Peyton Ackley - The Beginning of Change

Chapter 1 - London

London is nothing like I expected it to be if I'm honest. I expected it to feel like a place where the world was going to be moving at a million miles an hour, but as I stepped off the plane it just felt like every other bustling city. If anything, it was cold.

The terminal was freezing, I couldn't dare imagine how cold it would be outside. Maybe I wasn't fit for the London weather, the windows were fogged up and rain constantly whipped against the glass. I wrapped my jacket tightly around my chest, reminding myself that I'm here to make a change.

I collected my bags relatively quickly, digging through them to find another jacket to layer on top before braving the outside winter wonderland of London. The disappointing thing about the cold weather in London is that even when it feels like it is negative fifty billion degrees, it never snows. What a way to ruin the joy that's usually accompanied by the cold.

I hailed a taxi as soon as I stepped out of the airport. I wanted to get to my new apartment as soon as possible, to somewhere with heating or blankets, or any residual warmth.

"Where to?" asked the driver.

I replied with my address and he quickly began the trip before asking a few more questions.

"The accent... where are you from?" he asked politely.

"Australia," I laughed. I'd only been in the country a couple hours and someone was already bringing up the accent. "I moved here for work," I explained avoiding the next question that was likely to follow.

"Well I hope you enjoy it, it's been a bit cold recently but you'll get used to it," he smiled.

"Yeah, the temperature was definitely a shock."

"Don't worry, we're here," he said as we pulled up outside my apartment complex, my new home. I paid him and left a generous tip for the kind hospitality before grabbing my two bags and heading in.

The apartment was basically empty, chestnut brown wood floors and piercing white walls reflected the bright light from the ceiling. The windows wrapped around the living room and kitchen area allowing for what would normally be some nice sun. Instead, it was just an opening to view the torrential downpour outside. The rain littered the glass with water droplets neglecting to slow. London was meant to be the start of something new, where I would make a difference. But right now, it's just scaring me.

At home, there is sun and beaches, with soft sand, salty water and crashing waves. I was living in an apartment in Byron Bay, going surfing every afternoon and jet skiing on the weekends. Life was good, but not everything I wanted. My life was missing something, something important, so I'm here, in London, ready to make a difference even though I don't know how just yet.

I was looking for something, something else to add to my life. At home I finished my Bachelor of Physiotherapy, I was working in clinics and hospitals but it wasn't everything I wanted. In high school, I played sports, really well actually, but I had to stop, and now I'm missing the adrenaline of it all. Sports physiotherapy has always been an option, and I want to see where it takes me, but right now I don't have a sports team to work for.

So I'm moving country, to the 'home of football', to follow my passion not just what's sensible. England is known globally for the calibre of soccer, or football, whichever you choose to call it, that it is home too, this is my next step. Although I'm continuing clinical work at a private practice here, it's still going to be a change and I'm living for it.

If someone were to tell me that at only 23 years old I, Peyton Ackley, would be sitting in a cold, empty London apartment, I'd call bullshit. However, now that I'm here, it doesn't seem all that unusual and I'm ready to see where I go.