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Archive for the ‘Then and now’ Category

It’s been way too long since I’ve been here, I feel disappointed and annoyed at myself but more than that, totally peeved at the circumstance that steals my time!

I’m house-hunting again. It feels like a deja-vu experience of the worst kind. I’ve been in my current place around 3 1/2 months and actually really like it but can’t bear the flat-mate.

I thought after living in hostels for so long while travelling, it would be easy to share. I’ve learnt how to ignore things that are foibles, we all have them. I’ve learnt how to judge when bathrooms will be free and race in! I do things with the thought in mind that the next person may be following straight after me…..think; washing your dishes, not leaving clothes in washers or dryers or staying in the bathroom for hours.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for a person who can best be described as ‘creepy!’

That may sound cruel but when you’re a single female and move into a share situation with a supposedly mature male, you don’t expect him to immediately start acting as if you’re a couple. It’s actually quite hilarious and has provided moments of entertainment for my friends however, immediately after their laughter ends they’re telling me to get out….NOW!

Of course, I am an IWOM therefore I decided I must honour my agreement to the landlord and must also toughen up and assert my rights as an individual.  For heaven’s sake, I’m not married, don’t have a partner and so can’t see why some strange man I barely know should be sarcastic about my friends for taking up time he thought I’d be with him (why???) or demanding that I give him notice of my next visit to friends in France so that he can come! Oh la la………yes, very creepy when you consider these things happened during the first week I moved in!

So; I made a stand and made a statement about how I was renting a room and not ‘living with’ anyone and wouldn’t ever be! Since then there have been dirty dishes with food on them left for days, no taking a turn in cleaning the place and very loud TV til the early hours – I’m guessing it’s a form of revenge.

Needless to say, I stay out a lot – good for the social life and sightseeing, not so good for the budget

Sightseeing in London - standing under the "Avatar" tree of life...looking for my mojo

I have loads of notes for things I want to write but my mind won’t work when I walk in the door to the atmosphere here – you could say I lose my mojo every time I get home. Apart from that, it’s really not so funny when you’re living it however, I do see the bright side and know this will make a hilarious if somewhat unbelievable chapter in my best-seller someday!

So as I was before, I am once again, searching for a place to live. I’m totally over the idea of sharing but unless I want to travel a long way each day it’s looking like the best option……….how many of you have lived in share-houses/flats? How many of you have made great friends and how many of you have similar horror stories of freaky, creepy, lazy or otherwise just awful sharers?

I know I’m not the only one and I know there’s nice people out there too………..anyone know of some nice people looking for a friendly, tidy house-mate?

May 3, it’s my sister’s birthday and once again we’re apart.

A rare occasion - in India together

It’s my fault. I always seem to move too far away or take a holiday and haven’t spent many of her

birthdays with her. In fact, I don’t get to see that much of her but we’re still close and I often wish things were different. Today is one of those times.

When we were growing up we had our ‘moments’ of course. Sometimes we made up plays or dances, swam together, even buried treasure and made a map – until of course we started to fight over who’s treasure it was! We often fought, she was always too young and I was always being told to look after her or set a good example for her.

The bright side, she was always there. If there was no-one else, there she was. That may sound callous but in fact, it’s the truth…she’s always there. I have the best friends in the world but I also have my sister – two of them actually and yes, they’re always there but on this day; it’s only one of their birthdays and now that we’re all grown up, we don’t fight anymore.

We grew up together and for a while it was just us two. She’s almost opposite to me in many ways but also, so similar in many ways. I think of her always and know a two minute phone call will bring us together as easily as two hours together.

When I think of her, I smile…and that’s the way it should be.

Two naughty little girls again

Happy Birthday Jilly – I hope you have a wonderful day, I’ll be calling you.

XXX

Well, I’ve been back in the workforce for about a month – how time flies! Have I saved my fortune yet, ready to travel?

Um, no. Unfortunately not quite but then again, I have taken a quick trip to the north of France for a weekend (the novelty of being able to go to another country for the weekend may NEVER wear off!) and spent Easter in Brighton.

Yes, so far I’ve spent almost all that I’ve earned but as I’m an IWOM, I can explain; since I started work I’ve only worked 3 or 4 day weeks due to Easter and bank holidays and a bout of food poisoning (another story). I’ve managed to pay my rent and phone bill, buy some work-clothes and food, eat out with friends AND have my couple of weekends away…did I mention one weekend was in another country?! Told you I can’t get over that one.

