Flights

Well it's Monday and I haven't had the best start to my day, I refuse to let it get me down and what is the best way to make me feel better? Plan one day trips abroad.. and that got me thinking while some people hate to travel, I find it completely relaxing whether it's a quick 50 minute flight from Johannesburg to Durban or a 12 hour flight from Johannesburg to Frankfurt. There is a comfort in knowing the routine.

I thought after my long flights and layovers during my trips to Europe I would have stopped enjoying flights and airports while I am definitely tired after an overseas trips, give me a week or so and I'll be up for it all over again.

I battle to see how people are afraid of flying but during my last flight, there were two people in front of me who both suffered with Pteromerhanophobia (a fear of flying) and I just don't get it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing their fears, I just can't seem to understand it and I'm very glad I don't suffer with it. I honestly can't fathom the fear ever after the numerous flights which have gone missing or flown into mountain tops. I just love flying...

Is this because I am an optimist as opposed to a realist or is a realist code for a pessimist with good days?

I digress, travelling and airports or drives are all pretty much the same. It's as if my restless heart finds peace in the sound of engine or even the voice that tells you how to put your seat belt on. It makes me wonder if I had started travelling or had opened myself up to travelling at a younger age would I have chosen to be an attorney or would I have gone into a different field? I guess I'll never know...

I think, the thing I like most about travelling is the acceptable silence you don't have to talk to anyone or make conversation - but you could if you wanted to and there's no judgment in your silence either.

Another thing, everyone on a flight is going somewhere which I like because no one likes to go nowhere slowly...

Do you like to fly? Are you planning any exciting trips?

13 Moments of 2013

This is the last of my 13 of 2013 series but more so, it is the last of my post for the year. A year ago, I didn't even have a blog to post on but here I am writing to you, not knowing who you are are where you are in this world but here I am once again sharing very private things with you and this post will be no different. It's the 13 moments from this year which I will remember.

1. My admission as an attorney. 

2. Returning to Ireland, and the moment I had my first drink.

3. The moment I found out Nelson Mandela had died.Coupled with the day after when my colleagues and I went to the house. The scenes there were incredible. 

4. Being lost in Brussels for 5 hours all on my lonesome.

5. Pepe Reina waving at me (and Charne)

6.Sitting at the Moses Mabida stadium for the Liverpool Legends game thinking, if this is how incredible the atmosphere is here, thousands of kilometers away from Anfield, I can only imagine what it feels like to be at Anfield during a game.

7. Justin Bieber's concert - the whole day was crazy and a once off experience. 

8. Arriving in Hamburg and thinking "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING COMING TO COUNTRY WHERE YOU DO NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE ALL ALONE?" Thank goodness for nice people on trains who speak English!

9. Leaving Juls and Oli at the train station in Mainz. I remember feeling so grateful and excited but scared for what I had experienced in Germany and what would still come.

10. Resigning from my job and the reception from my colleagues after that was humbling.

11. Leaving Ireland, I was so grateful that I had no one next to me on the flight because I cried a lot more than I would have ever expected.

12. Uptothemoon, after her last win, when she was upset with me and she was so angry. 

13. Family moment montage, from my mom's 50th to family picnics to music shows... great food, joking around to walking on the beach.

While I cannot lie to you and tell you this year was perfect or even great I can tell you that this year I achieved incredible things. I had so many moments wherein bringing it down to 13 was extremely difficult. However, I also closed a lot of unopened chapters this year which can only excite me about what 2014 holds.This year was difficult and challenging but I can say I have made it through and I am thrilled that I get another chance at trying again in 2014....  What will you do to make a difference in 2014? 

What was your moment of 2013?

Have a great New Years Eve... and I'll see you next year!

Hi, my name is Natalie and I'm a technoogy hoarder

Firstly - can you believe we are already 5 days into November? This year is GONE and boy am I glad.

Secondly, an update on how I did with my October mindset....

1.Spanish lessons : I finally completed the first disc of my Spanish lessons and I will move onto disc two. BUT does anyone know of some good Spanish Apps I could maybe download? Or even better.. spanish music? I love music and I think if I could sing along to some music I would learn the meaning and pronounciation better?

 

 

2. I failed at the physical activity 4 times a week. I wish I had a reason worth repeating  but I don't HOWEVER, I did purchase a nice new piece of equipment, the Orbitrek which now doubles as a stepper and elipitical walker. So after paying a big lump sum for it I will be sure to be getting my exercise on.

