What would YOU do if time and money were unlimited?

Hello peeps!

Hoooooot today in Ubud so I thought I would hide in an internet cafe for a couple of hours and soak up the air con - together with the cigarette smoke and the smell of burning incense in the shrine next to my head...! What's not to love?!

Anyway - back to the topic at hand...

After a while being on the road, I realised the conversations I have when first meeting new people are almost on a set script:

So, where are you from?

Me - Hey, how are you?
New person - I'm alright thanks. You?
Me - I'm all good! Where are you from?
New person - I'm from X. Where are you from?
Me - I'm from a French Island in the Caribbean.
New person - Wow, the Caribbean? Where about?
Me - Martinique.
New person - You must be so used to the heat / You must be so cold!

Me - I live in London now, so not used to the heat anymore / still not used to the cold! 

Then it goes something like:
How long have you been here?
You traveling on your own too?
Are you on holidays or traveling around?
Where have you been before?
How much longer have you got?
Where are you going next?

 It would usually stop there, either because this was all it needed to be, a fleeting meeting whilst waiting for my pasta to cook, or because I - or they - could not be bothered to keep the conversation going further. And that is fine. It is one of the perks/curses of traveling, you can just walk away from a conversation and no one will be offended. Well as long as you do it politely that is!

But when I got to spend some time with someone, and I wanted to know them a bit more than just the superficial stuff, I started to ask this one more question: What would you do it time and money were unlimited?

I was expecting to get all sorts of crazy answers to that one like but no. What I got mostly was - I would quit my job and go traveling around the world.

I was really taken aback! It is true that most people I met were traveling for up to 6 months, a few had been away for a year and a handful for over a year like me. I can count on the fingers of one hand the ones away for more than two years. So most of the people I got to ask this question were going back to their 'normal life' after the trip.

They had a taste of traveling but still thought you need to have an unlimited amount of time and cash to go away for long.

Sorry, what?

Let me break you the news then - You don't.

Let me repeat that slower - You. Don't.

You do not need to be Bill Gates. I am certainly not even if I wish I was, yet I am doing what 90% of all people said they would do.

Don't get me wrong, I did not just wake up one day, packed my bags and took the first plane to wherever. No, that would have been a very silly thing to do!

I did my research on the places I wanted to go, I saved like a mad squirrel for 4 years and I had to find a friend who would agreed to collect my mail for the time I was away. And I quit my job, booked my first ticket, bought a backpack and hope I put the stuff in it.

More importantly - I took the decision to go, to do something for myself, be completely selfish and foolish, to put myself in harm's way. But I TOOK THE DECISION.

I could have stayed at the planning/saving stage forever, coming up every day with a good reason why I should not go now. But all these months traveling showed me that there are no 'good' reasons...

'What about money?'
Save up a bit and go. You can always pick up some odd jobs to get cash in or work in exchange for food and board. Working Holiday Visas are widely offered and if you're too old to apply, you can always work under the radar!

'I can quit my job now, what about my career?'
A job is a job is a job. There will always be one for you to take when you go back. Might not be the same, but if you are seriously considering going, something tells me your career is not your #1 priority right now...

'I have got a morgage/credit to pay off'
If you have got a morgage, you have got a house or flat you can rent while you are away. That means the house or flat can pay for itself. I you have got credit, save up some more and see if you can get away with lower monthly repayments. Then work as you go to support yourself while traveling.

'I can't get time off work'
That one is easy - quit the damn job!

'Wait, I have got a family. I can't go traveling with kids'
I have met many families traveling, some with very small children, even a lady on her own with two small ones! I will not say it will be easy every day, but it is possible. You will not be able to slum it like a 20-something German boy, you will be able to go places.

'I have never been away on my own'
News flash - me neither. I had never even been to a restaurant on my own before this trip. I am still alive and well, thank you :)

There is never going to be enough time, enough money, enough freedom to go traveling. Or to do anything else for that matter. This is true only if you let the 'good' reasons stop you.

But if YOU TAKE THE DECISION, if you do, then believe me, you are in for a treat!

So go on, go traveling, go back to uni study medicine, have that baby - whatever it is, once you take the decision, everything will fall into place.

