18 posts tagged “travel”
3 months until I leave on my trip and my spare time has been filled by constant ebaying, working on my websites (newest one = Travels with my laptop, go check it out), trying to make money, applying for visas, various preparations and no sleep in general while my brain whirs round and round and round.
In about 3 weeks I will hand in notice on my rental agreement for the house and start making moving out preparations. in about 4 weeks I will tell my boss I'm leaving.
I still need to get a million vaccinations, find a home for the kitty monsters and hope the Indian high commission don't lose my passport.
promised myself i'd be in bed right now but i just can't stay away from my computer at the moment. think i'm becoming a little obsessed.
vox is quiet these days. And I guess so am I...
Biggest and only news is that I have booked my mega plane ticket out of here. London to London via India, Nepal, Thailand, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands and USA, though who knows when or if I will be using the return portion of my ticket.
Today is midsummer's day and it's been freezing cold and raining all day. I wore my coat for the first time since I came back from Japan. This just counts as more evidence that I have made the right decision.
I am strangely not terrified.
I have set up a new blog here http://www.deletia.co.uk/ though i'll probably continue to post on vox when i feel like it.
Here's to lifelong adventures
- I got a new haircut involving a fringe and new glasses and I don't recognise myself in the mirror anymore
- I went to Budapest for blink_lu's hen weekend and had a fabulous time, met some lovely people and it has made me even more excited about going on my travels. The photo to the left was an amazing bar we went in with tickets and photos and notes pinned to every available space on the walls and ceiling. The floor was covered in straw and people were dropping cigarette ash everywhere. Such a fire risk would never be allowed in the UK. I love it! On choosing this photo I also realised I could make out some of the text in the notes when zooming in to 100%. Here is a sample:
Fabulous.
We went to the zoo and stayed out drinking till 5am 2 nights in a row, which I thought I was getting far too old to do. I also fell asleep in a kebab shop. I can't wait to go back!
- Lucy and Coddy's wedding is merely days away and I am so excited! I haven't been a bridesmaid in 20 years! now I really do feel old...
- I am going to Japan in 2 weeks. I can't wait to be back eating convenience store bento, buying a million books and exploring all the pretty temples. I am so not going to want to come back home.
- I got my New Zealand work visa. 6 months to go. meep
- I have said this before but i really really want to start drawing again. I remember participating in the first illustration friday and looking at the site now I can't believe how big it's grown and that it's been going for nearly 4 years. that's crazy, just think of all the drawing i could have done in 4 years. now i'm inspired again and i'm leaving my job this year so who knows what opportunities there are in the future? A year ago we planned to have a load of cool kumoma products to sell at design festa and of course with 2 weeks to go we have nothing... but it's not too late still and i'm going to try my hardest to have something ready to exhibit at least, even if it is free postcards.
- I'm going to bed now. Good night.
Slow Learner tagged me. I've never been tagged before. i feel like one of the cool kids now :p
- Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
- Open the book to page 123.
- Find the fifth sentence.
- Post the next three sentences.
- Tag five people.
Angdawa's efforts soon came to an end and in spite of the security of the rope I had not the heart to ask him to go on, so I took his place and went ahead
From Annapurna by Maurice Herzog. I've not started reading it yet, it's just on the top of my stupidly big teetering pile of books because I stole it off my brother's bookshelf last night. I'm on a nepal kick at the moment.
I tag blink_lu, Dr David Coddingsteine,kelly, wedgeh and Wissam if they haven't already done it because I don't pay attention....
In other news my Japan trip is all booked up: Kyoto - Tokyo - Sapporo - Morioka - Kyoto.
I really miss japan and i can't wait to go back. i get the feeling I'm just not going to want to leave again....
Also off to Budapest for lucy's hen weekend in a few weeks which will be a very welcome mini break. How lucky am I to live in Europe? I really wish I'd taken the time to take more advantage of it while I'm here. when i think about all the money i've spent on flights to asia....
oh well, off to watch prison bread. Roll on friday!
I had my last japanese exam today. I'm sooooo glad they're out of the way. I don't think I did particularly well but I'm not that bothered, I can just go back to learning kanji and reading kids books and writing emails in japanese for now. hurray! Also want to learn some bits of other languages, probably norwegian first as I started learning it a few years ago. I'd really love to learn some icelandic too, not to the point of being able to hold a conversation but just a few words would be nice - it's such a pretty looking language.
I've been feeling out of sorts lately and I don't know why. I keep having baths because that's what I do when I don't know what to do and I keep dyeing my hair because that's what I do when I'm sad and I keep drinking wine because drinking wine always helps. meh. Also spending vast amounts of money in an attempt to cheer myself up which isn't a very good thing and won't work anyway.