 

3. Booking another trip - well I did accomplish this but it sort of happened by accident. As I did this post, Liverpool announced that the Legends team were en route to South Africa but they would be playing at the Moses Mabida Stadium so ofcourse I booked tickets and I will be off to Durban in just under two weeks!

 

4. Another one I failed at, I haven't decided what to do with my blog design but I have given it a lot of thought and I think it will be a work in progress until the new year.

 

 

Now back to the original post idea. It occured to me, as it has many times before, that I am very much into social media and different forms of communication and then while on lunch yesterday I realised I keep a lot of unnecessary mails and then I started going through my Bloglovin account and then twitter and then facebook and I came to the conclusion that I have a hard time letting go.

 

I have mails since the day I started my current position(last year October) and I have blogs that I follow or subscribe to which I maybe liked one post but not any other or I follwed people on twitter because I once liked one of the TV shows they were in and thought that their TV charcters would automatically make them interesting people. I was wrong. I have people who requested me as a friend on Facebook when I joined and thought it was ok to accept even though I didn't know them and I am yet to delete them?

 

BUT all this just reaffirmed my shock which I went through over the weekend when I got a very nice pop up meassage on my phone to day that I don't have any more space to take any more pictures! I was horrified, I mean I archieve and delete unnecessary pictures when I absolutely have to.

 

All this made me think WHY? Why am I not letting go of the deadwood? But I realised I don't like letting go. I have this fear that I will miss a really great post or someone I met once and now we're Facebook friends and I need to know when she's getting married and having kids? Or why I would follow people on twitter just for the sake of having some different people on my timeline?

 

 

I decided, I've had enough. I am putting everyone on probation. Just like how with clothing items I haven't used or even wanted to use in the last year - I am getting rid of it all. I just feel as if I am carrying extra deadwood for nothing. I started by deleting about 1000 of the 2899 photographs I had on my phone and then getting rid of music that I don't like or apps that no longer serve any purpose. Come on Natalie, the Euros 2012 App cannot help you in November 2013!

 

So the purging begins and I think it is perfect timing. There are a lot of things happening in my life right now... and I need to make sure only the relevant survive. And while Android and Apple finally have BBM, I am going to be very selective in who I add to yet another social media platform.

 

I just feel like any people who hoard clothes or old items, that by me holding onto all these additional people for no good reason that I am holding myself back from letting the right people into my life or creating space for the people who matter.

Are you a technology hoarder like me? Or do you hoard something else?

 

Travelling Music

I mentioned in my first travel post that I was going to include songs from parts of my trip but along the way I either forgot (sorry!) or couldn't think of one at the time.

So here are a list of songs which will remind me of moments in my trip

I heard this song in every single country and city I visited!

 

This is from O'Neill's on my last night in Dublin

 

While this is a sad song, hearing it in an Irish pub where the entire crowd is singing along gave it a whole new level of meaning. If I can figure out how to upload the video I will!

 

 

 

I didn't know this song before my night in Dublin and to be honest, the fact that I couldn;t sing along really bugged me! When I came back it was the first song I downloaded

 

 

I'm always amazed at the way in which music makes me feel and how it can evoke extraordinary feelings in a way that is unexplainable or how just hearing a song can link you to another person for life.

 

 

 

 

Do you agree with this quote???

 

 



Travel Post : Ireland ~ the final edition of EuroTrip 2013

I have been intentionally dragging on doing this post because this post, the last installment of this trip means it is officially over!

If you have been reading my posts you will know that I LOVE Ireland! On my previous trip, my friend, Alicia and I only went to Dublin and we did all the touristy things there and I left Dublin with a heavy heart. For the past 2 and a half years I have been holding a candle to it so it was obviously risky going back, I mean the way I looked at there would one of two scenarios:

1. I would be completely dissaappointed by it. I would think I was caught in the romance of my first trip and that the people and the place actually wasn't that great.

2. I would love it as much as I thought I did the first time round and would hate leaving it.

Well there is a third option which I hadn't anticipated, it would exceed my expectations by far and I would fall more in love with the place and the people. This is what actually happened.

When I got off the plane from Belgium, I was almost overwhelmed to be surrounded by such nice people, people who spoke English!!