Because YOU are enough when you have made up your mind :)

Nothing can stop you but yourself

One these good words, it is time for me to go for lunch!
Bye :)

Warning - Deep thinking about life and other things...

Hello peeps!

I finally got my backpack last w.e and my ticket for the Caribbean this week. I have also confirmed my visits here and there with friends and family. And I am looking up casual work opportunities to earn some pennies whilst lounging it on the beach :)

So this is it, I am all set to go! One small detail - I still have got 3wks to go in the office. Which brings me to a bit of reflection today - sorry in advance for the page long post!

My company requires us leavers to give at least 3 months notice, so I handed out my resignation back in August. For the whole month of September, I was still giving it 300%, staying in late, even working on Sundays. Then October came, together with an increasingly difficult ability to focus on the petty fights, back stabbing, finger pointing and similar cr@p happening around me. Now November is here and I am in my last 3wks of working routine.

Three months is a long time. I handed out my notice in August, but my decision to go was taken a good couple of months before, and I have been toying with the idea for at least 2-3yrs. So all in all, I have been gone, at least in my head, for something like half a year already.

There are good points and bad points to this situation.

The good:

- It's been 6 months I have stopped being stressed at work.

- So it's been 6 months I am more efficient in my work - believe it or not!

- I sleep better and wake up with a smile on my face.

- It's been 6 months I stepped out of the office politics game - again, much better for my own sanity.

- I can now see things with a new perspective and can pin point where processes are letting the business down - therefore where improvements can be made.

- I can bring a breeze of fresh air to my teammates and pick them up with my positive energy.

Now the bad:

- It's been 6wks I find it difficult to focus on the little details. Most of the time there is no detrimental effect on my work, but sometimes, things can end up a bit behind. That said, things still got to slip when I was like a hawk on every single useless details of a project because of the clutter it was causing in my little head.

- I am becoming increasingly selfish in my approach to things, and not always offering to help. I know - baaaad - but as a result I don't get drawn into activities which are not within my area of responsibility and would therefore only end up diluting my time even more. Something to do with too few people, too much to do...

- I am now trying to get other people in the office to do something for themselves - very baaad from the company point of view!

And the ugly: people could be dropping dead around me on my last day in a bid to make me stay longer, but I would just step over them on my way to the door and say bye!

In a nutshell - I am a much more efficient, approachable and motivating team member. How sad is it that I have become an A-star worker because I know that I am leaving soon.

Maybe the secret is to give your notice - at least in your head - as soon as you start a new job. The good in my list far outweigh the bad, which is only bad if you don't care about the well being of people in the workplace.

My learning though is there is no secret. Life is too short to waste any of it - not even a few months. You should ONLY do the things DECIDE to do.

If you are unhappy in a job, then you should move on and find a new one you will happy in. Why stay somewhere for the sake of being able to moan about the job or the company? You wont get any of the good from my - very short - list, whereas the bad will only add up.

However if you DECIDE to be somewhere, then make sure:

1. It is a job/company that you really choose to be in. We have all heard the old story - recession, I need money and I will die in the gutter if I don't take this job. But aside from a handful of life or death situation, nobody EVER had to take a job. Stop the bullcr@p and man up for goodness sake!

2. You wake up everyday with a smile on your face because you will be going to do something you enjoy and strive for.

3. And because work is only part of the day - make some time for yourself every day and do something that makes you feel good. Again, we all know the old story - need 25hrs in the day to fit it all, what about the kids and house cleaning, I am shattered when I leave the office, it is dark outside, I am broke - but, seriously? Do you really believe that?

Now go and enjoy, because you never know what is coming your way.

Living out of a suitcase

Hello peeps!

This week my journey has well and truly started.

I moved out of my flat on Tuesday and moved into a friend's spare room. It was a bit of a shock when I got there.

All my life packed in 3 suitcases, 3 bags and 4 boxes, fighting for space among my friend's stuff, a single bed on one side and the pump in the fish tank promising to turn me insane in the middle of the night if I don't switch it off. That, and the uncertainty of what the next year and a half will bring.

Was tough. Real tough. I actually cried. Life as I knew it was over and a new life I know nothing about was begining.

