Personal Life
100 Days of Living Out of a Bag
Oh dear wanderlusters, it has been a while… I’ve missed you dearly I promise.
I’ve been mega crazy busy – I finally found an incredible job! I’m working in digital marketing and events management for a company called Gertrude & Ivy in Battersea. It’s a big career change for me but a very welcome one. If someone wanted to pay me to be a full time wanderlusting gypsy princess/blogger then that would be fantabulous – but until that day comes I’ll content myself by organizing super fun events and creating engaging content for our clients.
Settling in to London is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I’ve been looking for a flat and viewing lots of places that seem promising – which means I’m still living out of a bag and staying at friends places. I’ve learnt to accept peoples kindness – which was a surprisingly hard lesson to learn. I wasn’t really accustomed to people giving so much and I’m eternally grateful for the lesson and to them of course.
Another surprising discovery is my desire to have a place to call my own. I have always been a little bit nomadic with my sleeping arrangements even when I was settled in Melbourne and working full time – I’d sleep over at friends houses or go visit family for the night and then commute back in to the city the following day to work but I always had a space that was entirely mine to call home. It was a tiny space in a tiny room… but it was my space. It’s where I kept my treasures – my photo albums, my journals, my sentimental belongings. It’s a comfort that I didn’t realise I so desperately needed.
As always I do love to hear from you, so please leave a comment or tweet me @jessicaswander
The Kindness of Strangers – Arriving in London
I arrived in England just a few short days ago on the 16th of December and since that time I’ve been incredibly amazed by the kindness of strangers. I had been warned that people weren’t as friendly and to expect rude people everywhere in London but my experience has been quite the opposite. Our plane flew in to Heathrow at 6:30 in the morning and my friends Dad came to pick us up from the airport. He had offered to have the four of us stay the night. We drove to his house which was in the Cotswolds a beautiful place with amazing old buildings. We all showered which was incredible after 48 hours of travelling from Koh Phangan and then went out for lunch at a cute old local pub. That night we had a delicious roast dinner and just sat around the table talking and laughing. The next day it was time for me to head to London. I caught the train in to London and it was a little overwhelming. I was still exhausted from travelling and my backpack is VERY heavy. I had to find a New Oxford Street to go pick up a letter and then I had an appointment to set up a bank account that afternoon. I asked many a kind stranger and no one seemed to know how to get to New Oxford street. Eventually I met a nice man who looked it up on google maps for me and I was on my way. Now I can’t stress enough that I look hilarious with my backpack on. It’s big and its heavy and I’m a little girl. I got on to the underground to make my way to tottenham court road and nearly fell over a lovely lady. She then offered to help me sit down with my backpack on so I could have a rest. She then asked me where I was going and if I needed any help. I explained where I was off to and she said that once we get off the underground she would check her phone to make sure I’m headed in the right direction and even offered to walk me there. I declined once I realised that I could see the building I was looking for when I left the station and thanked her for her kindness. I arrived at the visa office, picked up my letter and was off to the bank. The bank manager was so kind (and young) we spoke about travel and adventure, parties and art. I left the bank with a smile on my face. I am absolutely astonished at how wonderfully kind people can be.
Happy New Years from Jessica’s Wanderlust
Happy New Years. I’m wishing you all a wonderful year full of love, adventure and happiness.
It’s been a crazy month and I can’t wait to share with you what I’ve been up to and what I’ve got inshore for 2014.
It’s going to be a magical year.
Big Love,
Jessica
Beaches and tire swings
Loving being back in Koh Phangan again. We took the mopeds out for the day and discovered this little gem of a beach and this fabulous tire swing. It’s a much different experience from my last trip that’s for sure!
Family Christmas Fun
I’m sure others have tried to claim it before but I’m certain that I have the most incredible family in the whole wide world!
We’ve just had our annual Christmas party as we always do in early December. We all head away for the weekend to a location chosen by the family who organise it for that year. This year we stayed in a family caravan park in country victoria on the river. We play volleyball, three legged races, sack races, tug-of-war, tunnel ball… and this year we added beer pong to the list.
What sets this ridiculous mob apart from the rest is the fact that we’re all such incredible friends. Regardless of age or interests we are all friends and have so much love for each other. I couldn’t think of a better group of people to spend my last night in Australia with.
The morning after the party we had a big hangover cure breakfast and then it was time for me to leave for the airport. I feel so so blessed.
Russell Brand – Love is all that matters
I just had to share this because it’s just so beautiful.
Russell brand is just incredible. What an enlightened human being and I couldn’t agree with him more…
Love is all you need.
Lentil as Anything- a farewell dinner
And so the farewells begin! I spent this afternoon with some gorgeous friends of mine at Lentil as Anything at the Abbotsford convent. This is one of my favorite places to be when I’m in Melbourne. The gardens are gorgeous, the food is delicious and served buffet style, there is always music and it always feels magnificent…
Q&A – two weeks left in Melbourne.
Only two weeks left now until I leave and It feels a little but odd. It doesn’t really seem real or different at all. It doesn’t seem like a big deal or like I’m actually doing anything special and that’s what feels odd. I’ve been catching up with heaps of friends and family and everyone asks me the same questions “are you excited?” “What are your plans?” “How long are you going for” and it makes me question myself quite a bit.
I mean firstly it doesn’t seem real yet. I’ve not been to England before so I don’t know what to expect so I’m trying not to really have any expectations. I’m open to everything and not connected to any particular outcome. This adventure for me is just time to myself away from my life in Melbourne to work out what it is that I truly love doing and what I want to do. I feel like my life should really be about something and I want to use it wisely to help people, to love people and just enjoy it really and I know my current actions aren’t really bringing me to that outcome as much as I’d like them to. So I guess it’s a bit of a starting point to get to know myself better as who I truly am as opposed to who I think I am based on events and people and things I’ve just fallen in to.
As far as making plans and how long I’ll be there for… I just don’t know. I’ll be there as long as I’m enjoying myself and as long as I feel I want to be. It might be 3 months it might be a few years who knows. I just want to be free, to be happy and to make other people’s lives a little bit better.
I’ll work it out.
Jessica x
They’re just boobs…
Okay so I’m the first to admit that I’m a little bit of a hippy and tend to have a bit of a liberal view when it comes to nudity and particuarly in the case of art and self expression.
As some of you may know I recently had my first topless photos published on Peter Coulson’s blog. I LOVE these images. I truly believe we have created something beautiful and emotive and different. There is nothing sexual or offensive about them. I am so so happy with them and am happy for people to see what we have created.
The strangest thing I’ve noticed is that some people really seem to have a thing about lady nipples. What’s the big deal? What makes a man’s nipples okay and perfectly socially acceptable but a woman’s nipples are dirty and need to be hidden at all times? This confuses me completely. In a world where cleavage and “side boob” are considered the norm why do we get so funny about NIPPLES?
Baffled…
Jessica. xx
Gandhi wisdom
Quote Posted on Updated on
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Jessica's Wanderlust 