What I’m trying to say is, upon reaching my four week anniversary of working for a living, I reckon I’ve done ok so far!

Haha, you could say I’m adjusting to my slightly less than totally foot-loose lifestyle reasonably well.

Back to the fun part – what did I do in France? I visited my famile Francais and attended their local Bal de Carnival. It’s an annual event that I attended last year and promised I’d return this year.

Dressed for the Bal

The Carnival is a time of celebration and remembering a local hero; Jean Bart but Bal (Ball in English) also links back to the time when fisherman leaving n long sea journeys farewelled their loved ones by having a huge celebration in the town – in case they didn’t return.

My explanation isn’t very good I know but it’s not bad when you consider my low level French skills.

Finishing off the evening

Where my friends live, in Brouckerque, the Bal  is loads of fun and lasts all night – a night of crazy costumes, delicious food, plenty of dancing and drinking and a great sense of community – the wine may have helped but I had some wonderful conversations in spite of my petit peu (little) French and mostly non-English speaking “new” friends!

Back to work for a few days and then it was Easter. You’ve gotta love short working weeks!

Easter kind of crept up on me so after assessing funds and the lack of planning or booking time I decided it would be cool to go to an English coastal spot. Where better than Brighton as a first experience of the UK coast? Even in Australia I’d heard of the Brighton Pier and then I found out about the historic Royal Pavilion so off I went – dragging some friends along too.

Brighton is full of interesting shops and characters – I loved the variety and funky feel of it.

We did the traditional thing as you must; and had fish and chips on the pier and wandered The Lanes which is a fabulous area filled with jewellery, clothing and antique shops, cafes and bars and has a great feel to it – very tempting. We had a couple of fun nights in and around there but “what happens in Brighton, stays in Brighton!”

Mermaids spotted in Brighton

We hadn’t booked accommodation (underestimating the popularity of Brighton even in winter) so were very lucky to find Kelvin’s, a lovely bed and breakfast that was beautifully clean, smelled lovely (a point worth mentioning after some we entered), served up a delicious brekky and gave us loads of inside info on what to do, where to eat or go for a drink. Well be back!

So now I’m back in London, back at work, saving my pounds and wondering where my next “weekender” should be.

Any suggestions?

I’m back and better than ever.

I’ve added some skills to my list, survived what I’d call freezing temperatures and learned to love snow boots! For a girl who’s never owned a pair of Ugg boots and think the name is entirely fitting; Ugg-ly, I’ve grown more attached in 10 days to my Sorel’s (Canadian turbo-boosted uggs!) than a fish to water. They are actually too warm for London weather.

Walking on a frozen lake in snow boots - Sorel's rule!

Apart from having toasty toes I also went dog-sledding and had my first ever ski lesson in Montreal. Yes, I am now able to ski unassisted down a children’s slope – something I definitely hadn’t done before. I also drove a car across a frozen lake (the lake in the snowboot pic) – haven’t told the folks back home about that yet. It was a little scary but another thing I’d never done so I didn’t want to miss the chance. To be honest, I was glad to reach solid ground but hey, at least I can say I did it.

Dogs & sleds at Mont Gabriel

Skiing like a champ - on the children's slope

Another interesting thing I learned was that I can survive in temperatures of minus 18 degrees celsius. I was wearing three jackets, a hat, scarf, ski gloves and of course; my snowboots but I survived! Oh, and ten days is not enough to raise my French speaking skills to conversational level. I can however point to things and name them to indicate what I want in roughly the same way a three year old would so all in all, you could say Montreal brought out my inner child.

So now I’m back in the UK and there’s a lot to tell. The accommodation I organised before leaving Australia hasn’t turned out to be exactly what I thought. I’m currently living with TEN other people which is not ideal and doesn’t allow much space or time to do anything let alone write to you. I’ve spent the majority of my time house hunting and traipsing all over London checking out various areas to find a great spot to live…I found it so will be telling you more about that and living in the UK from now on.

There was a time when the year 2000 seemed unreal and far in the future. A new century and I wondered what it would be like. I’d heard my grandparents talking about horse and carts and crystal radios and I knew they were from the olden days. Who’d have thought I’d have olden days of my own?

