City Chick, Country Chick

So I am back in London.  It’s chilly, grey and today it’s raining.  And to top it off TfL have stuffed up right royally this morning, Northern Line is down and the buses are packed.  So I am at home waiting for madness to die down before trying again to head into work.

But all of this has me thinking.  Am I a city chick or a country chick?  The thing about London is that it’s a wonderful city to live in.  I love London and the fast pace that it sets.  But then I love getting out of London every now and then and breathing a little deeper with fresh air in my lungs.  I am always amazed at how different I look in the country as well.  With the sun out, I am less likely to put on makeup, I take off most of jewellery, and sometimes don't even wear a watch.  To return to the city this time, almost immediately, I felt the urge to paint my nails, apply makeup and to be my city self again. 

I used to find the same thing when I lived in Auckland.  The weeks leading up to Christmas I would be pulling my hair out and cursing humanity and those who had waited six months since their accidents to demand getting their cars fixed before they went away on holiday.  Insurance was fun in those days.  I would be pining for the beach and Magical Mangawhai was within reach.  And for the next week or so I would sit out in the sun with a book, walk the beach daily, maybe even swim and eat delicious food.  I would always be sad to leave to head back to Auckland when the holiday was over.

But then I love the convenience of living in a big city.  Everything is within reach.  I love that I can get to the shops in ten minutes and that if I am ever in trouble there is a taxi on every corner.  I love that in London I can see a movie at the drop of a hat and that there are plenty of restaurants to choose from.

The week before I left in NZ I visited my friend who since I left has moved to a farm.  I love a good roadie so I was happy to jump in the car and head down to see her and her lovely family.  When I got there it was sunny and we were able to sit outside and catch up.  The kids adore living in the country, they have a small motorbike that they ride, they feed chickens, they see the cows being milked and they play in the sun all day.  It was kinda nice sitting there, having eaten baking, and a pizza with eggs from the family chickens on it.  Rhi is very, very happy with her life on the farm.  Her husband has taken to it like a duck to water.

So now that I am back in London, with a head full of homesickness, wondering where I will go next, I am thinking, do I think about moving to the country.  Should I find a job in a country town, where I can always breathe, where I will never have to feel the need to escape?  Or is this just a dream?  Is it only my perception from the other side of the fence?  Should I save up to have a place to escape too, my own little bolt hole?

Are you a country chick or a city chick?  Or are you like me, a bit of both?  Do you have somewhere to escape to when it all gets a bit much?

Forever Friends

I am one lucky girl.  I have a wonderful bunch of friends the world over, whom I miss on a regular basis.  But when we see each other, within five minutes, it’s as though no time has passed at all.  We are laughing and have picked up where we left off.

It’s a strange feeling this, it’s like the last two years have been a dream.  It leads to a sense of timelessness.  Yes, there are babies that have arrived without me seeing the bumps.  Yes, there is everyday gossip to work through but in general it’s easy to slot back in.

I went to a friend’s wedding in Sydney on the weekend.  Fe and I met on a bus trip through Europe and from day one, we were inseparable.  In fact it has been commented on that from our photos, you would think that we were travelling on our own!  We discovered that our birthdays were a day apart and that we were both moving to London without knowing a soul there.  It was natural for us to get a place together.  Fe’s boyfriend Dan came to visit us for a few weeks and we had a ball together.  Fe and I got through the first hell six months in London with pretty much only each other.  There were tears, laughs and loads of crazy times in our wee flat with no tele.  After Dan left Fe was heartbroken, and I encouraged her to go back home to him.  That’s not to say that I didn’t miss her like a limb or ball like a baby when she left.

At Fe’s wedding, I was both surprised and delighted to be mentioned in her wedding speech.  I was accepted as a member of her family, just as she has been in mine (she and Dan have visited NZ and stayed with my family). And on this occasion I made another friend who I can see is a keeper, she is already willing me to move to Aussie.

