Some days ( a lot of days ), I get inspired, think about writing, think about what I should write, and then don't. For the last few MONTHS, I have been waiting for the BIG inspiration to hit, and for me to write some long and heart-felt and exposed blog post that will encapsulate my now almost 15 months of travel. I guess that moment is now, for a few reasons. One it's almost 3am, and for creative types, the middle of the night is the golden hour for harnessing that beautiful energy and doing something with it.
I actually was just shutting my computer down for the night and got a note from a woman via LinkedIn. I won't mention her name, but she wrote me such a bold and beautiful message, that I simply cannot fall asleep without putting something back OUT THERE for whoever reads my blog, to read.
This woman in her message ( I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her! ) wrote: "..... my story is so similar to yours, it's mind-blowing. I too escaped Vancouver, I am also 28 and went to school and worked the corporate 9-5 in the luxury automotive business and it didn't take me too long to hit the brick wall to realize that this was not at all the life I was born to lead. I too love to travel. I carelessly sold all my stuff and left my place in Vancouver to come to __________to work as a ________ for a small music company.
I didn't make much money doing it, and with the little scraps I have I will be moving to New York in a week. I committed to 3 months and I have no freakin' clue how I'm going to make ends meet, but I am in search of interesting people and stories to film. I'm hoping to find a good yoga practice there, find inspiration and live in the chaos for a few months. Anyway, love your blog. I had one once upon a time but took it down because I didn't think it was focused enough, but you've inspired me to put it back up and just chronicle my own story. I too dream of being a DJ and one day throwing amazing kundalini yoga beach parties and serving everyone coconut water and spirulina balls. Keep doing what you're doing, I will keep up with your crazy adventures. Love much. Xoxo."
Every now and then I someone writes to me, something like this. Something raw and real and POWERFUL that puts a huge smile on my face and reminds me that people actually read my blog. Holy Sh*^%$%%&t! My words and thoughts inspire their own life in some sort of way. It somehow affects the way that they live their life and makes them reevaluate their own decisions and the course of their own life. This makes me feel amazing! And here's something you may not know. I still don't know what I'm doing. I really, really don't. How can you ever know if you are going the right way in life? Sure I book plane tickets and take chances and don't plan it all out, but you really never know what may be on the other end. You just have to trust it's exciting and new and mysterious and all part of this beautiful plan called LIFE.
I do know one thing. Day by day, week by week, month by month, I'm one step closer to being happy, really happy. I'm one step closer to being really truly satisfied with the life I am living. I'm truly, consciously, actively envisioning the life I want and taking the steps I need to get there. Are you?
So here is the big bad blog post that I've procrastinated writing for what is literally MONTHS. Time is so funny like that. There really never is a perfect time, for anything. I mean obviously perfect timing DOES exist in many situations, but when it comes to doing stuff - stuff you WANT to do, things that your HEART desires, thoughts or dreams that you think about and say to yourself "I will do that one day," there really is only now.
In June 2011, I suffered a job loss and a broken heart within 48 hours of one another. Instead of feeling loss and wallow in my own self-pity and sadness, I soon realised I had the option to choose and experience freedom. And what an empowering thing this was. Just me and the world. And off I went. It took a few months to get it together and just GO. I started the Bali Chick blog 14 months ago when I arrived in Bali on December 2nd, 2011. In this blog, I have documented my feelings, my findings and my revelations to make sense of my own life and maybe even perhaps somehow inspire others to create change in their own lives, to give them the push they need to make the decisions to create a more fulfilling life for themselves. Your thoughts become your life.
I lived in Bali for 6 months, and it was heaven. Truly. Bali is such a beautiful and special island and is still very much a part of my heart and will be a big part of my future. Because it was hard to find a work permit there ( or maybe that was my current mindset at the time and I limited myself in creating abundance? ) I accepted a DJ residency in Singapore for 4 and a half months. It was the quantum opposite of Bali. I went from being absolutely broke, paying $200 a month for rent, eating for a dollar a day, wearing flip flops, riding a scooter through rice fields and literally seeing dead dogs on the street.... to making money, paying $1500 a month for rent ( shared with 2 other people, sleeping on an air mattress - not my ideal living condition ), wearing sparkly sky-high heels, drinking champagne, hobnobbing with high rollers and taking the train ( and cabs too ).
Singapore will always hold a special place in my heart and Singapore happened for a reason. My job there was literally the best job in the world! I DJed six nights a week on the 43rd floor rooftop. I drank champagne, for free, quite regularily. I experienced the famous Singapore f1 Grand Prix. I explored the neighborhoods of Little India and the famous 24 hour Mustafa supermarket which I would often shop for groceries at 3am. And let me tell you, you really have not lived until you have shopped in an Indian superstore at 3am. I worked. Hard. I took the train, bought groceries, hardly shopped ( one of the main things you do in Singapore ) and saved every penny I could. Perks of my job playing music at Zafferano meant I got to drink incredible wines, and was always working evenings, so I never went out for a drink ( which are $20 in Singapore ).