Shock, horror – not only did I get to live in two centuries but now they’re showing flashbacks on TV and in magazines to remind us of the highlights, low-points and milestones of the first decade of this 21st century. The year 2000 now seems so far behind.

What can I tell you of my olden days?

My first record album (round, black, vinyl) was of course; Elvis Presley. I was allowed to ride my bike everywhere and with my friends roamed largely unsupervised a lot of the time. If I lost a race or wasn’t invited to someone’s birthday party my parents didn’t try to compensate me but helped me deal with the disappointment.

I watched the change-over to colour TV on our black and white set with my family and was thrilled when my cousins handed down their fashionable clothes. Maybe I should post a quiz at this point and ask if you can guess how old I am? I should say, how young I am?

So! It’s 2010 and what have you done? What will you do?

I no longer have vinyl records; well, yes I do, they’re in storage and I can’t bear to part with them BUT; my IPod goes everywhere with me and has enough music to play for 17 days if  the battery could last that long. I also have a laptop that has a 17 hour battery so if I’m bored, lost or lonely I can still keep writing, looking at my photos or watching a favourite movie!

My life has changed in other ways. My grandparents travelled across the world to start a new life and so it seems, shall I. Starting a new life is not all that new to me, I’ve done it before but this new start is different. It’s about freedom and choices rather than necessity. I’m choosing a lifestyle not a place.

My Aussie homeland is tempting me to stay as the summer settles in and I can go swimming at night – I was born a summer baby and I’m enjoying it while I can as I finalise my plans to head into a cold, Northern hemisphere winter.

It’s 2010 and what have I done?

• Well, I just spent New Year with my parents and their friends and can confirm that even people from the olden days know how to have fun!
  

  Old People's fancy dress 2009

It’s 2010 and what will I do?

• Live for a while in a place where I can travel to another country in a day, try a new lifestyle, learn a new language, dance until dawn, talk to strangers, treasure my old friends while making some new ones…all the usual things – what about you?

Like everyone, I’ve eaten too much, drunk too much and had a lovely time. I was having way too much fun and am now running late but as they say, better late than never…I hope  you all had a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS and will have a safe, happy and prosperous NEW YEAR in which all your dreams come true.

I’m heading to Perth tomorrow to catch up with the rest of my family and friends before the big move to UK so it’ll be more food, more drinks and probably more nightmares regarding packing. I’ll keep you posted.

Hohoho……

I can hardly believe I’ve been back in Australia six months. When did that happen? I still remember how I felt during my last week in Bangkok – the last stop of my 12month IWOM adventure.

It was horrible. I knew everyone expected me to feel excited to be returning “home” and about to see all my family and friends again but I didn’t want to go. Why? Because it felt like life as I’d come to know and love it, was ending.

Dinner in Bangkok

I know they say that with endings come new beginnings but that wasn’t how I felt at the time. The other day I read something I’d written the night before my flight to Australia that sums things up quite well;

At the thought of heading back to Australia my mind goes blank. I was feeling, I guess, a kind of denial two weeks ago, denial that all this time has passed and now I’m expected to go back and act like nothing’s happened.

Now I feel nothing and think nothing – seems I’ve finally found a way to clear my mind. Perhaps I’ll even be able to meditate now, if I think of going back – wards.

Kind of depressing I know but hey, I’d just spent almost 18 months in total, going wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted and living exactly as I like to – on my own time. I always say I have no rules and that was a time when it was absolutely true.

Heading back to Australia felt like going backwards. I knew that no matter what I’d seen and done, everyone there would be the same, doing the same things and expecting me to fit back into those lives. I also knew I planned to work for a while. Well, I had to so I made it my plan; and I knew that would place me back into the day-to-day I so wanted to avoid, faster than anything else could.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Australia and the outdoor lifestyle, I love my family and my friends, I just didn’t ever love the day-to-day grind we fall into or the fact that people worry about the little things and forget to make time to have a bit of fun, to live in the moment – dare I say, noone knows when it may be the last. 

By the way, I felt guilty too. Guilty toward all the people I knew were in Australia looking forward to my return. I did want to spend time with them, I just wanted them to come to me in a different location so I could share some of my excitement and experiences with them. Selfish? Maybe, but it was with good intent.

