I suppose my wanderlust was instilled from a young age by my Dad who worked at sea with the Merchant Navy. He would return with weird and wonderful gifts from places I had never heard of, and I remember the feeling of excitement as I thought of exotic far flung places, imagining wise, age-old cultures living in perfect harmony with the world.
Then I got older still and the dreams kept coming (and going) and the more they failed to materialise, the more I started to think they were never going to come true. I gave up on a lot of dreams for various reasons but always thought I had plenty of time to achieve them if I wanted. I now realise that time, is in fact, running out.
I haven't dealt well with turning 30. My mortality has caught up with me and I genuinely feel like I don't have enough time. I don't know why. It's just a feeling.
After years of chasing unfulfilled dreams, I am now in a position to let my feet wander. After a very bad start to 2011, I have picked myself up and found I am left with no ties or responsibilities and if there is a time to follow my feet, it is now. After all, soon I'll be too old and the dream will be over.
In 4 months I plan to be on my way to Australia to spend about 10 months travelling and working, and I don't mind admitting it's a terrifying prospect travelling over 10,500 miles to the other side of the world on my own, but I know I'll regret it if I don't do it. Life is short and sometimes very hard, but I'm eternally optimistic that it can be bloody amazing if you focus on the good times and don't let the bad overwhelm you.
So this is my blog, to share my experiences, good and bad, with friends and family, to capture the dream as I live it and to remind myself that no matter how stormy it gets, the sun always shines after the rain.
fi x
Really cool blog Fiona :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Fiona, you go girl, you only get one shot at life make the most of it Good Luck in whatever you do you deserve it Love Ann xxx
ReplyDeleteSo it was your dear old Dad that gave you the wunderlust. Well well. Dont remember much about the romance of travel-only terrible homesickness which has never really left. There are a lot of stories still to be told some good, some bad.
ReplyDeleteAnyway when you do go, remember and put the ligts out at Rockville ( and leave me a forwarding bank acount so I can get some money off you when you meet your rich Aussie lifeguard)
Dad