Jac’s Journey

It’s all gone quiet…oh so quiet. Travel blogs tend to once travellers get home.

What is there to write about once you get home? All of a sudden I wasn’t seeing new things every day, taking pictures, having adventures.

Well, not in the same way.

But it has certainly been an adventure coming home.

The last two months have been a crazy mixed up time of adjusting, catching up with friends and family, looking for a new job, finding a flat, pining for my house (my tenants are still in) and finally, deciding to move to London to live and work.

Phew.

Sometimes my trip seems a world away. Sometimes I forget to hang onto the lessons I learned. Like today, when the 62 bus driver was running ahead of schedule and decided he was going to crawl into town at 15 miles an hour. I drummed my fingers and rolled my eyes, completely forgetting the smile I’d had on my face while waiting three hours for the bus to leave the station in Udomxai, Laos. Or the seven hour bus trip with my spewing companion and live chickens.

But I have hung onto some of the lessons. One of the most important things I learned travelling was to let go and keep my eyes and ears open for interesting things happening around me. One travel buddy coined the phrase ‘to take what the road sends you’ and it’s stuck in my mind. While I’ve been job hunting during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, I’ve been the most relaxed I’ve ever been about job hunting. At first, there wasn’t much out there, but I managed to fend off the worry and maintain my belief that the road would send me something good, in time. And it did. I’ve been offered a job I’m really excited about, and I’m moving to London.

So in a small way, I feel like I’ve kept one of the really important lessons from my trip alive, and it’s given me something hugely valuable back here in the ‘real world’.

I’m excited about my next adventure. I’ve visited London lots of times – to visit friends, with work, passing through – but I’ve never felt the inclination to live there before. Somehow, right now, it feels like the right thing to do. It feels like time. So I’m going.

And I plan to be a ‘working traveller’ while I’m there, turning the pages of my guidebook as I take in the main sights, and exploring the streets and alleys known only to locals. Another travel buddy has a philosophy of life I admire greatly. For him, travelling is a state of mind. It’s about being open to experiences, to new possibilities, to differences of opinion and culture, and being ready to value those differences. Being ready to experiment and jump in with both feet.

Now which box are my wellies in?

Well, that’s it. I’m off.

Thank you all so much for such wonderful gifts, cards, kind words, well-wishes and the numerous parties and days/nights out/hangovers over the last couple of months. It’s been brilliant to see you all before I head off.

I could wax lyrical about how much I’m going to miss you all, but have decided that pictures and music speak louder than words.

So turn the volume up and sit back and enjoy the show.

Some of you didn’t make the slideshow – through lack of a picture, not cos I don’t love ya! Consider yourself there in spirit…

Love you and miss you all loads.
Jackie xxx

Whoa! Slow down please Mr Clock!

In 1 week and 6 days’ time I head to London and then fly out to Shanghai the next day. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of seeing friends and family, nights out, parties, running around with long ‘to do’ lists, keeping my house clean and tidy for prospective tenants (could so do without that bit) and swinging between hugely excited and exhilarated to slightly terrified and worried for my own sanity. Throw into the mix a large dose of emotion over how much I’m going to miss my family and friends, and you have a picture of my head at the moment. It’s fun in here!

Mostly I feel excited. I’ve dreamed about doing this for so long, and have prepared myself really well, so the fear/apprehension is manageable.

One of the most joyful things about getting ready to leave has been putting in the effort to see family and friends. I’ve been visiting, had coffees, lunches, dinners, nights out on the lash and thrown parties. It’s been brilliant catching up with everyone. I’ve had some beautiful gifts and people have said some lovely things. I’m quite amazed at the wonderful friends and family I have. Thank you all!

And it’s not over yet…another night out tonight, then the next night, then my sis’s birthday on Saturday, then another 3 nights out next week. Life is good!

There’ll be a special dedication to all of you posted here just before I leave.

Until next time….

Ah, life as a lady of leisure is wonderful. I highly recommend a period of, ahem, early retirement to you all at some point in your working lives.

Yet the time is ticking by quickly. I head off 5 weeks tomorrow. Just a moment ago, it was 8 weeks to go. The preparations are going well; I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say the vaccinations have left me feeling like a pincushion and the shopping is interesting to say the least (most interesting purchase so far – a torch/portable smoke detector/personal safety alarm all in one handy lightweight gadget)!

Probably my greatest challenge is keeping my house constantly clean and tidy and ‘viewer-ready’ for prospective tenants, who appear to not give me any advance notice whatsoever. The first viewer got an eyeful of my hairdyer, straighteners, brushes and make-up strewn all over the floor/dressing table!

I decided I didn’t want a big leaving do. Hell, I’m only away for a year – there are times when I don’t see good friends for nearly that long when I’m here! So, lots of little leaving nights are on the go. It’s delicious having plans to spend time with so many people that are special to me before I head off. The one that comes closest to a leaving bash is probably the Edinburgh night on 16th August. Should be a good ‘un. Also, to be arranged is the “At last, I’ve finished my garden, and I’m about to go away before I get the chance to sunbathe in it, so come along and console me by drinking beer/eating at my BBQ” in (hopefully) sunny Hamilton. Let me know if you want to come along. It’ll be sometime mid-late August. And of course, the girly night(s) out in Glasgow with my pals.

Most of all, the excitement builds. I met a friend for lunch today and was talking to him about how long I’ve wanted to do this. It’s a really, really long time. It feels just wonderful to be on the brink of fulfilling a long-held dream. There are days when this constant rain just can’t wipe the smile off my face!

