Finding contentment in a new place

Uh oh, it's going to be one of those centre aligned days...

I feel so bloody content right now with life that I could burst! I had that moment the other day when I was sat in my new apartment with the breeze coming in and having my new laptop and Kenya internet connection working and some music from the street playing and I was just like 'Yep, this is going to be fine'

It took a loooooooong time to decide to leave my comfort zone. I then had a long notice period where it was easy to forget that I would soon be leaving the magic circle of comfort and heading to Kenya. 

Leaving home was the worst part, I almost clung onto my sofa shrieking 'Nooooooooo! I like my life, why am I changing it??!!' but once I left the house and started the long journey to Kenya, nothing was going to stop me being here.

I went from a crowded train to Manchester Airport...

To getting a motorbike taxi across Mombasa for around £1...

 In conclusion: Leave your comfort zone and find a new level of comfort in new places and you'll be surprised at how much fun it can be!

Where am I? What have I done?

Oh yes, I'm in Kenya, having the time of my life... the HOTTEST time of my life in the literal sense, it's around 32 degrees here most of the time, which is pretty hot. Almost hot enough to cook something that doesn't take long to cook - you get my point, it's quite hot here and that takes some getting used to. Office life feels like a lifetime ago that's for sure...

Just so you're up to speed, I'm living in a residential estate called Vescon in the Bamburi area of Mombasa. I'm here for the next few months and since I arrived last week I've spent most of the time lying in front of the fan in my apartment.

I've also:
* Got myself an internet dongle thing
* Queued for 1.5 hours to get a Kenyan phone
* Dined on a floating restaurant
* I've eaten watermelon and enjoyed it for the first time
* Almost welded my leg to a hot leather seat in the sun - farrrrrrk
* Been bitten by evil mozzies - no signs of Malaria yet!
* Ridden as a passenger on 3 motorbike taxis
* Lost count of the Tusker beers I've drank

On average I'm sleeping soundly for 1.5 hours per night, I generally haven't been to bed before midnight as there's too much to do here and I quite like being noctural in such a hot place when the sun goes down.

My apartment is on the top floor of the apartment block, so I get the music blaring from the bar over the road through my window until 5am, at which point the call to mosque rings out and when that finishes, the roosters start. So it's pretty hectic, but I'm running on adrenaline!

It's taking time to slip into the routine and realise that I'm not just here for a week, so there's no need to rush and do everything RIGHT NOW. I've never had this experience before and so far... no regrets - life is too short right? Sure it was scary and leaving was HARD - no one wanted to sit next to the crazy crying lady on the bus journey after my goodbyes :)  but now I'm here and doing it, I know I did the right thing.

In conclusion - follow your gut and follow your path and don't get a tattoo just because everyone else is :)

So I'm flying to Kenya today...

I'm a little nervous, I'm not going to lie.

A few months ago on a cold and rainy Monday evening, the boy came to collect me from work and had sat in traffic for over an hour by the time he got to me *cue bad mood*

*Cue flashback* We'd had a weekend at friend Rachel's house in the Black Country, staying with her mum and dad, who just happen to be the coolest parents (ours aside of course!) and we got talking about how much we'd love to travel. Rachel's dad told me that he'd taken a few months off work when he was my age and it had actually HELPED his career. He also said it was the best time of his life and taught him so much.

I myself was teetering on the edge of heading off around the world but really didn't want to leave Josh behind as I knew we'd have an amazing job, but there's a huge step involved with leaving a salaried job that gives you comfort but not necessarily satisfaction.

I'd asked for a career break at work before that weekend but been told that it wasn't possible, which was fair enough as we're a small team, but that still left me with the dilemma that I wanted to travel...

On that Monday evening, we'd both had particularly shitty days at work (classic Monday stuff, nothing heavy) but twinned with sitting in heavy traffic in the cold, rainy darkness just tipped Josh over the edge. He took me straight to the pub (good lad) and we sat and had a serious chat about getting out there. He had that 'What am I doing with my life? Why am I here when I could be out there seeing the world?'

We'd talked enough. It was time for action. And red wine.

Over dinner we made a plan. I wanted to go back to Kenya (have I mentioned that I've been before?!) and live in a new country, learn a new language etc but that wasn't something Josh was as keen on, so we decided that I should go ahead and do that first and then Josh would come out to join me, we'd experience the travel life for a short time then come home and make a plan for further travels in 2014.

So I'm going. Today! I really should pack. Just a short flight to Dubai, a 3.5 hour stopover, a flight to Nairobi, a 4 hour stopover and a 1 hour flight to Mombasa and I'LL BE THERE!

See you there dudes!

Conclusion: Rain makes you quit your job, buy an umbrella.

Unemployed Life: Day 2

It helps massively that the boy is also off work right now (he's on annual leave, I'm the crazy one who quit her job to go and travel in Kenya for a while, but I don't fly until next week) or else I'd easily rise at noon and eat sandwiches then watch reruns of Come Dine with Me and Man vs Food allllllll day...

Today we decided to seize the day and get up at 6.30am and drive to Whitby.

Let me tell you, getting up at 6.30am when you're used to rising at 10am is painful, feel bad for me.

But anyway! The mission: drive to Whitby, drink tea in a cafe, then attempt to walk to Robin Hoods Bay from Whitby... it's 6 miles.

