I'm Moving to Europe!!

The last month has been an absolute whirlwind. 

Right now I am supposed to be a wife. A barefooted housewife pottering around the kitchen preparing dinner for my hubby in a humble log cabin nestled in a tiny town in South Africa.

When I envision this, I am already one month pregnant. Probably a son. 

I'd have called him Maverick (no, not after the strip club which said hubby would more than likely frequent... after a wave. A very big wave to surf in California. There's the surfer girl coming out in me!)

Instead, I am more free than I have ever been.

"Don't ask her why she needs to be so free... she will tell you it is the only way to be."

I have paid off all of my debt, snipped up my account cards, resigned from my job of three years, given notice at my gorgeous flat where I can lie in bed and listen to the ocean roaring at night. I opened up my life savings and instead of doing what I normally do (buying flights to some exotic paradise like Siargao in the Philippines for a little traveling holiday,) I spent the majority of the money on training courses and medical examinations which I have now completed, leaving me fully qualified to go and work on yachts and cruise ships! 

I made some absolutely wonderful friends during the two weeks of training and we all became very close:   

From there, everything happened so fast that I am still trying to catch my breath. 

I landed a job on a drop dead gorgeous yacht with what seems like an amazingly friendly crew and the next thing I knew, my one way flight to Italy was booked. 

I fly out in exactly 21 days (whose counting?) and have to work at the gallery practically every day until the day before I fly. Hard work pays off though. Always remember that. 

Should it stress you out that at 25 your life is starting completely anew? 

Is it stressful that I now have no home, no address and will be living out of my suitcase as I travel the Med all Summer long (probably even indefinitely), working hard as a stewardess along the way?

Maybe it is. 

Maybe it should be stressful... 

But it's not. 

Because this is what I have always wanted. 

I am extremely excited to crack open the spine of my beautifully decorated travel journal and document my experiences both working as a stewardess on a yacht and also to focus my attention back onto the travel section of this blog. 

I adore sharing my travel stories and photos with people who are just as passionate about travel as I am.

I love reading other travellers stories and become so inspired by their words and moments captured through a lens. 

So I guess all I have to say is....

holy SHIT guys! I'm moving to Europe!!!

21 days and counting.

Bye bye South Africa.

Hong Kong and Cebu

Hello from the Philippines! 

During my 9 hour layover in Hong Kong

It’s been a mad journey to get here from South Africa so far, from being sandwiched between one belching and one farting passenger on the long-haul flight from SA to Hong Kong, a 9 hour layover in Hong Kong International Airport, a two hour flight delay to reach Cebu in the Philippines and then finally after over 48 hours of pure travel checking in to a swanky hotel for the evening. I literally sunk into the bed like it was a marshmallow… after bathing in this ginormous tub wrapped in marble.

I’ll start my highlights from the beginning. 

It truly amazes me just how helpful, friendly and warm people are to you while your traveling. In the past two days I made some lovely travel friends by complete accident. One was this wild purple-haired Jozzie girl on her way to LA. We got chatting in the queue as we waited to board the flight to Hong Kong and instantly hit it off. We spoke about what we imagined Hong Kong to be like and where we were off to. It was a great way to ease the riddled nerves because I’m not sure if you know this but no matter how often I catch flights around the world, that doesn’t make flying any less daunting for me. Yip…. I am 100% absolutely petrified of planes. Once on board we parted ways, being seated in different aisles on the plane and never saw each other again. 

I did see three lovely glasses of complimentary white wine though (also a fabulous easer for the nerves) and got stuck into season 21 of America’s Next Top Model. 

I flew with Cathay Pacific and was totally impressed right from the start. The Chinese air-hostesses are gorgeous and classy, extremely helpful and wonderful. 
The food! I've never enjoyed airplane food so much! We had a choice out of three equally delicious meals, I chose a steamed jasmine rice chicken curry with cashew nuts. Amazing!

The onboard entertainment was great, with some of the latest films (for South Africa anyway…) like The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. There were so many great TV shows to choose from too and games like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (I managed to score 8,000.00 Pounds but then got a question wrong and left with only 1,000. Sniff.).

