I am living my dream.

I’m a mother of 3 – I have 2 amazing sons and one gorgeous daughter, I’m a wife, a trader, a student, and a daughter. I’m a graphic designer, a sister, a friend, a searcher and I’m passionate about travelling!

I want to share with you my story, and by sharing this story I hope to encourage, inspire, and instil the belief that dreams can become reality, It’s not just a fancy, new age saying that’s put out there to sell books. It’s available to us all, we just need the right tools to implement it into our lives

My dream has always been to travel the globe, to book a one-way ticket, no time restraints, to experience new cultures, new countries, an endless array of different places, cuisines, language, people. I longed for my children to grow up knowing that this wonderful world is their backyard. To never be confined to one place, one job, one way of thinking.  To be free to explore, discover, learn, and indulge in everything it has to offer.

I learnt today that 6.30am is the one of the most beautiful times in Pai. While most travelers are still sleeping, I have been privileged to witness the beautiful ritual of the monks wandering through the quiet streets of this quaint little town, situated in the ‘golden triangle’ in Northern Thailand. I learnt that monks still rely on receiving alms for most of their food. The monks leave the monasteries early in the morning. They walk single file, oldest first, carrying their alms bowls in front of them. Laypeople wait for them, sometimes kneeling and praying, and place food, flowers or incense sticks in the bowls. The monks do not speak, even to say thank you. The giving of alms is not thought of as charity. The giving and receiving of alms creates a spiritual connection between the monastic and lay communities. Laypeople have a responsibility to support the monks physically, and the monks have a responsibility to support the community spiritually.  I will never tire of the splendid sights of the Monks, the rich orange robes, their calm and mystical presence, a picture of spiritual freedom and contentment.

It’s September 27^th 2010 and I’m sitting in a café surrounded by walls made from wheatgrass and secondhand books. I’m the only customer, but this little café will soon be bustling with travelers and locals alike. The foods good, the tea’s a plenty, and the vibe is just right – a good mix of eclectic and groove.

I can’t believe that it’s been 7 months since we left Perth. 7 months since we liquidated our lives and started on this incredible journey. It seems like a lifetime ago… and it seems like yesterday!

The actual decision to follow our dream was an easy one, yet it took 10 years, a whole lot of searching, and the challenging task of learning to listen to the powerful external and internal forces that have guided us over that time! It’s a challenge … and a process … and not for the feint hearted!

Liam was working off shore and spent almost as much time away as he did at home. This had been our life for the 10 years we had been together. We had 2 mortgages, 2 cars, a boat and all the toys that come with a ‘nice’ income.  It looked great from the outside, and we were having fun, but on the inside the questioning stirred in both of us. We were incarcerated to this ‘egoic state’. Bigger house, better car, more, more, more, and there isn’t true choice in that. We were becoming very conscious of what was really going on behind the scenes and within the walls of our ‘comfort zone’.

When Liam was away I missed him terribly, and then our 2 beautiful children were born in quick concession. The need, and the desire to have him home was becoming almost unbearable. Our ‘comfort zone’ had become pretty damn uncomfortable and we knew that there must be more than this.

To add to this feeling of restlessness my 14year old son, Brock, had recently began living with his dad so the tie to the schooling system was now gone. Looking back now on what was one of the most difficult times of my life, I realise that it was just everything lining up, all of the everyday restrictions were being pushed aside, taken out of my control, questioned… or just evaporating!

During this period of restlessness Liam and I were participating in a program called Money Mastery. The program challenged and questioned everything that we perceived as ‘the truth’. It gave us the tools and confidence to take the road of enquiry, and get closer to the answers to the age-old questions of … purpose, clarity, truth…

Mind boggling yes! Life changing – absolutely!

Then the day came, the timing was perfect! Liam had word that the rig that he was working on was about to be stacked, (which in the oil industry means out of contract) and he was to be made redundant. While his colleagues lost sleep and busily started applying for new jobs we were quietly doing a jig at the freedom that this situation had given us!

We could now ask the question…. ‘what do we really want to do with our lives – right now?’

Travel was always on the agenda. Initially it was about my desire to discover Europe, to visit my long lost relatives in Germany and do a little searching to find out about my fathers ‘forgotten’ childhood.

We discussed a trip to Europe, but that meant a good chunk of time for me. I just wasn’t into the ’10 countries in 6 weeks’ sort of travel, I wanted to experience it in what I’ve now discovered is called ‘slow travel’. I wanted to be able to take our time, settle for a while in a place if we liked it, move on if it didn’t suit our needs, unpack our cases for a bit, and give ourselves, and our children, the gift of unrestricted time.

As you have it though, my dream had been given fertile ground to develop and before long our plans moved into Indonesia, Asia, China and across the Trans Mongolian railway into the Eastern Block of Europe. We didn’t ever really put a time on it but I found my self saying ‘about 2 years’ to avoid the questions that would follow an ‘open ended travel plan’. The ‘pleaser’ in me didn’t want my beloved family and friends to experience any pain around our departure.

So the decision was made. We would leave in Feb 2010, which gave us one last summer in Perth. The rest of the plans would evolve as time went on …