On a clear day, it's supposed to be a beautiful walk!

But it was not a beautiful day. It has rained A LOT recently and there are no fences to stop you slipping in the mud straight off the steep cliffs into what I think is the North Sea but I'm not sure (look it up).

Therefore, the walk took four hours and I don't think I've said so many swear words and cursed so many different things/people in that space of time before. I can safely say I had my eye trained on the path for 90% of the time, so I couldn't tell you what the view was like. It felt more like an endurance test than a nice afternoon walk. At one point I was clinging on to a thorn bush panicking trying not to slip down the muddy path into the sea, when we WERE OVERTAKEN BY AN OLD COUPLE. Where's the justice? I need new boots. And some of those walking poles.

The only positive we were clinging on to was that it wasn't raining.

YOU FOOL. WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!

*Cue rain*

On arrival, we stomped around a wet and cold Robin Hoods Bay, neither of us really caring at this point what it looked like and only just on speaking terms together. However, once we were in a comfy chair in front of an open fire in a pub with a glass of red wine (me) and beer (him) things looked a little better. And actually Robin Hoods Bay is well worth a visit, it's so cute!

Then we got the bus back to Whitby where we were RIPPED OFF (£3.80 per person for a single) But we decided to pick our battles, find our car and drive back to Leeds where it's all nice and not muddy and the buses are not as expensive but are still expensive.

Roll on Kenya next week baby! This time next week I'll be sweating bullets with an ice cold Tusker in my paw.

In conclusion: Mud is bad and dangerous and also looks a lot like chocolate when you're delirious with hunger and panic. Do NOT eat the mud. Also, buy walking poles, it doesn't matter how old you are.

Unemployed Life: Day 1

Today is my first *official* day of being unemployed! Technically my last day of full time employment was Christmas Eve, but EVERYONE has been off over the holidays, and MOST people are back at work today.

Not me though.

I am unemployed because in one weeks time I'll be on a flight to Dubai and then a flight to Nairobi and then a flight to Mombasa. Where I'll probably instantly melt in the evening heat.

Here's how I spent my first day of proper unemployment:

10am rise - early morning for me, wake up, stretch

Cup of tea in bed and read a few chapters of current book 'Cloudstreet' it's from a charity shop, I'm not into it yet but I'm persevering, thanks for asking.

Breakfast - porridge, attempt at low fat diet after Christmas diet of cheese, meat, chocolate and cheesecake.

Shower - shampoo AND conditioner, what's the hurry? I even used some body scrub such is my lack of haste.

Watched 'A Little Princess' with Josh (he's got a week off work) and even while I went upstairs and got ready he stayed and watched it, he LOVED it.

Headed out to get some travel vaccinations. Standard. Menningitis seeing as you asked. Next week I'll treat myself to some Malaria tablets! What a treat!

The boy and I then went and had a lunch together, on a weekday!

More shopping, came home, watched Keeping up with the Kardashians. They went shopping and fought about something in case you missed that episode. All Kaught Up.

The lovely Honor came round in her gym kit which is always a treat. Hi Honor!

I purchased some train tickets and also called my Nan.

You can get so much done if you don't have a job, you should look in to it. Unemployment rocks. Fully appreciate that I will need an income fairly soon.

But for now... yaaaaaaaaawn... time for bed. How was work today by the way?

:)

In conclusion: Being unemployed gives you a certain level of smugness and means you can catch up on lots of trashy TV. Win.

Quality snacking, quality time and Quality Street

I've forgotten how to do anything other than snack... I'm grazing like a lame horse with my feet up on the table about to watch Enchanted, even though I'm 28 and there are no children in the house...

This is what my Christmas Day looked like:

Just Mr and Mrs Baxter chilling out and enjoying each other's company seeing as I'm flying off to Kenya without him in two weeks time. Yep, two weeks. That is going to be one AWFUL goodbye. I'm so bad at goodbyes.

However, it's onlyfor a month and then he's flying out to Kenya and we're going to have an African adventure together. I'd like to rent some cottage right on the beach when he gets there and just CHILL OUT and enjoy spending QUALITY time with each other.

You can live with someone and not see them for the majority of the working day, then you get home and you're too tired to do anything other than SIT. That's not living, that's existing. No fun. There's an element of normality that is unavoidable, but who's writing the rules here?

I'm high on cheese and Cool Original Doritos anyway, ignore me. I'm going to go and listen to my new Queen CD.

More Kenya stories to follow... stay tuned!

Mexico: A photo blog mainly.

I met my lovely friend Claire (hello Claire!) the other night and enjoyed an evening of Wagamama and carol singing at a carol concert (fast turning into a yearly ritual) and she mentioned she is going to Mexico next year, so I thought I'd have a dig through my photo album from our Mexican honeymoon :) I like going back through photos. And putting them on my blog.

Clearly our budget did not stretch to First Class tickets...

Mexican sunset. Kind of similar to other sunsets.

Take a day trip to Isla Mujeres

 

Claire - have an amazing trip! Can I come too????

In conclusion: Mexico has amazing beaches. There are a lot of Americans there who like to keep hold of rafts that belong in the swimming pool when they're not even in the swimming pool but luckily that didn't bother me. Oh and there are stingrays in the sea. Oh and Mexican food is amazing.