On this trip I decided to go to Galway for a night so I could see the Cliffs of Moher however when I arrived the last tour bus for the day had left so I had the afternoon to relax in Galway.. this is when I met Aimee and Keeley, they were staying in the same Hostel as me. By the way this hostel was awesome :)

 

I sort of forced my way into lunch with my two new American friends and once we sat down we actually got along really well! Keeley had been to Galway before and loved it and she love's traditional Irish music which as you know.. I do :)

We decided we were going out that night and to say it wa EPIC would be an understatement.

The next day we were off to the Cliffs of Moher which were breath-taking to say the least. The entire tour was unbelievable...

Saturday night we went back to Dublin for another night out. While not as epic as Galway it was loads of fun!

Sunday I got to catch up with two friends I had made on my previous trip (Thank you Facebook!). If I am honest, I was scared that it was going to be strained or awkward but it was so easy and time just went way too quickly. They gave me an unorthodox one of a kind tour showing me things you would only know after living in a city and I loved it!

That evening I didn't have anyone to go with me to listen to some traditional Irish music so I decided, " Who Cares?! I'll go alone!" It was truly one of the most scary and liberating things to do. I went to O'Neill's in Suffolk Street.

The next day I spent the day just taking in Dublin City because I had previously been to Dublin I didn't have any tourist things to do I just got to enjoy the culture.

I saw this sign while walking around Dublin City

 

In the evening I managed to get all but one of the ladies from my room (Room 17) to go back to O'Neill's that evening and it was so much fun.

Ireland was once again incredibly kind to me and I am definitely going back - sooner rather than later! I think it's wonderful to feel at home in a place which is clearly not your home. The Irish are so warm and made me feel very welcome, once again.

Have you been to anywhere in Ireland?

Travel Post : Brussels, Belgium - I (heart) the Grand Palace Market

Brussels was overwhelmingly beautiful and it was the first time I was truly alone on my trip. It was incredible and the time I spent by myself was much needed and allowed me to process the future.

I wish I could explain more about Brussels but it was more of a personal experience than I could probably ever put into words.

However, I did meet some really nice people!!!

I also found Brussels to be complex with the architecture.. some of it was so modern and some of it was so old... Also! The Cathedral was my favourite one of my trip! The pulpit was insane!

The Pulpit

The Cathdral

Tourist versions of the "Belgium Waffle" The proper Belgium waffle is actually just the waffle with icing powder over it and let me tell you it tastes DELICIOUS!

The Grand Palace Market

My Moroccan friend and I at the Mannekin Pis

Do you know the story about the Mannekin Pis? What's your favourite part about travelling?

Travel Post : Spending the Day in Strausbourg, France

When I was in Europe a few weeks ago ( I cannot believe how long it's been already) while I was with my friends Julia and Oliver, they decided they were going to take me to France for a day trip! How freaking awesome is that... we could just take a day trip to get there!

I was so excited that I got to take a drive into another country and the country just happens to be a country with so much history.

I was super super super excited when I saw this road sign:

 You know you would have been excited!! Paris was only 5 hours away!

 

It was so beautiful to be there but I will say compared to the other places I was visiting in Germany, Strausbourg was very touristy.

 

 

When we arrived we saw the Cathedral but decided to go eat first and we ended up at this restaurant - and it was not good. Well from the four meals we ordered, only Oliver was happy but I'm not sure if it was because the food was that good or because he was that hungry!

 

Afterwards we walked around and went into the Cathedral - it was incredible! I can't explain what it was like walking around there.. but as much as I liked the inside, I am absolutely in love with the details of the exterior of the Catherdral!

 

Here are some pics from when we walked around the town... all I can say is *prettiness* everywhere!

 

 

I hadn't even heard Strausbourg before this trip and now I am so grateful for the experience.

 

Have you heard about it? Have you been? Better question.... would you go after this post?

 

Have a great weekend everyone! I will still do my Blogtember post later today!

 

xxx

Travel Post : Obsessed with castles in Germany!

Part one of my travel posts.... I don't think I have ever mentioned my little obsession with castles well I will admit it now, I am obsessed with castles. I love these old places which hold so much history and everything is just so vintage and I thrive on it!

So when I was chatting to my friend Julia, I told her I LOVE castles and she said I would love it there.. I thought she was kidding but she was in no way exaggerating because there really are so many castles!

We visited the Marksburg Castle

Here is what some of my favourites looked like...

Burg Pfalzgrafenstein, Kaub

 

What do you think of the castles? Have you ever been to any? Am I crazy to be slightly obsessed?

Oh and the song to correspond is super cheesey... but you know you're singing along to it