It’s been a long time coming: this particular update. Since… the 4th of December to be exact! My most recent updates have all been focussed on getting my book ‘out there’ and often there have been hints of the need to still travel. I’ve only been hinting, because I was wary of jinxing the next chapter, before things were more certain. Okay, I’ll start from the beginning. I’ll step away from any ‘book jargon’ – by that I mean any chitchat about how eager I am to get published - and I’ll just update on my travels and how things have come about.
Stepping back, just to recap for a moment (I always seem to do this!). When I first got back to Ireland, or to Europe, in July, I was eager to leave. This wasn’t a secret and everyone who knew me and who was following my travels, may have been shocked by the fact that I didn’t continue to live the travel dream, by heading back out into the world, after what was supposed to be a brief encounter with home and the family. I myself was shocked too! I never planned any of this – I never planned to stay in Ireland nearly 6 months! I never knew that I’d find a place where I could finally focus on writing a book. And the fact that it was unplanned, showed in my actions.
Back in the Summer, when I was in Holland for only 10 days (from the 27th of July until the 07th of August) all I could do was think about how fast I could get myself back to the so-called ‘Asian belt’. Online I searched for jobs and I got in contact with recruitment agencies that solely provide teaching jobs for TESOL certificate holders (that’s the same course I took in India). So, when just arriving back from India and Rome, I found out about particular sources that could benefit my travels. I wanted to get away so badly; I wanted to return to India, or head to China, Thailand, Vietnam or Japan…
But I followed my heart back to Ireland instead. It was simply where the road was taking me, yet the drive to keep journeying was still there. In Ireland, during the first 2 weeks, I still kept searching and nearly landed myself in Russia! It wasn’t for the experience of actually teaching or being in a new and different country – no. It was simply because I felt so much resistance against being here in Ireland.
My heart had called me back to Ireland though for a reason I first-off wasn’t aware of. But as time passed, the reason started to unfold. When I started being honest, I was facing facts: I needed to write this book so badly before setting foot into the world again. I had to majorly readjust the mind-setting. My mind had to be eased into feeling comfort in a place I’d always rejected. I needed to ‘ground myself’. How else can a book be written?! It’s impossible. It took quite some weeks before I started to feel enough settlement for the story to unfold. However my mind never totally adjusted – which just shows that travel really isn’t just a whim for me. I found a place I love and a place I can call home – yet still it’s not where I can settle! What a lesson to have learnt… Sorry, getting slightly off-track!
Throughout September and October I was trying to find the flow, so the book would start spilling… And once I found much needed routine, flow and place of peace (which turned-out to be the desk here at home), I could already feel that the story/the book was coming to an end and that I needed to be looking ahead. I needed to know that there were travel-plans being made so I could leave that part of me in peace and use every ounce of energy in the here and now, in order to work towards creating the end of the story.
At around that same time, my call was answered! It was the middle of November and I was suddenly contacted by the same recruitment agencies I’d been in contact with during the summer. The contacts I’d made throughout my 10 days in Holland, back in July, had been forgotten about for months. And suddenly when I knew I needed to get the travel plans moving again, I’m approached by one particular agency, with job offers to teach English! It was freaky and amazing, all at once! Because, even though I FELT I needed to start searching again, I didn’t actually go out to find THEM.. THEY CAME TO ME!
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