Tag: london

A Sense of Direction

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In my last post (aka my first post), I said I didn’t know what I wanted to talk about on this blog.

That is total bollocks.

I totally know what I want to write about.

I got nervous that you as readers might not be into it, so I thought I had to change it up and to make it sound appealing somehow. Blogging lesson #1 learned: this is a place for me to talk about my passions with my voice. It might be scary to put myself out there and it might be appealing to try and emulate the voices of all the incredible bloggers who are writing already, but, terrifying as it is, this is the place where I get to share my words.

So here’s what I want to talk about:

– When I was walking around London for my most recent project, I saw a lot of parallels between the way I approached my walks and the way I *wish* I approached my life. I learned some great lessons from it that I am challenging myself to apply, and I thought perhaps those things might be helpful to share with other people. I can guarantee I will suck at accomplishing these things most of the time, but it’s all in the trying and laughing about it, right?

– I love to travel and I love to read travel blogs, but I think one essential aspect of travel gets overlooked a lot: walking. I love walking. It is the best way to get to know a place. It is the only way you can get into some areas (often the best places), and it is the best way to get a feel for the pace of wherever you are exploring. So I will definitely be talking about walking and sharing stories from the walks I go on.

– Slowness. It’s hugely important and yet it is insanely hard to find in our culture. I learned this many times over on my walks. Taking time to stop, to appreciate, to be aware, to just be, makes a remarkable difference to my outlook and resilience. Life is hard. Travel is hard. Being an expat is hard. But when I stop to look around and see that I am actually on an amazing adventure, it changes my perspective and highlights what really matters: enjoying it along the way.

And there you have it. That’s what this blog is all about for me.

Phew. That feels more like it!

This is My First Post

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Hello, and welcome to this brand new blog!

I have had this thing in my head for a long time and have mentally composed (and actually drafted) so many posts it’s a little bit ridiculous. It’s time to get the ball rolling.

Part of my hesitation is that I am not entirely sure what I will write about. Like I said on the About page, that is kind of the point, but I do need a vague sense of direction to get started. In general, what I think might show up here is stuff about living abroad, moving from one country to another, travelling, walking and my thoughts and experiences in all of those areas.

I also have a strong desire to share with you some personal growth challenges I have been working through. I am not a preachy self-help person. I am not on top of my stuff enough to suggest I know what’s up. But I have talked with other people about some of my recent experiences, and it seems I am very much not alone. My selfish desire is that I will find other people out there who mess up the same ways I do, even though they are trying hard not to, and who are willing to admit they are only human. If I meet one or two of you along the way, I am good to go.

In that vein, I guess, it seems only fair to share a little bit about myself so we can get to know each other.

About Me

I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah.

No. I am not mormon.

I grew up with a family that loved travelling, hiking, camping, road trips and all the other great American West stuff.

I’ve travelled a lot of places (more than some, less than others), and I plan to do a lot more of it because I love it immensely. I love feeling a little lost and then finding my way. I love meeting strangers who help me out and remind me that people are pretty great. I don’t love everything about travel, I can’t imagine anyone who really does, but I can’t imagine a life without it.

In August of 2010, I moved to London. I have lived there for four years now with the exception of three months I spent travelling solo in Asia, where I met a pretty great guy.

That guy (we’ll call him Chris because it is generic enough you won’t be able to figure out who he is, and because it is also his name) just got offered a job in Oman and we’ll be moving there very soon. When I say he just got it, I mean he hasn’t signed the contract officially yet, so there’s still a chance it might not happen, but we’re pretty sure it will.

I will miss London a lot but I am ready to move on. In July of this year, I finished a project I had of walking ALL of the streets in the central area (the Congestion Zone for those who know London). Having finished that, I feel like I did what I needed to do and I am now ready for a big, new, exciting adventure.

Those walks also reminded me of the importance of slowness, of curiosity, of awareness and of throwing the plan out the window. I decided I would try to attempt to apply some of those ideas to my life and share them with you here.

So that’s me in a nutshell!

There’s a lot more to say on all of those things, but I suppose that is what the whole rest of this blog is for, yeah?

Let’s see where it takes us.