Gigantic spicy Korean lunch

Finally arriving in Hong Kong International Airport, it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Having been in Singapore airport (jaw-dropping) I’d imagined Hong Kong’s airport to be somewhat similar. I found it to be pretty boring actually. The shops were minimal as were the choices in places to eat. I finally cozied down at The Food Plaza where I ordered a spicy Korean noodle dish. Be warned!!! It comes in a portion big enough to feed a family of four or more! It's pretty pricey but for the size it's worth it! Especially if you're lucky enough to be traveling with someone and you can share it, if you aren't a germ-a-phob or anything...

They also didn’t have knives and forks so I spent the better part of two hours slurping up my noodles one strand at a time. I think the Chinese people all around me were cackling in their heads at my inability to pick anything up. 

After about five hours of my layover, the jet lag finally got the better of me so I wondered off to a row of waiting seats and spread myself out across it, sleeping on my bags because I was traveling alone and didn't want anything being tampered with while I had a kip. 

The jetlag was rough...

I’d been trying really hard to not go into duty free no matter how minimalistic it seemed because my holiday hadn’t even begun yet - but honestly, after seven hours there is literally nothing else to do. Michael Kors’ and Marc Jacobs’ names lured me into the first shop where I drooled for the longest time over purses and handbags that I knew i couldn’t afford. A girl can dream though, right? 

Duty Free

That's one thing I found about Hong Kong - it is ridiculously expensive. A normal coffee cost me R 50.00 which is probably not much for people earning dollars or pounds, I think it's less than 50p for you guys, but for us that's criminal! The exchange rate for us South African's is dismal. 

Eventually after nearly nine hours of waiting my gate number to board my flight to the Philippines was released and I made my way to board the plane. Disappointment flooded through me when I realised the flight had been delayed for an hour so I went to the nearest restaurant by gate 65, I think it was called Nosh, and ordered a take away glass of wine. Yes! Take away wine!!!

While I sipped on my plastic cup of icy white wine I got chatting to what I’d thought was a Philippines mother and daughter. They were so sweet and interested right from the start. The husband came to find them after a while and it turns out he’s Norwegian, married to this incredible Filipino woman, so their daughter was the most interesting mixture. 

Anyway… this Filipino woman took me under her wing as her own for the duration of the flight into Philippines and then even escorted me to my hotel across the street, making sure I was safe and checked in before they headed on their way. I am overwhelmed by her kindness and am so grateful that there are people like that in the world. I wish I’d taken their names and kept in touch, but the jetlag was still destroying me and all I could think of was bed. 

To have a bath and wash after two days of travel was heavenly. My shoulders were aching from lugging my 8kg suitcase around with me everywhere I went. God knows what I've put in there... I'm almost positive my dads hidden a couple of bricks in the secret pockets just to laugh at me! :)

The bed, as I already told you about, was literal heaven. No exaggeration. The definition of class, comfort and relaxation. 

The hotel I stayed at was right across the road from the Mactan Cebu Airport, at the Waterfront. I'm really disappointed that I didn't get more time there. They have an after hours spa, live musicians, a casino, a pool and a menu that looked mouth-watering. The staff were just perfect. I've only spent a handful of hours in the Philippines so far but people here are so much more friendly and helpful than anywhere else in the world. It's also HOT! Like, really hot, which I LOVE!!! I'm a bit of a warmth-whore. Whether it be the sun, a fireplace, a heater, an electric blanket, a water-bottle, a sauna room... that's when I'm at my happiest. Warm.
I'd been checking out the weather forecast for days and the temperatures read 26-29 degrees but it honestly feels like 35+. It's so humid, I wasn't expecting it at all.
Blissed out completely....

*The hotel only accepts credit cards or Philippine Pesos though so if you stay there make sure to convert your dollars to Pesos beforehand. 

That about wraps it up to this point. I’m now sitting back in the Cebu airport after a 4am wake-up call to catch my flight to a paradise island an hour away. 

My flights been delayed for over two hours - pretty pissed because I could have used the extra couple of hours sleep and perhaps a swim in the hotel pool I didn’t even get a chance to see… but travel is unpredictable and such is life. 

