Looking back it would appear that this is the 10-year anniversary of my blog!
Many of the original posts were group emails I used to send to all my friends and family, updates of what I was up to while living abroad, often embellished somewhat to amuse my target audience. Then slowly it morphed into a blog – mainly for travel and then later covering the blow-by-blow minutiae of my daily life, work, adoption process and various crafty projects. I’m still not convinced anyone really reads it apart from a few kind friends or family members but I enjoy writing it. It’s very cathartic – like writing a diary or keeping a journal but out in public.
It’s a really good way to sort through my feelings or difficult issues as they come up and to share funny anecdotes, and capture my life as it rumbles along.
Looking back I have decided to list a few of my favourite posts, for those of you who feel like perusing the last 18 or so years of my life at your leisure.
An early one from 2004 in Korea, which looking back on it in the post Me Too era is even more uncomfortable reading than it was at the time….
And then there was my foray into teaching Year 3 in Kuwait in 2006…
And a very memorable trip to Sri Lanka for a well-deserved holiday!
In 2007 I was in Nepal and there were so many amazing experiences but one of the funniest was my Vipassana silent meditation retreat, which has a part one, part two, part three and part four as it was an emotional journey and I had a LOT to say after 10 days in total silence!
I had a lot of new and thrilling experiences in Nepal, pretty well summed up by this post, The Perfect Day.
So many travel experiences to share but a few of my favourites were this walking tour or Old Delhi, being overwhelmed by the Himalayas in Kashmir. animal encounters at Lake Naivasha and Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya, and a very memorable once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cuba.
Work-wise both Afghanistan and Yemen were fascinating (if slightly scary) places to visit, but my time in the Philippines was probably the most amazing and so fun and worthwhile. Nothing sums up my experience of the Philippines better than this video – in the face of such total destruction every single person I met was kind and smiley and friendly and upbeat, willing to help each other rebuild. It’s a truly astonishing thing to be a part of. I could watching that video all day. And yes, those enormous boats were all blown right into the city by that super-typhoon!
Obviously travel took a backseat once I became a single parent, and my adoption journey has been amazing – I now have two of the most awesome kids on the planet and I get to be their mum, which is pretty mind-blowing. There were so many amazing moments but I think this one is one of my favourites, the moment when my youngest daughter became mine forever, though we are still waiting for that magical moment for my second daughter. There have been many funny moments as a parent but this one still makes me giggle when I remember it….
So many little moments and snapshots of my life (If you haven’t read Woman vs Hose it’s a good indication of how the most mundane of moments in my life become wildly ridiculous at times). It’s amazing to look back on my life so far and think about how many incredible places I have been lucky enough to see and experience. I hope one day I can take my daughters with me on some adventures and share my love of travel with them.
Thanks to parenthood and Covid and a general lack of funds, it’s been 3 years since I last left the country and definitely miss travelling and see the world and experiencing new cultures. Hopefully soon we can add wanderlust back into the mix!
I hope you all still enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoy writing it!
Had we but world enough and time... 