After the first couple of nights, things are feeling a lot more settled.
Wake up around 7am, courtesy of the 3 kids upstairs running around.
New shower routine - don't forget the bathrobe... would be best to avoid any unfortunate incident...
Wi-fi detox - that one is still bringing tears to my eyes! I def need to get them a router :(
New parking spot in the street.

But also - starting to feel this trip shaping up and becoming real.

I will be leaving the UK in 7wks. There no time to sit around and hope for the best.

It will be the best because I will make it the best.Simple as that.

It's just that I might spend the w.e in my bathrobe not doing much... one needs to enjoy the quiet house before the kids come back on Monday morning!!!

:)

The clock is now ticking

Hello peeps!

This whole "I'm off traveling next year" thing is starting to get very real now. The countdown has started and I now have exactly 2 months until the end of my life as know it.
 
In a week's time, I will be officially homeless. So from next Sunday, I will be lodging at a friend's, waiting for the first part of the trip - 2 months back home in the Caribbean in December/January.

I will be back in the UK in February to finish my visa applications, then I will be off again early March for 11 months.


Moving out, planning the trips and manage tensions at work whilst dealing with the pain from my recent break-up - stress factor is definitely cranked up into red zone. I am even starting to question whether I took the right decision. Maybe now was not the right time to change everything.


The clock is definitely ticking a little bit faster now - but at the moment it feels more like a bomb timer than anything else.

:(

Lost and found

Hello peeps!

Long time no posted, I know.I was a bit lost in the land of broken hearts, but I saw the light, brothers and sisters, and I am back!

Back for more, (slimmer), better, stronger :)

A few things have happened since my last post:

1. I am confident I will be able to survive India.
Laugh as you might, but I was actually thinking maybe I could just skip this part of the trip... Fear of the unknown and all - all cleared up with a bit research and planning.

2. I have found a travel buddy for my first stop in the Maldives
On some forum, jetting off with a new found travel buddy is compared to getting married after one blind date... and thus, should be avoided at all cost! However, for someone who has never even been on holidays on my own, going on the road for a year on my own was a little (a lot) daunting (blooming freaking me out!).
So I decided to take a transitional step between "never been on holidays on my own" and "yeah baby, bring it on" and meet up in the Maldives with a random girl I meet on lonely planet!

3. I looked for a backpack - and gave up... for now :(
I have been looking for a backpack and a wash bag this week. Who would have known there were so many brands/colours/sizes/fits to choose from?? Well I didn't so I have parked this one until later!

4. Couchsurfing seems to work
I have posted - and received invites from a few people in Bangalore and Goa. The best bit - not all of them look like they would chop me up and have me for aperitif!

5. I am resilient and things WILL get better
This one is more related to the broken heart stuff, but also applies to my travels. I am been going back and forth between come back and f*ck off, but this is it. I am taking back control of my life. How can I expect to go off for 12months and come back in one piece if I cannot even decide what is good for myself?
It hurts, but it is for the best - for myself :)

That's it for now lovely people.

More to follow on my new buddy... Let's see if she passes the Angela Test!

Travel safe.

OMG - What am I doing???

Hello peeps!

I woke up this morning with a thought - more like a question to myself: what the hell am I doing?

I just quit a steady job, with a good wage and I am about to throw away a life in a safe and stable country to go traveling on my own to places I don't know.

Hence the question - WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING???

I know I am following my heart on this. I am doing something I really want to do - but it is the biggest and scariest thing I have ever done!

Me, on the road like a hobo, sleeping in hostels and sharing facilities with at least another 3 people, not always girls! Me of all people - those who know me must be wondering if I haven't lost my mind.

But despite the cold sweat this morning, it feels good when I am talking about my plan. It males me smile. It makes me immune to the stress at work. Even my dad gave me the thumbs ups today - he has definitely lost his mind that one!

So I will look at all this scariness right in the eye and embrace it. Because I think it means I am alive. And it is always a bit scary to be alive.
Well that - and put together a bullet proof escape plan in case everything goes wrong so I can get back home in one piece. Thank you BA :)

I am smiling again. So it must be good :)