I’ll updated you all again soon. 

Love from Cebu.

February Favorites

Hi everyone!

Are you all sitting cozy with your coffee / tea / hot chocolate or wine??? 

Good... 

I hope you enjoy my post today. 

It's just a little look into my February. Which was CRAAAAAAAZY by the way!

I hope you all had an excellent month too and look forward to hearing what exciting things happened to you throughout the month in the comments below! 

Favorite Purchases:

I found my bikini for Bali and Philippines!!!

I fell so in love with this little number I just couldn't resist the splurge... can't wait to pack it in my suitcase and head off for Southeast Asia!

Eeeeek!





I also FINALLY found my leather backpack that I've been hunting for... and got it at an absolute BARGAIN!!!
The money went towards a good cause too.
I found this little guy while stumbling around town in a pair of painful heels with no soles! I'd crept into this tiny store called Eye Love to give my feet a break when I spotted a leather backpack jammed into the corner window.

It was love at first sight.
And now it's going to be slung across my shoulders when I backpack through Southeast Asia in a few months time!

Favorite thing to do in my spare time:

The ocean is my safe haven. Every chance I get I am down on the shore, digging my bare feet into the sand and enjoying some down time. 

Favorite Photograph:

I took this one evening while the sun was setting over the rolling hills of the beautiful town I am lucky enough to call home.

Favorite Reads:

I started reading A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen. 

I never denied being a crazy cat lady..........

Book review on A Street Cat Named Bob HERE.



I've also been loving lazy Sunday's kicking back with a cup of tea and reading up about Indonesia... My flight's in 4 months time!!!!

Favorite Exercise:

I started Crossfit. 

That is what I look for before Crossfit....

And this is what I look like afterwards:

An absolute sweat monster!

Favorite Laugh:

For anyone who does Crossfit, I'm pretty sure this picture is self-explanatory.



Oh! I also had this pic posted onto my Facebook timeline from my best friend, Lucien... I think tea actually came out of my nose I laughed so hard:



(Every bit of that screams Jade!)

Favorite Decision:

Just over a month ago, I made the decision to stop drinking.

Not altogether... but I decided to cut back a lot. 

It had gotten to a stage where I would open a bottle of wine every single night and in the end I just got sick of it. 

It started making me miserable. 

It was effecting my mind and my body and so I took a stand. 

I replaced alcohol with Crossfit and stuck to teas, hot chocolate, WATER and Bloody Mary's without any vodka in during the evenings. 

I drank only a handful of times this month and all were for good reasons. 

The first glass of wine I had in February was on Wednesday the 4th to celebrate that I'd just booked my flights to the Philippines and Bali!

Another time I indulged in a glass of red (note how I don't say bottle?!) was on my granny's last night in South Africa before she headed back to Scotland.

I just want wine to be special. 

I don't want drinking to be a routine in my life - and I think I'm doing pretty great so far!

Favorite Surprise:

I had a really, really shitty day at the beginning of the month and to cheer me up, an old friend surprised me at work with a gorgeous photograph he'd taken that reminded him of me and he also stuck on a sneaky chocolate! 

Why did I have such a shitty day???? Because I got attacked by a wet wipe box and almost lost my finger! 

I kid you not. 

My finger got stuck inside that thing and two guys had to cut it off me with pocket knives!!!!!

You can't take me anywhere..........



Another cool surprise that happened to me in February was finding my mums old polaroid camera!
I haven't managed to get the film for it yet (it's going to be quite pricey!) but once I've got some spare cash lying around I can't wait to play with this guy!

Favorite Moment:

When I realized that even though there was no electricity, I could prevail. 

I had a fully charged laptop, an internet dongle to connect to blog world and a gas stove to boil some water in order to make some plunger coffee!

Success!

Favorite Times With Friends:



Cooking my best friend, Lucien, a big seafood dinner and having a cozy night in watching horror movies!

Favorite Feeling:




Being comfortable in my baggy pj's and sweat-pants, no makeup and reading glasses on while pottering around the house.
No need to impress anyone... just 'ou naturel' and chilling OUT....
Such a great feeling over the weekends rather than caking up in makeup and slipping into tight clothes and going out partying, spending all your money.

