peace play passion - 3 things we could all use some more of!
(originally posted on October 31, 2017)
the next 6 months are inspired by a couple of my life’s mottos: “the world is my oyster” and “yolo”. i will be living this adventure to the absolute fullest, saying “no” to nothing, and frolicking my way across the globe. the plan is to break up my time into 3 main themes (eat pray love style): peace, play, and passion. i have a few commitments that i will for sure be hitting up (cough - Macklemore concert in Melbourne) but other than that, basically down to go wherever the wind takes me!
–Peace - Rwanda
my bestie Tommy lives here with his sister Christine, who is launching a coffee business called goss coffee. they say the lifestyle there is very peaceful, very easy, the people are lovely despite a very recent unpeaceful past. Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills and the landscape looks beautiful and lush. i can’t wait to soak it all up, see what Tommy and Christine have been up to, read my book on their hammock, explore, and you better believe i am yoloing on a gorilla trek. i can’t freakin wait.
Play - Southeast Asia & Australia
i have a pet peeve of the cliche se asia trip (wow you went to a full moon party, you are so cultured tell me more) but i figured might as well see what the fuss is about! i don’t have much of a plan but i am thinking of frolicking on the beaches of Thailand, getting my diving license, meeting lots of new friends. Christie is having the world’s most epic bachelorette (aka Borchelorette) in Bali which is #1 on my bucket list, so that will be a BLAST and will wrap up Asia in early-mid Jan.then it’s off to Melbourne where 2 of my funniest friends live (like, my 2 friends who make me lol to tears), Dan and Andrew. the lols will be a huge contribution to this Play leg, and it will be nice to be in a clean, normal, Vancouver-esque city after a few months of backpacking.
Passion - Paris
my goal has always been to live in Paris before i turn 30. it is my favourite city, as anyone who has been to my apartment will be able to tell you (based off of my Eiffel Tower-shaped cheese grater, soap dispensers x2, Paris pillow, etc etc). i have been to Paris three times but only for short visits, and i really want to experience life as a Parisian and learn the ins and outs of the city. basically i want to live the life of my fave blogger, parisinfourmonths.
the ish with moving to Paris is, i love my life in Vancouver - my family is nearby, i love my job, love my apartment in Kits, love my FiFi. i also have a maj travel bug that i wasn’t sure posting up in one city would fix. so i thought this ppp project would be a nice happy medium between getting to live abroad, but splitting the trip between a few places, scratching that travel itch, and getting away for a decent chunk of time with 6 months.
–why did i decide to do this? 2 main reasons:
guaranteed happiness
on my 28th bday i was pondering the year ahead and how to make it a great one. Raincouver can get a wee bit depressing in the winter especially when you’re single. i’m certainly not getting any younger but instead of spending this year hoping to find happiness through meeting someone (which i have no control over), i have decided to take my happiness into my own hands and make sure this year is a 12/10 on my own terms. which for me, is done through travel!!
getting out of my comfort zone
last summer i went to Rio for the Olympics, but i don’t think i would have made the trip over if it weren’t for Martha swimming. all i heard was Rio was sketchy and Zika-infested - i basically went fully expecting to get mugged. but i ended up having the time of my LIFE, and fell in love with the city. after that everywhere else in the world was calling me with open arms.
when i was first contemplating ppp my bff Tom reminded me of when him and Tommy rented scooters in Hvar, Croatia, but i just wanted to stay back and beach it. this may have had something to do with the last time i was on a scooter, which resulted in me driving into prickle bushes in Puerto Vallarta (lol sorry mom). but they made me come along on a scoot ride and it was the most glorious sunset ride through the cliffs of Croatia, complete with a delicious dinner at a little town called Stari Grad. i was so glad they forced me to come. so it’s settled, stepping out of your comfort zone does pay off!!
–Tom set up this website, so i am going to try keeping a travel journal mainly to have all my memories of the trip in one place instead of burying them down my insta feed. in case anyone cares to follow along and read, i want to send a few shout outs - to my mom for not only tolerating but encouraging me to go on a crazy adventure even though i know she’s scared i will maybe yolo a bit TOO hard; my whole fam including Barney and Keira who i am going to miss sosososo much; to my friends for the love and well wishes; my Talk Shop fam for letting me be a Millennial and come home to a job with all my beloved colleagues; and anyone that has ever yoloed/moved abroad/followed their dreams and stepped out of their comfort zone, for inspiring me to dive headfirst into this adventure.
thanks for reading!! <3