Saying goodbye to Fe was hard.  Saying goodbye to my road trip friends was difficult.  How on earth am I going to be able to say goodbye to my family and friends this time?  I am beginning to feel homesick for NZ, even though I am still here.  Now I am more confused than ever about where I want to live – NZ, Aussie or London?

Don’t worry London peeps, I have not forgotten about you.  I think about you loads and am looking forward to being back in your fold soon.  But as most of you are expats I am sure that you can relate to what I am feeling.

The last time I was at home I was not in a good way.  I was ill with endo and not in a happy place with men.  This time is different.  I am the happiest I have been in years and apparently it shows.  My oldest (not in years) friend said it took her a while to figure out what was different about me.  She finally realised it was that I was happy.  What a nice thing to hear.

I maintain that this is down to my amazing support network the world over.  No matter where I am in the world there is someone there, or if there is not they are at the end of the phone or computer and they are all on my side, pulling for me to be happy and to do the best I can.  I wish that you could all meet each other one day, I am sure that you would have a great time and love each other as much as I love you all!

Happy 2012

Hi!  It’s been a while since I have had two spare mins to type my own name since arriving in NZ.  I am on the home stretch now, two weeks left of warmth, family and friends before heading back to the freezing temperatures of London.

Home has been exciting - my sis’ wedding, Christmas, New Year’s, a roadie, another wedding this time in Sydney and now back to Auckland to spend time with friends and family.

I have had a great time being with my friends who have known me forever.  One night before Christmas the three of us were laughing like teenagers, causing a husband to say ‘Look at the state of you lot!’  It was like we had never been apart.  It’s been amazing meeting the kids as well.  They are so cute and have really begun to grow up and have personalities. 

I always find New Year an odd time.  There is a huge pressure for an amazing night, which if I am honest never really happens.  I have a good time, but throughout the year I have amazing nights that are normally better than New Year.  I also find it a time for reflection, goal setting and wondering what the future holds for me.  This New Year had the added interesting addition of a tropical cyclone thrown in.  Nothing like tenting in the pouring rain.

I woke up on New Years Eve at about 2am to see that my tent was still standing in a thunder storm with torrential rain.  And then could not get back to sleep.  I had to get up at 6am to pick up some friends from the airport in Auckland and then head back up to the beach where we were going to welcome the New Year in with a cocktail party.  So I was a tad jaded and tired when I accepted my first cocktail – a vodka, champagne concoction.  And then the fun began, there was really no time for reflection amongst the laughing, the dancing in the rain like hippies and the singing along to a friend on the guitar.  However, it was during a rendition of ‘You better be home soon’, that I began to wonder when I would be home again.  I have been encouraged by my friends to come home sooner rather than later.  For the first time in a long time someone has put that into words and it made me sad.

 

But not for long.  We had an awesome night and I fell into bed and passed out.  The next day the roadie of Northland began and we had a ball.  I laughed pretty much constantly for three days straight.  I got to drive again, which is way more tiring than I remember, and also see some places that I had never been to before.  I was disappointed to see how commercial Paihia has become.  I remember being there in my early 20’s, but I guess things move on.  So we headed further north to KeriKeri and camped there.  It was cool to show off my country to both a Kiwi who had never been that far north and a Brit who had never been to NZ.

 

It was sad to say goodbye to them when they headed further South and I headed out to Sydney.  One of the hardest things about travelling is the amount of goodbyes that you have to say.  You form bonds very quickly through shared experiences, but often they are only for short times.  I hate the fact that when you say goodbye you never know when you are going to see someone again.  It is the one thing about travelling that I absolutely hate.  And everyone knows how I cope with goodbye.  I was very good and waited till I was driving away before having a good old meltdown.  Luckily, I was not far from one of my fav beaches.

Piha is a great place to have a think and a recharge.  And whilst I still don’t have the answers to the questions that this New Year has bought me, I am a step closer I think.  I love being out there and when I got there, it was teeming with people and the sun was shining, who can’t be happy with that?

So what did you do for New Year?  Did you make resolutions? Do you find it a reflective time or a party time?  Are you as bad as me at goodbye?