As I write this, I am waiting for my connecting flight from Hong Kong to Sydney. Somehow choosing a 14-hour layover felt like a good idea when booking flight tickets — things I have to leave a note to myself to avoid from next time onwards.

Ever since I returned from New Zealand, the thought of wanting to return someday and stay long term in New Zealand has always been on the back of my mind. Not something I actively went chasing though. Things in India soon settled from the initial days of comparing things between New Zealand and India.

Every time I fell sick and thought I was about to die due to not being able to breathe because of Asthma attack, the thought of wanting to move to a place with cleaner air always cropped up. In 2017, during one such attack, I decided to pursue moving to a cleaner weather country again.

I love what I do and don’t plan to stop doing what I do anytime soon. Internet and web programming has been kind to me, and few things bring joy like creating software. From the sidelines though, I have been watching AI and Robotics grow in adoption and their real-world applications. I did not want to sit on the sidelines any more and wanted to jump in.

Combing the air quality issue with wanting to also work on AI and Robotics, last year I applied to move to Australia. Relocating there felt like a simple thought. Move. Learn. Do awesome things. What could go wrong?

As I sit here and write this, the thought of not being with family and friends for this long a period has already started to sink in a sad feeling. The last nine years after returning from New Zealand has been nothing but a joy ride. A lot of ups and downs. More ups than downs. I met some great people and made awesome friends and being with family and getting to spend more time with them has been remarkable.

Is this change essential then? This question is something I sit here at the airport and ask myself. The only way to find out is to take that next flight and spend time doing that I wanted to do when in Australia 🇦🇺