The last month in Singapore, I down-sized my 21st floor luxury apartment with pool, tennis courts and high-level security to move into a shared living arrangement which was only $800 a month. It came at a price: my bedroom was 10 feet away from a construction zone which was in action 7 days a week from 8am until 8pm. That was, to date, the most painful ( to my ears ) 3 weeks of my life. Being a DJ, or just having ears, I really have a new found appreciation for zen and silence after that. I really do. Now hearing the sound of absolutely nothing or trickling water has a quality that is so beyond heavenly and soothing. I really can't explain it. It's something that can only be appreciated after you have woken to jackhammers everyday for 21 days in a row.
After Singapore, I spent 2 months in France, with my dear and amazing parents, who are also world travellers and currently entering their second month of living in Thailand, where they go every year to relax, eat and get massaged by wrinkly old Asian people. I ate, drank and was merry with Mum and Dad in France. Lots. I walked lots too. Hours and hours through the countryside, with jetstreams in the distant sky and sheep as my friends.
While I was in Europe, I got myself down to Portugal for 12 days to stay with a dear friend who lives in the stunning beach town of Portimao on the south coast, near Faro. My friend was at work during the days, and the busy summer beach town was, well winter, I had some real quiet and quality time with myself. I walked the beach and explored the stunning red rock formations and wrote lots in my journal. It was there in Portimao that the events of 2012 really began to settle in. It was there that I realised just how much my life has changed and just how many different experiences I have had in a year and a bit. I've overcome challenges - both travel problems and faced inner demons - and had about 10 different sim cards for my cel phone. I've met so many people. So very many beautiful people, from all walks of life.
I'm now back in Perth, Australia, where I plan to settle for the next few months. I'm living with my beautiful girlfriend who I met in Bali last year ( my Australian soul sister ), her boyfriend and their gorgeous dogs. The weather is supreme. 35-40 most days. The sun SHINES here. It is BRIGHT! Not like cloudy and humid Singapore, which gets as much rainfall as the Amazon rainforest for those who don't know. This is not meant to put the damper on Singapore! Singapore is so culturally interesting and diverse. Singaporeans are truly unlike any other people on earth. They are a mix of Malaysian, Indonesian and Indian, mostly. They are so proud to be Singaporean! As much as I didn't enjoy living there, amongst the air-conditioned shopping madness and superficial front, my heart was taken with the colourful neighborhoods and people ( and Mustafa all-night Indian Superstore ).
I've just started a new job here. Hey, I had three months off after Singapore. Girls' gotta work, right? I'm working at a lovely little organic cafe just around the corner and hitting the gym with the Aussie men. Just putting them to shame. You know how I roll! As I make coffees and slice bananas, a part of me questions why I am doing this? Am I not better qualified? I've got such a colorful and interesting background of work experience. I've worked in radio, real estate, natural resources, hospitality, and DJing. Why am I slicing bananas and making coffee and sweeping floors?
The answer is I'm happy to not be working in an office! I left Vancouver, waiting for that bus every day in the rain, going into an office with other unhappy office people to go to Bali. How did I end up in Australia slicing bananas? Well, my friend, it's all part of the beautiful journey. I've got a plan though, and it's not one I will reveal until I'm all ready to. It involves hard work ( lots of bananas - good thing the hourly rate is $20 an hour here! ), saving everything I can and planting seeds and building towards "my plan." It's a six month plan. I'm sure I will reveal it sooner though ;)
It's interesting how some friendships have changed. It really is so important to only hold those close to you who support your dreams and love you 100%. I've fallen out with some friends, and become a lot closer with others, like my amazing housesitter back in Vancouver, who has been such an incredible inspiration, support and rock through-out my journey. Times change. People change. Friendships change. It's the flow of life.
I hope this blog post has inspired you. I feel good that I finally wrote all this out. I really do. All I ask is that you stop and ask yourself today " Is what I am doing making me happy? " Every moment. Every decision. Are you giving yourself the most amount of love you can? Remember, the most important relationship you have is the one with yourself. It's been a quiet year in the LOVE department for Bali Chick, only because I'm focusing so intently on loving myself and making a life I love. I spent Valentine's Night on the couch with Sex In The City, painting my toe nails red, wearing a black silk slip and eating coconut dark chocolate. Now if that's not self-love, I don't know what is!
So love yourself. In every decision. Who are you living your life for? The answer better be you. Even if you're a mother and responsible for another persons' life, you can still find time each day to treat yourself well and make yourself happy. You really can.
Hate your job? Quit. Quit today. Quit today and tell em I told ya to. Quit because you want to. Quit because you are not happy. Quit because you know there is bigger and better waiting for you out there. Or maybe not. Maybe you will think that you are taking a step back by slicing bananas, when really, it's a step forward, because it's one step closer to truly following your heart.
I'm going to post this now. I apologize for any grammatical errors. And thanks to _____ for writing to me and giving me the kick in the ass I needed to write this tonight. You are going to ROCK New York, girl. And if you don't, there is always another destination waiting for you. And you know what? I can't wait until you throw your yoga beach party with DJs and people drink coconut water and eat spirulina balls. I'm all about it. And I know about 100 other people who are all about it too. So let's do that.
Rock today. Rock your life!
LOVE, Kate XO
