London | The Burnout Queens

The Big Leap’s initial excitement

July 4, 2019

Our first morning in our new country happened to be JULY 4th! How symbolic for two Canadians to be celebrating our own Independance Day in a country we had held as a dream destination since we were both teenagers. We sat in the local cafe (we had to have the English breakfast) and just watched and took in the vibe of our new neighbourhood. It felt great and we had given ourselves a month to settle into the flow of London while we waited for our container of furniture to arrive.

Arrival date, first rental flat and lucky us it was a dreamy, quirky little up-down with a garden in North London. Welcome home!

It was fun to start decorating and fitting our belongings into a smaller space, making it work, making it feel like home, yet seeing it all in a new way.

We were settling into our adventure with enthusiasm. And of course we found a real passion for ‘taking tea’ wherever we explored. So many options and all the time in the world we kept saying. We’re not on holiday, this is where we live now. Yet it felt like the best holiday ever!

Embracing our new routine and lifestyle. Sunday morning reads & tea

New routines, new locals, new neighbours, new everything. And even though we were in England, everything had different labels, brands and names. Tiring work, so relaxing for tea and a read became our new norm!

Good start at living a Burnout-Free Lifestyle don’t you think?

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

The Big Leap times 10 years!

July 3, 2019

From Here to There!

We just cannot believe it has been a full decade that we left our home and country. Last evening we were sitting in the Vancouver International Airport saying ‘shouldn’t we be nervous, or sad, or something?’ We weren’t, we were just quietly waiting for our one-way ticket to our new destination in life.

Brave or stupid? Just feels right. We had sold our condo, money in the bank, said good-bye to family, friends, neighbours and clients (although some would stay with us over skype), all our belongings except our luggage was packed into a container enroute across Canada to board a boat heading east!

A big leap of faith was starting to really happen.

I vividly remember looking out the window of the plane as we took off, looking back at my neighbourhood (we climbed right over it) and thought…’I don’t know what will happen or how it will turn out, but I’m open to whatever transpires’.

A long sleep, a beautifully calm flight and we landed in our new homeland. The customs woman looked at our passports and VISAs and said, ‘welcome home‘. Just such a deeply happy moment we had both waited for for the last 4 decades. You couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces, even after the 10 hour flight and time-change.

So it’s official. We live in England and over the next 10 or so days in honour of these 10 years, we’ll give you a peek at the life we set up and are living from then until now (warts, pups and all)!

In the meantime…..

HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY TO THE BOTH OF US!

A 9 year anniversary for The Burnout Queens

July 3, 2018

Well it is hard to believe. A lifetime ago now, really. This was Dr T at the airport in Vancouver (Dr B taking the photo) awaiting our flight to London, England.

Our adventure that we both dreamt about in 1972 was about to come true, albeit late. But then we have both always been off-time (off-beat even).

Big change was happening, and more was about to happen. Change that we didn’t know but were fully ready to embrace. We left Canada knowing we would not return. When that last call to board was made (Ladies and gentlemen we are now boarding Air Canada flight to London) Dr T & Dr B smiled widely and joyfully marched into that plane to our new homeland.

Nine years ago, on July 4th we landed at Heathrow and the first words out of the immigration staff when she looked at our passports stamped VISA, she said “welcome home ladies”. London was our independence and our freedom. Little did we know how much!

Yes, we are home. We had lost a lot leading up to that day, but we have gained so much more in taking that final leap. Would we redo it again? No. We have created a culture and lifestyle for ourselves here in the south-east of England.

This was just meant to be, the way we had always planned and more. We are so fortunate to have met and lived close to wonderful people who have been so open to helping us out and sharing our good moments (and stressful ones). Don’t think we even think like we used to.

And then of course there is the joy of art, pastries, walks, our dogs, and last but never least, tea and cake.

They say you can’t go home again. Well Darlings, we are home at last.

Life Lessons from The Burnout Queens

February 22, 2017

If there is one life lesson The Burnout Queens have experienced over and over and now believe in 100% it is this…

TRUTH RISES!

Today, the verdict for the disappearance and murder of our friend and former neighbour , Helen Bailey and Boris, her beloved dog (friend to The Burnout Pups) brought Truth and Justice. We are so sad that this beautiful, intelligent, creative and lovely woman was taken in her prime. While she was with us she gave of herself, her life experience and her humourous take on grief.

Helen and Boris, you can now rest. The truth is known and you are with the angels.

Prepping for vacation: The Burnout Queens style

October 21, 2016

Here we were rushing, working, preparing, writing, and recording our latest programme all before the lovely relations joined us for two weeks of hols in the hot english seaside.

We were working to a deadline but it was a mindset and an arbitrary date that, if kept, would see us exhausted and grumpy for the hols (I wish they weren’t coming so soon) instead of anticipating them with joy (can’t wait to see them again)! So we decided it’s joy rather than exhaustion.

How did we turn it around in our favour. You know the answer. We did it with Burnout Queen-style!

Listening to our own wisdom (walking the walk)
Being mindful of our bodies screaming ‘stop already’
Prioritising us over the work (front & centre)
Knowing when to say ‘no’ and let it go

That meant we stopped early and left the outstanding bits for our return. The old burnout personality would have thought ‘eeek not a wise decision, better get it finished because you may not be able to find that groove you were in’. Well that groove was turning into a right old rut and we’ve learned that leaving it can be a far wiser choice. We had written down where to begin again and what we wanted to say in an outline, so we were covered. Done with the prep work, all we needed on return were the sparkly touches.

We trusted how we were feeling and made decisions about our health before digging in and running ourselves into the ground. We were not going to spoil this vacation. No way, no how. These Burnout Queens had palaces and castles to conquer and lots and lots of tea and cake to eat!

By golly that’s exactly what happened. Palaces, teas and castles delighted all of us and on return to work, the new programme was sparkled up and launched!

Next time you have a deadline with something wonderful as it’s reward make sure you have the energy left to enjoy it fully. Remember to prepare for your vacation in true Burnout-Queen-style.

The programme? We’ve called it …

This video will give you the complete scoop. Click here Enjoy!

Love, The Burnout Queens xx