A little detour from the European Odyssey

Tomorrow we fly to Los Angeles where we will begin our 7 week detour. You might already be aware that we were meant to fly to the US from Oz as the first stop for our trip in April last year but we were rudely interrupted by my hip injury and surgery. It has been a very looooong drawn out rehab and a few weeks ago we decided that it was time to start travelling again. With the US conversion of the Aussie dollar being pretty good, it was a case of ‘what the heck…let’s do it!’ Oh and the fact that we needed and still need sunshine desperately!!

So the plan is….3 days in LA to get our bearings, then we hire a very funky airbrushed campervan for 28 days which we will drive north along the California coast to San Francisco, visit the wine regions, then drive back down through the national parks (Yosemite etc), head to Las Vegas & the Grand Canyon, San Diego (and all the places in between). We will be back in LA or the surrounding area for a few days before we fly to New York where we will spend about 12 days, then fly back to the UK. So…7 weeks in total and a lot of detail to fill in which we will try and do along the way. With a campervan as our accommodation and transport for most of the time, our access to the internet will be limited, but we will do our best to keep you updated.

Sal

The bittersweet part of travel

What is it you ask? It’s the people you meet and feel like you’ve known for years…and if you have the opportunity to spend any length of time with them, you become lifelong friends. In moving on to the next adventure, it’s not easy to leave these people behind, to say goodbye (for now) and hope that there will be an opportunity to meet again. We have extended invitations for people to visit us in Australia and we hope they will, but in leaving there is always that thought of ‘will we actually see you again’? We definitely hope so, but we also know that life has so many twists and turns that anything can happen! For now, we will just treasure the time we have spent with a beautiful bunch of people. You know who you are. We hope you hold up your end of the bargain and come visit us in Oz!

Sal

‘Going as our gizzards guide us….’

Before travelling life was fairly predictable. I got up in the morning, had my coffee, had a shower, got dressed, left for work and caught the same 723F bus every weekday into the city…. basically same s**t, different day. I was talking with a work friend the other day on some of these thoughts, which he quoted ‘without making any big decisions in life, the future is just the past with the light turned on…’

Since travelling, life has been as unpredictable as asking you to guess how many fingers I’m holding up in a pitch-black room. You just don’t know what’s going to happen from one moment to the next. But since we have started working and getting back into somewhat of a routine you find yourself becoming a little settled and comfortable again. A place that is likeable. I’m not so sure for me anymore. I love the fact that a couple of months ago, one day we woke up and said ‘Lets go to the US!’ and booked everything in a week. Just went as our gizzards guided us; went with our gut.

Since booking our next leg to the US and giving up our jobs, I’m beginning to feel a bit nervous about the unknown again. But I would have to say I am finding myself embracing unfamiliarity easier than the mundane. I am warming more to the ‘excited-scared’ feeling and somewhat wanting to be in that place all the time. I often think about how I will feel when I get home. Do I want to settle down again or continue with the adventure? Do I want to go back to my old job or pursue a career that revolves around lifestyle; something that I am passionate about and involving little stress but having the element of the less predictable? All I know is my thinking is not as small as it once was and that I don’t want to continue on with life in mere existence as once before.

I would like to open this up for discussion so if you have anything to add or share, feel free to post something.

Tim

Eat Mangoes Naked

Yes, eating mangoes naked would be very random and a little bit crazy but that is exactly what I want to become more of! I bought a book the other day with this title and read it cover to cover in a day – absolutely brilliant and exactly what I needed! It’s all about experiencing pleasure, which is all around us, not only in the obvious places but hidden in the crevices and dark places of our lives as well.

So, now I am reminded of the big ‘why’ behind selling everything, quitting an amazing job and moving my life overseas. I am inspired again to completely let go and to truly experience all that this journey has to offer. Yes, I value pleasure, enjoyment, creativity, appreciating the simple things in life, but I’m not very good at putting these values into practice - of just being, stopping long enough, allowing myself the time to appreciate those simple things. The messages we often get from a very young age and from various sources tell us that if we’re not being productive or doing something for someone else we are wasting time, lazy or simply selfish. This is why I often feel guilty or restless for simply enjoying myself for no other reason than because I can! Honestly though, what is actually wrong with spending time doing things that may seem pointless to the rest of the world but they are things you love to do!? Nothing!! In fact, what use are we to anyone else if we haven’t first learned to nurture ourselves!!

So in a nutshell….one of my challenges on this journey is to look for those simple pleasures in the ups and the downs and allow myself to fully experience them without judgement or hesitation. And of course those pleasures will involve being a bit silly every now and then…..or maybe a bit more often than that!

Sunbaking at Tescos

A miracle happened today – the sun shone on us with enough intensity to actually feel it’s warmth! Yes, if you’re familiar with the English winter, you will know that it is indeed a miracle! It is a very bizarre thing, to go outside on a very sunny day with blue sky, but to feel nothing but bloody freezing in your body – absolutely no sunshine to be felt, even though it is shining ever so brightly! There have been a few times when I have ventured outside with excitement because I’ve seen blue sky and sunshine from the comfort of my living room window, only to be completely let down and confused about why it is still so cold! Well today on our lunch break, we ACTUALLY felt the sun on our skin as we walked out of Tescos (English supermarket). We were stopped in our tracks, sat on a rail and soaked in the warm rays. Ok, so I’m being really corny, but honestly I have been craving that feeling so much and the winter blues have been really getting to me! I think I can speak for Tim too when I say this, that it has affected him just as much! We have discovered, that this is a country we could definitely not live in permanently simply because of the weather! As we move into the end of Winter, we welcome the days where you can get up at 8am with there being light outside and the sun still up and shining after 4pm. It’s time for a season change!