Monday 31 December 2012

twenty twelve into two thousand thirteen

- If you really want to do something, you'll find a way; if you don't, you'll find an excuse - Jim Rohn

Last year I feel like I managed to get a lot of awesome things accomplished even though I didn't have actual goals, other than a vague plan to make it to the UK at some point!

Some of my successful highlights of the year included:

Visiting Tasmania with my Mum, a long term dream of ours

Richmond Bridge, the oldest in Australia


Sunday 30 December 2012

a wee bit excited


I arrived in my new home country by train on the 27th of December 2012. Sophie met us off the train and even though it was nearly 3 years to do day since I last saw her it was once again like no time at all had passed.

My bulging bag upon leaving England...not including my completely full Country Road bag!

Tuesday 25 December 2012

an english christmas

Originally I had planned to spend Christmas in Edinburgh, but during my epic Asia Adventure I decided to spend it with Kim and her family in Congleton instead. So I was reunited with Kim sooner than planned! Happy days. 

Kim and I together again!


Friday 14 December 2012

hello Europe...it's nice to finally meet you

On December 14th 2012 I finally landed in Europe. I have been dreaming of coming here for as long as I can remember. It's one of those things where I cant pinpoint the first time I thought it, it just is. Similar to how when I was growing up I always somehow knew I wanted to live in the USA. Not just go on holiday there, and not when I was older, but while I was still at school. I had no idea how this could happen but when I had the opportunity, I jumped. Now here I am in the grasp of another journey like that one.

File:Europe in 1923.jpg

Wednesday 10 October 2012

those yet to come

One of the best things about travelling is the anticipation before you leave.

Before you leave everything is still unknown. You might know your destination but I dont think you know much else. How you will feel when you get there, what it will look like through your own eyes, and most importantly, the people you will meet.

There is a quote I love, though I don't know the source:

- I'm in love with cities I've never been to and people I've never met -

Before I travel I like to think about how other people, right now, are going about their lives, unsuspecting that soon they will play a part in mine, and I in theirs. It might be a small part, a chance meeting for half an hour, or half a day. You might never meet them again, or even think of them. Or it might be the start of a friendship that will last long after the travel has ended.

There are people I have met on the travels that I will never forget whose names I do not even remember;

- the pilot who took me under his wing when I got stranded at St Louis airport for a night and they wouldnt give me a hotel room since I was only 17
- the tiny woman, who couldn't speak a word of english, who guided my dad, my brother and I for four hours through the rice terraces and hill villages of China

Then there are those who I still talk to and think of regularly, and hope to see again sometime soon.

So here I am, just over a week out from indulging my wanderlust once more. While I am excited about the places I will be going, I am most excited about the people I will meet, because it is the people who really make the journey.

After all (google does give an origin for this one, possibly dubious...):

- There are no strangers, only friends  you haven't met yet - William Butler Yeats



Tuesday 9 October 2012

it always starts at the beginning

So I wrote a super serious first blog post the other week to start me off.

I wanted to come out and be all:  Hey, I'm a serious writer and here are my innermost serious thoughts. Then I realised...who I am kidding? This isn't going to be a serious blog and I don't want it to be! I want to be able to be serious, but really, I want this blog to be a celebration of my adventures and the exciting things I do.

So below is my serious first blog post, with the caveat that they wont all be like this. Sometimes I will get a bit stuck on the exclamation mark key and write like and so yea a lot.

But for today. Lets be a bit more grown up.

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I have been writing in my head for as long as I can remember. Sometimes I can write entire soliloquies in my mind before I even realise what I'm doing. I've kept journals at times but they have never been great, so I've decided to finally start the blog I've been thinking about for years.

So here it is.

Part of the reason I am finally setting this up is that I am embarking soon on an adventure that I know will be rated amongest my top best decisions in life. A couple of the decisions that I now consider to be among the best, I didn't realise were so at the time. I know this one will be already.

Maybe the difference is that I am less of a thinker now, and more of a dreamer. I dont know if I'm the only one who sees the distinction in the way that I do. A thinker, to me, is more serious, analytical and not necessarily prepared to see the best in every situation. They see the risks, and often act accordingly. In comparsion, a dreamer knows the risks or limits but refuses to accept they are crucial, and is more willing to accept that everything will happen how it is supposed to, and not always how you expect.

I like to think I'm more the dreamer now, and I'd like to keep a record of this time where I am acting on those dreams I have been thinking about for years, as well as reflect on the ones that have been and gone.

So here goes.

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You only live once, right? (Yes I did just pull out YOLO in my first blog post, and you know what? I'm not sorry!)