It’s becoming a normal thing that I never have enough hours in the day. Now, I realise that this is mostly down to my own time management and planning, but surely I cannot be the only one out there. Ever since I got back from New Zealand at the end of April, i’ve been working my butt off. Consequently, the time to plan getaways has been challenging to find. It’s only recently that I had a few days to play with. Five magical free days in between work trips. Finally, a opportunity to escape.
There are times in life when a single moment shakes you, captures your full attention and forces you to be completely immersed within it. Today that happened for me. It was, in some kind of way, a homecoming. A completion.
I’ve been meaning to post this one for a while now. Almost a year now in fact. I wasn’t expecting it to, but life got in the way over the middle of last year. Between moving house from one side of London to the other and my work schedule being crazy busy, its only now, months later that I feel able to stop, properly reflect and finish writing about this adventure from spring last year. It turned out to be one of my favourites, teaching me yet again, more about myself and showing me the beauty of the place I call home.
It’s hard to know how to put today into words. Like many other kiwis living away from New Zealand, I’ve been in shock ever since I woke up and saw the breaking news on the BBC. Trying to understand it all and grasp the reality of what has happened is almost impossible. Things like this don’t happen in our small island nation. To me, it didn’t seem real, until I walked into my underground station. Right there on the front page of the Evening Standard newspaper, the horrific reality of events. All the world’s eyes were watching. The country I now call home was focused on my beautiful home country.
Galentines day began for me three years ago. I still can’t remember which one of my friends posted about it on Facebook, but as soon as I saw it, the idea it was planted in my brain. At the time, I didn’t think much of it (as many of us do when we get lost in the scroll), but as the days went by I couldn’t stop thinking about that small little clip. I needed to know more.
Right, lets be real. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the blog. At the beginning of last year I had the intention of writing at least each month. I wasn’t expecting it to, but life got pretty full on over the first few months of the year and to be honest, I completely lost momentum as the months past by. Between moving house from one side of London to the other and my hectic work schedule, it has been a constant struggle to find time to catch my breath.
I have done more goodbyes in the last few months than I ever thought I would have to do. Each one is the same, yet completely different. The fact that you are saying goodbye remains the same, but the different reactions that follow still seem to catch me by surprise.
Okay, time for a moment of honesty. I used to despise Valentines day. Whenever it would role around, I would make sure I was either working or alternatively, had plans locked in with some of my closest girlfriends in hopes of avoiding the day at all costs. Why would I participate in a day that highlighted my singleness and excluded me because of it?
I’ve been staring at my computer screen for almost an hour. Trying to find the words to put on a blank page to sum up a year. I’ve looked through photos from the past year waiting for inspiration to strike…it did not. My thoughts brought me back to the beginning again. Back to where the blog began two years ago…with honesty and staying true to myself. It hasn’t failed me yet, so here we go.
Driving into Banff is like being transported into a snow globe. The gentle snow coming down and the grandness of the mountains around the small town of Banff will be engrained in my memory forever. Getting to Banff is a pretty easy exercise. Calgary is the closest main centre to the national park, only taking 1.5 hours to drive from the airport to the park perimeter itself. All you need is snacks, a great soundtrack…and GPS.
