A fork in the road ahead
Before I start, I want to assure you that In general, I don't want Deviant Robot, or even the Deviant Robot blog to feel like my personal ranting platform. But as Deviant Robot is my baby, so to speak, my personal circumstances will sometimes be unavoidably connected to the fate of the project. In the past, I wouldn't really talk about such things; and I think that was a mistake. People would be forced to guess at the reasons for my actions or inaction and it lead to too many misunderstandings. So when the occasion requires it, I will post about personal stuff; and it just so happens that this is one such occasion.
In January 2018, I got married to my now wife, Eri. Eri is a Japanese national and, for reasons I don't fully understand, has chosen to both marry me and live in England. I won't go into all the details, it's honestly too long and frustrating, but suffice to say that almost a year and a half later we are currently awaiting the outcome of our second attempt at getting Eri a UK visa.
For six of the last nine months, we have been living together in Osaka, Japan. As the time for my return to England once again draws near; so too does the time when we will find out if Eri will be on the plane with me when I return.
So, like a choose your own adventure, only we don't get to choose, we have reached a fork in the road and are waiting to find which path we will be sent down. If we are successful, then Eri and I will live in England. Live Deviant Robot podcast recordings and live events in London are planned as well as a few other exciting things we have been looking into. However; if we are unsuccessful, then I will begin the process of moving to Japan permanently; as a result, the site will focus more on written and video content creation.
I love Japan, and honestly, I would be OK with moving here. I can't pretend that would be easy, but being here feels like home already in many ways. But its always been Eri's dream to live in England and after fighting for it for a year and a half, we are very much hoping she gets her visa. So if you are reading this; keep your fingers crossed for us.
There is no path where Deviant Robot isn't a thing, but this decision will undoubtedly have an impact on what kind of thing it becomes. And right now it's preventing me from announcing events and making other plans as, if I am moving to Japan; they won't be a thing. We are, we hope only weeks or even days away from finding out; as, if you follow the site, are you.