I think I just need to get away. It feels like so long since I last had a holiday and I'm getting itchy feet. I really can't stay in one place for too long. I've been driving myself crazy reminiscing over japan and iceland. cuba is booked at least but october seems soooooo far away. Wondering if I should have a lshort trip somewhere in august... I'm thinking finland possibly? I could go to the moomin museum! also want to stay here, heh. well... I can't afford it anyway. especially as i'm supposed to be going to hong kong at xmas. oh why oh why won't someone buy me a neverending supply of plane tickets?
been off work today for my exam and now i don't want to go back. don't want to go to bed! save me!
well that was random.
i did have lots of random non related things to talk about over the course of the week but i've forgotten them all so i'm just going to ramble.
my audrey kawasaki print arrived this morning and it's soooo gorgeous, i really need to go frame it. also need to frame my ogi prints and my lily pirri print and my kozyndan prints.... argh! need to know someone with a framing business who'll do it cheap for me!
star kitty managed to get himself trapped in next doors yard the other night and i had to rescue him by standing on my wheelie bin and hanging over the (high) wall holding a chair for him to jump onto. and i thought pocky was the dumb cat! I'm reluctant to let them out again now, can't keep rescuing them all the time!
www.kumoma.com is the start of a new project that i'm working on with my friend helen. we're going to sell tshirts/prints/buttons and other cool stuff and possibly start up a freelance design business on the back of it. i do web and she does print so it all works out really. it's making me want to draw lots more too which i have been doing but i get frustrated because i can't draw as well as i used to. and i keep putting dvds on to watch while i draw but i have an annoying habit of picking foreign films so i actually have to pay attention to the subtitles and can't draw at the same time!
umm.... i've been ringing round for quotes for our cuba holiday and it feels like the planning is actually getting somewhere now. i'm so excited! i really really need to get another definite holiday on my calendar so i have something to look forward to. still thinking i want to go somewhere in the summer but i'm not sure where... possibly russia, or a friend from work is renting an apartment in shanghai for a couple of months so i could stay with him for a bit. didn't really feel like i got to see much of shanghai when i was there last and i was ill for half of it too. my mum is also quite keen for us to go to hong kong at xmas so there are lots of possibilities on the horizon.
anyway i'm sure there's more randomness to talk about but i have to go to the post office and then buy shampoo and cat litter. what an exciting life i lead!!
I spent a lovely weekend with lucy. we're planning to go to cuba together now, which is so exciting. I need my travel plans or i start thinking everything's hopeless. i'm starting to worry about the size of my carbon footprint.
thinking again about my work abroad plans that never really got off the ground. i don't know where to start. i'm even thinking about teaching in japan, which i never thought i'd consider. i'd love japan, just not the teaching bit... i think. i'm just not sure i want to be here anymore and i don't know where i do want to be. stuck stuck.
I'm waiting for nice things to arrive in the post, like shoes and this book. getting only bills and junk mail makes me feel so grown up in a bad way.
sleep is eluding me so i am drinking water instead.
i did have this huge rant about things but it won't help anyone so i'm leaving it out.
I just watched the last ever episode of the OC and it made me cry. oh dear.
Really can't believe it's nearly march already. time just flies. started some tentative planning for my travels this year - i think i'd like to go to moscow in august and maybe st petersburg too. then hopefully cuba in december (my dad said he is interested in coming with his wife too!). of course i have oslo in a few weeks and there may be a couple more european trips here and there. I really like planning my life around travel, it makes things a whole lot more interesting. I've been thinking about my job again. it's really a fairly decent job and I like everyone there, we're moving offices soon which will be fab... but i'm feeling a bit like i'm stuck in a rut. I'm 'comfortable' there. comfortable and stuck. I dunno, maybe I can shake things up a bit - i'm definitely going to campaign for a pay rise in my appraisal which is coming up, but if things don't change in the next few months i really think i'm going to have to rethink what i'm doing with my life. hmm.
I forgot to mention but i finished my hourglass sweater last weekend. sorry for the spazzy picture, i tried so many times to get a decent one and it just wasn't working. anyway i'm pretty happy with it. it's a bit big but i like that because it's cozy and i can wear layers under it. need lots of cozy jumpers - it's starting to get rather chilly round here and i'm refusing to put the heating on.
so... another weekend. I've posted ebay parcels, been on a long walk, tidied and cleaned my flat and now i'm going to do some work and some japanese homework before settling down for the night with the beach on dvd and raspberry vodka (i'd prefer wine but i ran out a couple of weeks ago and seeing as i'm only buying essential food items now, i have to put up with what i've got... mind my mum is due back from spain - hopefully she's brought me some nice wine back :)). Think i'm going to have to plan something more exciting for next weekend before i start to depress myself.
My passport arrived yesterday. I am absolutely gobsmacked. processed in less than 5 days and with no problems or hold-ups whatsoever. wow. One less thing to worry about anyway.
I finally got around to scanning and uploading the rest of my china photos. there's a couple below and the rest are on my flickr
I have a confession to make. I am actually planning on buying yet another plane ticket.... found out ryanair fly from newcastle to oslo for £35 return including taxes and the times mean i wouldn't even have to take an afternoon off work to go for the weekend. So I think i'm going to go with vicky next year. We're meeting up on halloween for dinner and we'll discuss it then, inbetween spooky cupcakes and scary movies. I love halloween.
After that trip I'll be saving up for cuba :p
Planning all the places i want to go and things i want to do is really what keeps me going. i alternate between really happy and really sad. life is just such a big mess. the only thing i can do is continue to seek out the things that make me happy and at the moment that means sacrificing my food/clothing/heating budget for plane tickets. i feel like a little speck floating around forever. may as well float somewhere interesting.