Instead, I've been reading books and enjoying time at home with my cats and dogs.

Pure BLISS.



Oh yeah.... also treating myself to the occasional glass of wine in the evenings was lovely. I've certainly cut back A LOT... and I can feel the difference already.

Just loving life!


Favorite Spoils:




It was Valentines Day - and this year I decided to spoil myself a bit... OK, A LOT!!!

I bought myself a super cool Go Pro Hero 4 Silver which I haven't had the opportunity to use properly yet because I still need a few of the goodies like 'floaty backdoors' and stuff. I also still need to put a hole into my surfboard so that I can finally get some epic photos of me surfing (well, I like to think they're going to be epic anyway!).
But soon enough I'll put my Go Pro to use and share all the awesome images I capture with you!!!

I also bought myself a lovely book which I'm currently over half way through - I'll feature more of it in next months posts... but just know that it is AMAZING and if you haven't read Wild by Cheryl Strayed then you need to go and find yourself a copy immediately! Especially if you love the outdoors and have a case of Wanderlust!

To make the entire month PERFECT, I used some of the money I have been saving for YEARS now on plane tickets to Bali and Philippines!
It's 100-ish days until I pack up my suitcase, throw a leather backpack over my shoulders and catch a flight out of here!!!

Favorite Activity:





I attended an Angel Connection retreat out on a farm in Rheenendaal and it was nothing short of amazing.
Read more about it HERE.


Favorite Auntie Moment:

Seeing this little guy growing up!
He's getting so big and strong - my heart cannot contain the love!!

Favorite Goal:




I've been editing The Other Woman as much as I possibly can over the month of Feb but as you can see, it's been a pretty crazy month!!!

It is nearly finished though and I hope to have it all polished and ready to go by the end of March!

My goal was to have the book be ready and available by my birth month, May... but now I have a feeling it may just be ready before then!

I'm going to be pushing towards finding an agent now too... I have one in mind based in London who I've already been in contact with. It's all a bit daunting because you have to supply cover letters and a synopsis of your work which has never been one of my strong suits and the thing is that if the agent doesn't like your cover letter or the synopsis then they won't even take a peak at the actual manuscript!!
I think that is what makes me choke. Knowing it rests on those two things... gulp.
But I need to try - and I'm going to!

Wish me luck!


Favorite SURPRISE:









I've turned BACK into a blondie!!!!

And I am absolutely LOVING it!

Being blonde ALWAYS makes me feel happy and more confident. There's something about it that just makes me feel more feminine!




Since re-bleaching it, my hair has been more curly than EVER! Seriously, it's wild!!!
I've also just started to take some hair growth supplements after the devastating realization that I cannot afford extensions..... ever.
So hopefully it'll work and grow down to my ass like I want it to soon! This awkward length it's at now is a right pain....

Had to add the photo of me and my kitty-cat... although she is immensely pissed off with me because I caught her with two legs dangling out of her mouth that just happened to belong to a frog... of course I saved the poor thing... much to her disappointment.

Happy, happy days to being a blondie again!


Favorite Work Event:



We had our first exhibition opening of the year and it was a huge success!


Buuuuut.....



The next morning I was NOT excited to put makeup on and head to work again.
Seriously in need of a chilled day in front of the television!
But I kicked the days butt and got home that evening and continued to pack my life into boxes for the big move....

I never thought I'd feel so emotional about the move... But I do.
I had actual tears this morning although I fought them away as best I could.




Lao Tzu once said, 'New Beginnings Are Often Disguised As Painful Endings'.
And on that note:


Favorite Quote:

I loved this quote! 

Enough said.
(and because I've now just turned back into a blondie, the lemons now apply!)




So today is the last day of Feb and I'm about to finish up work and head off to my new house, which I haven't even seen yet!!! Eeeek...
After moving in some boxes and settling the cats and dogs in I'll be slicking back some oysters and welcoming in the new beginning.

I hope Feb's been good to you all.

See you in March ;)