Half way trough the trip - time to set the record right

Hello peeps!

How time goes quickly - almost 10 months ago I was setting off to the Caribbean to start my adventure! To put it another way, if I got pregnant instead of going traveling I would have a 1 month old squirming, crying and pooping little person in my life now. And by the time I finish my travels in 8 months time, that little person would be pushing a first if not second tooth!

So cute - but not for me right now

With a child, it is obvious which changes my life would have gone trough - more responsible and wiser me, hopefully in a stable relationship if not married, settled and au fait of the latest baby proofing trend.

Instead, people think I am on a permanent holidays, lounging around all day and dreading the time I will come back to a proper job, if I come back at all. This is not only completely false, it is also rather hurtful.

True, I took the decision to go traveling around the world and I made sure to include a lot of time by the beach. But I also gave up a lot. When living out of a backpack for any length of time and sharing room and toilet with a bunch of people you don't know you get a much better understanding of what creature comforts mean.

Not sure where or how

True again, I don't have a proper job. But I am not lounging around all day. I might have the odd day off once in a while - yes you do need some even when traveling - but the rest of the time is pretty far from an endless day on the bean bags in the TV room or toasting both sides on the beach!

True still, I am dreading the day I will have to head back to London. And yes, I am scared as hell with the prospect of going back on the job hunt. I left a good job with a good pay, however I know I don't want to go back to the same thing - but I don't know what I should do instead. So I am not scared of getting a job, I am scared of not knowing which job I should get.

It sometimes rain in paradise

True true true, I have considered not coming back at all.  All seems a lot nicer in the sun, but I am not kidding myself. The little things that make a holidays so memorable are sometimes the exact same things that make living somewhere a perfect nightmare - paying twice as much for something than a local, simply because you don't look local, or maybe having the questions "Yes massage?" or "Where you go? You want taxi?" repeated again and again and again really start grating the wrong way after a while!

Also, I now realise how great a place the UK is. Yes there are some idiots hell bent on making your life a misery there, but they are the minority. The overwhelming majority is what makes Britain great - this is the place I now call home and will eventually go back to.

But this is not all. You see, people only stop at the obvious misconceptions and fail to grasp that I am as different as the girl that sat in that plane 10 months ago than if I had a baby instead of traveling.

For starters, I lost a bit of weight and cut my hair short. My accent when I speak English is further and further away from the standard Frenchie's - I have been told it's American, Canadian and English but never French :)
I am much better at haggling and rather shameless at walking past some annoying taxi driver or massage lady without even answering. I am more than comfortable walking in a restaurant and asking a table for 1 with all the trimmings. And I have even perfected the slow shuffling required to navigate markets aka the 'look around but don't stop otherwise the stall owner will jump on you offering discounts for something you don't want"...

It gets even better...

New me, happy bunny :)

The frowning and unhappy wrinkles seems to disappear and are replaced by the laughing ones :)
My diet is a lot healthier - I eat much more than my 5 a day and it doesn't any effort to do so. Less meat and dairy products, more rice, not wheat and very little junk food. At least 2L of water every day.
I go to bed early and wake up early, even if I sometimes go right back in bed!


When I set out on this trip, I told myself there would only be 2 simple rules:
1. Challenge myself my view of things.
2. Do things differently than how I would normally do them.

I have so far followed these rules and as a result I am now a diving addict, yoga fan, not so adverse to vegetarian food and even been called a hippie!

And still 8 months to go...

So please - next time you talk to someone doing something you think is silly or a waste of time, challenge your view and instead of writing them off as beach bums, do something different and talk to them. You might be surprised what journey they are on and how far they've come...

Bye for now!

I don't have all the answers. How I look for them is as good a way as any other.