Sad face-leaving Bangkok

Well, as I said about endings…new beginnings. I put myself on the plane and arrived in Australia with my mind set on what I was doing next. I don’t tend to think in terms of “I might do…,” I tend to think and say out loud, “I’m doing …” That often prompts people to suggest I may be disappointed if things don’t turn out but I laugh at the thought because the way I see it, if I’ve said it, I’ll do it.

I guess my thoughts on being positive are another story for me to tell but let’s just say I think Pollyanna had the right idea in finding a positive side to everything.

So, my new beginning? It’s underway and almost on schedule – my schedule so actually yes, it’s on schedule. I stepped off the plane and said I was staying to work a few months, catch up with everyone then return to the UK by Christmas.

Enjoying the Aussie lifestyle

It took a few weeks longer to find temp work and the rates aren’t as good as they once were (apparently due to the global financial crisis) so I won’t be in the UK for Christmas. The Pollyanna side to that is, I’ll now spend Christmas and New Year with family and friends plus maybe miss the worst of the UK winter by returning in February. You see, it is easy to find a bright side.

 FYI: definition of Pollyanna

(source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Pollyanna )

 Noun – an excessively or blindly optimistic person.

Adjective – Also, Pollyannaish, unreasonably or illogically optimistic: some Pollyanna notions about world peace.

 Origin: from the name of the child heroine created by Eleanor Porter (1868-1920), American writer

Growing up in suburban Perth (Western Australia) was great but I always knew I was a gypsy at heart. In my teens I was thrilled when one of my Aunts, probably inspired by my long dark hair and hoop earrings; decided I looked like a gypsy and that there must be some in our family tree.

Needless to say, that’s never been proved and my idea of gypsies was a romanticised movie version – gorgeous dark haired people who danced & sang their way across the world. The idea of such freedom, going wherever you want, whenever you want, without a care, seemed an ideal existence.

Ideal however, is not often aligned with reality so it was probably no surprise to anyone that I didn’t grow up, leave home and roam the world without a care. My reality became an almost predictable cycle of getting a job, getting married, having a child, getting divorced, starting over and trying to work out what I’d like to do “when I grow up.”

I knew I wanted to roam the world and dreamed of seeing all the places I’d ever heard of, seen in a movie or read about. That’s a lot of places – I read a lot and love the movies.

Although it was hard to imagine how I’d able to live that life, I kept telling myself someday I would. In the meantime, I needed to make a living, raise my son and create the lifestyle I wanted for us.

Making faces

My career choices reflected the battle between my creative and practical self with roles as different as being a makeup artist to co-ordinating business improvement projects whereas my personal life always included dancing, singing and performing in amateur theatre. No, my son does none of those – he’s into basketball and skateboarding.

For many years our lives consisted of mad dashes between work, school, rehearsals, sporting matches and anything else we decided to fit in until suddenly, my son was grown up, working and about to leave home. When I said I needed time to get used to the idea of not seeing him every day, he laughed and said I should be thinking of doing the things I said I’d do when he grew up.

Did I mention that my son is not just good at sport but also smart?

Packing my life into boxes

Once again I found myself starting over. This time, knowing my child was independent, I could choose to live my dream. It’s true the hardest part of any decision is the making of it. Once I’d decided, everything fell into place as if it was always meant to be.

That’s how I became an International Woman of Mystery and set off to see the world.

Over 18 months I saw as much as I could of each place I visited including New Zealand, North America, Mexico, Sweden, India, UK and Europe. My ideal gypsy life was now my reality and I could choose every day, to do whatever I felt like.

Such freedomis amazing and makes it almost impossible to fit back into what everyone at home sees as a normal life. Before I left, most people I know talked about my trip or holiday as if it had a finite time but I knew in my heart it was just the beginning and it would be a long time before I’d want to settle anywhere.

My life in boxes

From my perspective, it wasn’t a holiday, it was a lifestyle change. I no longer feel I need to fit anyone’s ideal except my own and that’s freedom in itself. I do believe the only limitations I have are the ones I set myself as I’m the one who makes the choice to do the things I want to do or just think about them.

My choice for now? I’m going to base myself in the UK so I can travel more frequently before deciding where I might like to settle……for a while.