A new adventure begins with a quandary...

There’s always a mix of emotions as I leave one place and set off on a new journey to experience a new home, job or adventure. This is a perfectly natural state of mind. You’re leaving stability, routine and established friends and/or family and heading out into the unknown. For some this setting off to explore the unfamiliar can hold trepidation, fear and insecurity (again, all perfectly normal), yet for some reason, I look at things differently. For me, the feeling of not having any idea of what the future holds offers great opportunity. There are new experiences to be had, new people to be inspired by and a wonderful chance for self-development. I suppose this is one of the reasons why I keep on moving and keep on challenging myself by diving head first into new adventures!

This time, however, there has been a quandary that I have had to seriously consider. Health is one of the most important things in life and one we all have to maintain and strengthen on a daily basis. As I am about to head to East Africa, one of the main concerns is malaria. I don’t want to get it, but I also didn’t want to take pills every day for close to a year (as I’ve never been a pill popper!) I’m the kind of person who has to have a headache develop to such an unbearable pain that it debilitates me before I’ll even take an aspirin. Getting the picture?

So….what does one do? Take lots of vitamin B, use citronella soap, spray insect repellant, eat garlic, keep myself covered from dusk to dawn and hope for the best? Take homeopathic remedies which haven’t been proven to function? Or take anti-malarial prophylactics that could cause considerable side effects?

Hmmmmm... to be honest, none of the above options are ideal.
So…after weeks of deliberation and discussions and having originally decided to not go down the pill route, the day before departure, I have changed my mind.

To appease my parents, the nurse and to some extent myself, I will be taking Doxycycline and see how I get on. This way I can concentrate all my energies on throwing myself into the new job at hand and not be paranoid about the first mosquito bite received.

Any advice or experience on this matter is most welcome. I will gain a better understanding into the situation once I’ve been there for a while, so any further insight I can share, I will duly do so.

This is it…new adventure about to begin…speak to you from Tanzania!  -x-

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Who says you have to conform to society?

I don't know who said that you have to conform to society and I'm not too sure how people who are all unique and have their own ambitions and passions can possibly all want the same thing. I, for whatever reason have chosen to follow my own path. One that allows me to live an authentic existence, learning and developing from every experience and where ever possible living in the moment.

No-one is saying this choice of lifestyle is an easy one, and I do believe it is a choice, but the rewards and insight far outweigh the other option of living a life that you don't want to live. Your time is now! It's never too late. I urge everyone to open up their hearts, minds and their connection to the universe, nature and everything that surrounds us to begin a shift of consciousness and indeed awareness and begin to live a fully present existence.

How does one do this? Now that's the million dollar question. Obviously the answer is never going to be a straight forward one, but by exploring and re-living some of my travel adventures and experiences, I would like to share what I have discovered so far.  

Watch this space...

Watch this space for ramblings and insights. Every travel adventure teaches us something new. I will share my adventures, thoughts and photography and look forward to hearing your thoughts.