A while after this all kicked off, and my company had closed down and the British embassy were warning of very limited options to get home if we didn't take the opportunity right there and then I remember talking with my partner and we decided it might be better for me to go back, at least in the short term. There was clearly not going to be anything happening on the job front for quite some time and despite the pandemic being global, with the UK being particularly badly hit at the time, I still had much more chance of finding employment back there than I did here.

The plan was for me to go back, get some work, send enough money back here to keep things ticking along and come back when it had all blown over. I remember vividly sitting on my laptop that night having almost booked the flight. All I had to make was one more click and it would all be finalised, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't know what my (our) future looked like here, but it just didn't feel right going back home. My life is here now, through the good times and the bad. There was still no way of knowing if there would be a big outbreak here and if there was, the thought of my partner having to go through something like that alone didn't sit right with me. Similarly if I went back home and caught it (which was much more likely at the time) my partner didn't want me to go through something like that alone.

So I decided to stay and it's turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. My company started up again and I was given my job back. I haven't had to go through any lock-down nonsense or deal with UK government absurdity. Life has pretty much gone back to normal for us. I dread to think what my life would be like now, had I returned to the UK. It's something I think about and am thankful for a lot, especially knowing how close I was to returning.