I moved from London to my hometown in Scotland during the pandemic.

I now live a 10-minute drive from my parents' house and I'm happier than ever.

The pandemic forced me to prioritize what is important in life, and for me, it's family.

I'd been living in London for just under a year when my parents came to visit in January 2020.

We were on the London Underground when my dad spotted a poster advertising our home country, Scotland. The ad had a white, sandy beach and the tagline marketed Scotland as a relocation destination for "work-life balance."

It was the second or third poster we had seen that day. Each one had an image of Scotland's natural landscape, from peaceful lochs to mountain ranges in the highlands.

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"It's a sign," my dad said. "You should move home. Ask your boss if you can work remotely."

They knew that I had a terrible experience with homesickness. I'd always been close with my parents and my twin sister, Aimee, so living 400 miles away from their home in Glasgow was definitely an adjustment.

But despite this, I wasn't entirely on board with his suggestion. I'd only recently moved to a new apartment with two amazing roommates who I was lucky to call friends. I was also enjoying the fast-paced nature of life in the city.

Little did I know, my dad's wish for me was about to become a reality in a way nobody could have imagined.

The pandemic changed the trajectory of my life

My employer sent everyone home around two weeks before the UK went into lockdown in March 2020. Because Insider is a media company, we were instructed to take our laptops and continue working from home.

I didn't want to work from my tiny apartment, so I booked a train ticket to Glasgow. In my hurry to pack, I only brought a handful of clothes and no makeup, naively assuming that I'd return in a couple of weeks.

By June of that year, it became clear that we weren't going back to work anytime soon. Even if it was a possibility, I didn't want to leave my family again.

The pandemic is undoubtedly the scariest thing I've been through. I can recall spending hours refreshing the Scottish Government's social-media pages for the latest mortality rates, and in January 2021, my dad went to multiple funerals in one week.

Mikhaila and her family during a visit to San Francisco in 2019. Mikhaila Friel

But there were glimpses of happiness to be found, thanks to the quality time we prioritized during the multiple lockdowns. I started cooking with my parents, and my sister and I would often go on long walks or do home workouts together.

By late 2021, my partner and I were splitting our time between London and Glasgow. The following year, I decided it was time to put down roots and buy a property. I put an offer on my dream apartment that was just a 10-minute drive from my parents' house in Glasgow, and in January, I moved in with my partner and our kitten.

My life is so much better than I had imagined it would be a couple of years ago, when I thought my career was bound to lead me to a permanent state of homesickness and loneliness.

Now my weekends are filled with family dinners and games nights, and we probably spend more time together now than we did before the pandemic.

Even as an adult, it's comforting to know that my mom and dad are nearby. If there's ever an emergency, I can be at their house in a matter of minutes and vice versa.

The pandemic forced me to reassess what is important in life, and for me personally, family will always be top of the list.

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