Should the job drive the location? - In Search of a Life Less Ordinary

All packed up and ready to go

A wise person once told me that you choose your dream job first, not the location. In other words, find the job and worry about where it is later. Towards the end of 2004, I did exactly that. I finished my post-grad studies, found the perfect role, upped sticks, and promptly carted the whole family across Canada to the nation’s capital in the east, leaving behind our new-found home and way of life for a 9-5 government job.

Vancouver had given us almost everything we wanted in our search for a better life. We were living a much more ‘outdoorsy’ kind of lifestyle mixed with the cosmpolitan bustle of a vibrant West Coast city. We were less stressed, more relaxed, and we quite liked this new lifestyle. Walks with the dogs were a lot more entertaining and with a vastly improved backdrop. My wife’s job was varied and easygoing, taking her to a hundred new places with exciting names and interesting attractions. My time at the University of British Columbia had been fun-filled and stimulating, consisting of shared challenges and experiences with many new-found friends. All up, we were pretty happy with our 18 months in Canada… but something wasn’t quite right.

Vancouver is a truly excellent city of over four million diverse souls living the dream of being in the “best place on earth“. Yet it has an uncomfortable little problem it can neither ignore or seem to address. It has an exorbitant cost of living combined with a distinct lack of properly-paid or available employment in the areas that most of us work in. A ‘regular’ job is likely to pay less than in a comparable Canadian city, such as Toronto or Montreal, whilst jobs in specialisms such as government (my area) are largely non-existent unless you’re prepared to relocate to the provincial capital, Victoria, or the national capital, Ottawa. Vancouver is therefore a reward for the hardworking, long-suffering Ontarian or Quebecois reaching the later part of his or her career or a destination for the kind of person who quite happily places the size of a pay packet or the quality of a house further down their wish list.

Ottawa, the national capital

For me, the opportunities were threadbare at best. I spent months looking for appropriate employment in our new home but to no avail. Long-term career opportunities in government simply did not exist in this city and, faced with the prospect of my post-grad political studies counting for nothing and the dream of a better life dwindling before my very eyes, I opted for a second big move for me and my family. I convinced myself and others that our search for a life less ordinary would need me to be employed in my ‘perfect’ job and so we committed to the notion of an Ottawa move.

We knew nothing of the city – of its climate, local attractions, people. I searched out the opinions of Canadian friends and relatives well-versed in current opinion on the city. My Vancouver-based uncle was particularly vocal. “Don’t even consider it” he reprimanded me one day. “Ottawa is a crappy, cold place full of policy wonks and French Canadians. You’d be crazy to move there.” His opinions voiced, there was only one thing to do. Ignore them and move east.

Heading east to the cold and snow

And so we picked up the remnants of our Vancouver life and embarked on a 7-day drive across the vast Canadian landmass to our new home, Ottawa. We were so excited at the idea of a new life in a city that was arguably superior to Vancouver through its unique cultural and colonial heritage, replete with a multitude of national museums and three hundred-year old architecture that would make even the old world countries proud. We knew that Ottawa would be freezing in winter reaching temperatures of -40 degrees and extremely humid in summer often hitting the high ’30s but this didn’t put us off. It was all part of our ongoing Canadian adventure. The land would be flat as a pancake compared to the epic mountains we’d come to know and love in British Columbia but we’d soon enough learn how to snow shoe and ski cross-country, portage and paddle canoes down rivers and across lakes. The ‘locals’ would likely be public servants operating in their government-town bubble but we remained curious and upbeat at the prospect of being part of this strange new world.

How far to Ottawa?

I can still remember looking back in the rear view mirror as we left the Rocky Mountains, feeling a deep sense of sadness at leaving beautiful British Columbia behind as we headed east across the plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, then down through Ontario. We were headed on the next part of our overseas adventure but perhaps we had given up the one real reason for moving here in the first place – for the immense mountains and ocean of BC mixed with the distinct cosmpolitan lifestyle of Vancouver. In a few short weeks, I’d be working long hours for the Canadian Government in ways I had never dreamed possible but life in Ottawa would always be tinged by a certain regret at having created a new adventure in our search for a life less ordinary at the expense of another.

No looking back

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About Russell Ward

I am a writer and expat who isn’t afraid of exploring both the good and bad that comes with seeking out a different way of life. I am the author of The Life Less Ordinary Manifesto and I regularly send out an email newsletter with free tips for living your own remarkable life.

About Russell Ward

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