Reflection

Happy birthday to me. And why the heck not?

Looking around on Facebook I have seen how people have celebrated their 21^st birthdays and I realised Myles and me are some of the very few who haven’t spent theirs with their families. We spent our birthdays the other side of the world wit a family that isn't our own doing things we never dreamt we would be doing. 

This got me thinking about what else we have done differently. This year most people will be finishing their degrees and looking for their first full time employment in their chosen field after 3 or 4 years at uni. Well at the age of 21 we have had a full time jobs for 2 years after college and guess what we still have no idea of what we want to do! I have spent a year travelling, seeing the world and gaining life experience, but most of all I have found my confidence. I have realised that I have talents and that I have a voice and I can do whatever I put my mind to. I have cleaned boats, been a debt collector at an accounting firm, I have done data entry work and worked as housekeeping in a hostel. All of these things are totally different to anything I have done before and yet I have turned my hand to all of them. Granted it is not brain surgery but each one has taught me something whether it’s a skill or something about myself & for that I am glad I have done all of them. This month I am being a Web Designer. I have spent the last month teaching myself the basics and starting to build my first few websites. This is totally left field from what I have trained to do the past 2 years but I have support behind me & I’m enjoying it? I’m not getting paid to pull my hair out trying to read gobbledygook and yet I’m carrying on? After spending 5+ months with Deb and Ian I have learnt a lot but mainly that you can’t buy opportunity and experience. By sheer luck we found them on Gumtree and changed our whole experience in Australia. I don’t believe we were ready to travel Australia when we arrived and if we didn’t meet Deb & Ian we would be home by now. We had a great opportunity with Deb and Ian to learn about life and what’s important. Deb has a great outlook on life; I have only seen her unhappy once and that was when we lost Tara the dog. Her attitude is why bother being unhappy when you can do what you want to do? If she wants to go to Sydney to see a giant rubber duck then she does it. It’s this attitude that has rubbed off on us making us want to make the most of all of our experiences. Then Ian has this work ethic and eye for seeing talent in anyone and making use of every experience which has inspired us to push ourselves when we get home to use all of our experiences.

Where I’m going with all of this is that we haven't taken the “standard” or usual route that people take in life or whilst travelling; I am so glad of this, on a personal level I have become more confident and self assured of what I am doing and what I want. I am a healthier and happier person for coming away and what more can you ask for? 

We have had a ball being away and I am sad think about the end of this fantastic journey. I am excited to start thinking about when we will be coming home and seeing everyone again as well as planning our next adventure whilst seeing this one end feels impossible.