So, be sure to pop back from the end of August to see what happens to this little dream-chaser.

Deep down I’m quite a private person, and since moving my blog from the old address, only a small and select band have known about my website. I’m about to leave S&N and will be sending this address to a whole host of friends and colleagues that I want to keep in touch with. So, a brief introduction…

I started this blog just before my trip to Vietnam last year, which has been the rocket up my jacksy that I needed to go off and fulfill my dream – spending many months travelling the world. Since Vietnam, I’ve blogged about some other things; short breaks to Prague, New York, the Isle of Arran and Stobo Castle, and of course the very exciting arrival of my niece, Hope, who is an absolute joy. If you’re interested in reading back, there are links to these over on the right hand side or you can tab back through the page links at the bottom.

What I really hope you do though, is pop by now and then to see what I’m up to over the next year and leave me a little message. It’s lovely to read your messages when I’m away. I’ll be posting photos and some videos that you can view from here. I’ll be telling stories of my experiences, trying to paint a picture of the different cultures I experience and the effect my travelling has on me. I’ll be writing about the wonderful things that happen – the great people I’ll meet, the friends I’ll make, the once-in-a-lifetime journeys, sights and sounds. There’ll no doubt be some funny stories as I get myself into scrapes, miss trains (or get on the wrong one!), get stuck on broken down buses in the midst of a mosquito convention, spend the night with bedbugs and hours chained to a squat toilet after a dodgy curry (oh, please let there be a western-style loo when the last one happens!).

So, welcome to my website, welcome to Jackie’s world. Great to have you along for the trip!

If anything was going to cause a sore head, it was route planning. So many things to see and do; the challenge is to cut it down to a manageable trip that makes transport sense. You can only manage so much in a year, you know!

Well, it’s done as much as it’s gonna be. I’ll only get out there and change it anyway! I’ve found this funky map tracker on a commercial travel blog site that I’ve decided to pinch for my own uses. Have a look here .

The dates are indicative only – if I stick to them it’ll be a fluke rather than by design. After China I’ve only noted main cities and countries (basically cos it was quite a faff putting all those dates in at once!)

Would love to hear what you think of my plans!

Ta ta for now
Jacsxxx

I have a huge smile and excited fluttery butterflies as I type…I’ve just booked my round the world ticket!! On the 29th August (yikes!) I will fly from London to Shanghai, then travel overland in China and South East Asia for 6 or 7 months, before Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Cook Islands and west coast America.

I’ll be flying with Virgin (yeah!), Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand.

This has been so long in the dreaming and planning. I have dreamed of doing this for at least ten years. There have been times when I believed that I could never make it happen. And now I am. It’s hard to take in that I now know exactly when I’ll be going. 29th August. Hang on…[checks calendar]…that’s 12 weeks on Wednesday! (Butterflies flutter again!)

I’ve done so much research to prepare for this trip, but still have a very loose itinery. Around 8 weeks in China to start with – we’ll start taking bets now on how long I overrun…

Here are the odds:
10 weeks – 10/1
12 weeks – 6/1
14 weeks – 4/1
16 weeks – evens

…place your bets now! haha No, seriously, I want to be in South East Asia for the best season from November – April, so I will not spend 16 weeks in China. Although 16 weeks still wouldn’t be enough to see all the things I’d like to see.

My Mandarin Chinese phrasebook arrived in the post today, along with my China Lonely Planet Guide (so i can now return the out of date one to the library). I’ve arranged to meet up with a friend for some ‘getting by’ Chinese language lessons – Nihao (Hello) is the current limit of my vocabulary!

Next job(s) to arrange travel insurance, buy a few things to take with me, get a bit fitter (for climbing all those sacred mountains!), rent my house out, oh, and leave my job!

Very excited and nervous and happy and terrified all at the same time! Well, nothing like a deadline to make me swing into action!

Jacsx

Found this great quote…

‘Each of us is given some seventy years, a decent amount of time. In that time you shouldn’t be afraid to take out a year or two or even more to do something not in the straight path you originally chose, to watch the slow turning of the stars and clouds and strange peoples.’
(Ted Kerasote, Navigations)

I feel very liberated by my decision to free myself from the career path I had been travelling along. I have a good idea of what I’ll do when I return, but am also really open to changing my mind along the way. Who knows what watching the stars and clouds and strange peoples will bring!

Well, what d’ya think? [waves and shows off new decor]

In honour of the new web address, I called in Anne Maurice.

She tells me it’s not beige, but I’m not so sure…

I love my piccy of Halong Bay in Vietnam at the top!

Soon, there’ll be all sorts of exploits recorded here as I plan and embark upon my next trip. In the meantime, sit back, relax and let me bring you a glass of wine so that you can admire my new decor.

…What do you mean you didn’t being any wine with you??? Ok, will tea do? :-p

Bye for now
Love Jacsxxx

Remember the lovely family in Hoi An?  Mr Tron, his wife and three daughters?

Well, today has been my first day back at work and I have been wading through the biggest sea of unread emails (of which very few made me smile) and decided to log into google mail to cheer myself up.

And it did!

I had received an email from Mr Tron’s 14 year old daughter Nguyen Pham - the one I chatted to who was really good at English.  She sent me an email to tell me about her school trip to the Marble Mountains, which are indeed made of marble (obviously!) and situated between Hoi An and Danang.

It was so lovely, and brought such a smile to my face.  I really did meet some wonderful people over there.

Just had to tell you all about it!