

On the subject of highways…a job went up and I applied.

I had a phone interview - but they said it would be 4-8 weeks before I would get a response - in that time, I ended up behind the Vectare minibus.

On 2nd May, I’d get an email from National Highways - telling me I had made it to the second round of interviews (in-person interviews) - this was a tough call for me - I had been fighting for this moment for the past 3 years - and now it was here.

I declined. I was in a boat, I was safe and dry - I didn’t want to try and get in a yacht - and end up slipping between the two boats and falling into the ocean. Afterall, it was only the interviews.

I completely made the right call. I’m absolutely loving every second of working here - and as winter came, I’m so glad to be wrapped up warm with the AC Blasting - and it’s made the past 4 months all worth it.

So why bring this story up again?

Because my company cares.

Whilst sofa-surfing, I’ll admit, not having access to a clean, working bath/shower “did start to have an impact” - but instead of firing me, my training manager was very understanding of my circumstances and told me where I could find one - and how to get myself sorted.

More recently, my boss changed my weekly schedule to keep my week fresh, different and interesting - I know some people like routine, but I doubt other bigger bus companies would change one’s weekly schedule just to keep it fresh, interesting and different.

2025 will be a big year - and I am beyond pumped to see where I will be this time next year - looking forward into 2026