To explain the title, I was discussing dance moves with Trish one night and she ended up saying "If in doubt, just jump". And she jumped to the song. But it's actually kind of fitting too, if in doubt about anything, just (take the) jump, take the risk, a leap of faith, go out and explore!
Every day I try to consciously stop doing whatever I'm doing or thinking whatever I'm thinking for a second and actually take in where I am, what's around me and it always makes me smile. Smile because the sun is rising, smile because I see children laughing or dancing, smile because the birds are singing their song, smile because a beautiful butterfly passes, smile because I am once again abroad and enjoying the s*** out of it, smile because life is good. Appreciate the little things around you, focus on the positive rather than the negative and as Einstein once said: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle".
Back to Oz - If it wasn't for family, I would have never gone back
As you might have read in my last blog, I was very keen on leaving the Philippines. And even more so to see my family in Australia again. For those wondering how they are related to me, it's my grandfathers (on my mothers side) sister and her children and grandchildren living in Australia, most of them located in Western Australia. So my great aunt, 2nd and 3rd cousins. But it seemed more like having another grandmother and aunts, uncles and cousins :).
I arrived at Perth international airport and recognized everything. Where last time I had to ask where the bus stop was, I right away knew where to go. It was a long way from the Philippines to my actual final destination, Bunbury. A couple of flights with hours in between them and then a 4 hour wait for the bus totaled up to about 24 hours.
I was welcomed at the bus terminal by my family with open arms. It's funny how it's been two years and it was only the 2nd time seeing them, but it didn't seem to matter.
I had a lot of down time whilst there, reading books, walking the love of my life Kayla (haha one of their dogs), exchanging family stories, eating, laughing. The kids were on a break from school so got to see them more too. I did feel a bit 'useless' at times or maybe pampered is a better word :), as if I should do more around the house or help out as I am always used to. It didn't seem necessary to them though but doing close to nothing isn't really in my nature. But it was nice to be taken care of and I got to totally relax and rest (*sounds like an old lady*).
My objection for this trip was to get to know the family a bit better and try and come back every two years or so. And after this trip, to go home, get a job, an apartment and start to settle down a bit in Arnhem. Little did I know that I would feel a wee bit different in the end. It turned out that, even though I've said it over and over again that I would have never gone back to Oz if it wasn't for family because I'd seen what I wanted to see there, it's actually having the family there and being part of it, that makes me want to come back and see more, more of Oz and more of the family.
About 4 days or so before I left Oz, it was that after having a couple of drinks (which Australians are really keen on btw haha) and acting silly, that we talked about me coming back and about the working holiday visa (since I still have the option to use it till I'm 31). And after that night, I didn't seem to be able to forget about it in the days that followed. This weird tingling, tensed feeling in my stomach of excitement kept with me for days.. And I kept thinking: "Am I really doing it?!"
I have always felt as if I could better express myself in English and most know that I love speaking it more than I do my own language (Dutch). And I loved speaking it here non stop apart from a few bad Dutch words that 'someone' wanted to learn haha. And I really think that I might give it a try, just like I did with Florida once before. So without too many promises, I left today and am definitely going to look in to it. Because if I would, I would leave again this year, before getting an apartment, before getting a steady job, before settling down. I am writing this during my flight to Bali where I'll hang out with friends from back home for about a week, which is also very exciting!
Bali, back again
And off I went, back to Bali! Fell in love with Bali 2 years ago when I first visited and was only suppose to stay for two nights but ended up staying for two weeks! My mom is from Indonesia and It felt like home and I didn't want to leave. And here I am, back again, meeting up with friends from back home. They booked an all inclusive resort holiday and since I wanted to be close, but that place was way to expensive, I found a family owned homestay nearby. My friends would hook me up with 'free' drinks (all inclusive for them) at their resort and we had so much fun! Went around the island and saw some really cool stuff! The food was, once again, AMAZING :)! Which isn't really the case when it came to our singing skills during karaoke, but eh that's what it's for right and at least we enjoyed ourselves! It's so great to be able to go around the world meeting up or visiting friends and family.
-Quick update on Australia, I am planning on leaving again in October. I might visit Japan again :) and/or do a roadtrip from Darwin to Perth and might work on the way and then try and find a job closer to family.-
35 hours in 1 day
In a spur of the moment, I decided that I would visit my aunt and cousins in Florida after Bali, rather than traveling through Europe for about two weeks. You see, I had a two week gap in between Bali and meeting up with a friend in Sweden and I found a really cheap roundtrip ticket. I decided I would rather spent two weeks in the Florida sun than going through Europe. It took me 35 hours to get from Bali-Doha-Stockholm-Copenhagen-Toronto-Miami, so 5 flights and since I went back in time (12 hours) it 'only' took me '1 day'. In the time I went to Florida, Simone (my aunt) went to Holland for a few days to celebrate Mothers day with her mom and reunite with a lot of friends and family. It was very strange seeing her with my sisters and mom when I was with her kids. But I enjoyed myself every day, laid back in the sun, met up with almost everyone that I have met in the past years to catch up, celebrated Mothers Day with friends and family, celebrated my cousins birthday (officially a teenager now) and shared a lot of laughs. I also finally drove again, what a great feeling of freedom! I realized I missed driving even though it's only been about two months! It's such a great feeling with the windows open, the sun in your face and great music to sing along to. Anyway, I might go back in July..time will tell.
I flew from Miami-Zurich-Stockholm today, what an exhausting trip. Not only did I hardly sleep on my last night in the States, I hardly slept during my trip down here as well. Am super tired! Which is funny, cause I didn't feel this tired after my 35 hours of travel. But it'll be an early night for me and with the promise to myself to one day coming back to Stockholm for a proper city trip! Flying to Ostersund tomorrow to visit a friend for a few nights!!
Okidoki, that's all for now.
Cheers,
T aka Heidi aka Teddybear aka T-grizzly aka TALITHA :)