Contentment

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” -C.S Lewis

I find myself repeating this quote to myself a lot. It holds such clarity as to why I so often desire so much more than this world can give me. God didn't create us as human beings to live the way we do, and desire worldly possession as we do. I so often wonder what a world without sin and evil would look like. A world where we weren't fighting to survive, or competing with each other the way that we do for success or fame. I so often desire more, more out of this life, more from myself. I put so much pressure on myself cause I can't shake this feeling, when in reality I'm never going to be satisfied here. 

Contentment is something that I have really been struggling with lately. I am the sort of person who is always waiting for the next thing and I rarely live in the moment. I have an extremely over active imagination which doesn't ever really slow down. I always just feel like I have to get through the days to get to the next "thing". Then when it arrives I'm not even thinking about it or enjoying it, I'm just looking to the next "thing". I think a big part of contentment is gratitude. Stopping and thanking God for what we have been given. For the opportunities and experiences that he has provided for us. Knowing that what we have is a gift from him, to be valued and not taken for granted. I know that I will probably never find true contentment on this earth. But I also know that I need to enjoy the moments in this life and be thankful for them. My discontent continues to drive me to do better and do more. But there does become a point when I think you must find contentment in the season, to enjoy and be grateful for what's in front of you. This is what I want to work on. I'll always remember C.S Lewis words, it helps me understand my feelings. But I also desire to live a great life that I have been blessed with on this earth.

Annecy

Annecy, France is one magically stunning place. The town is a gateway to the alps. The mountains that tower over the incredibly blue lake Annecy can't even be described. Pictures, although beautiful, can't do this place enough justice. Rachael and I were in Annecy for only one night, I wish we could have stayed longer. We took a paddle boat ride across lake Annecy on what couldn't have been a clearer more beautiful day. We explored part of the old town which is magical within itself. Ate gelato and enjoyed just wandering lazily in the sun. I would love to see this place in Winter, it's a little town that always adapts to the season and thrives. From beautiful hot summers spent boating on the lake to Winters skiing in the Alps. Annecy has it all, including that lovely small town feel. Not overly touristy and the people are friendly and actually smile and help you when lost. I highly recommend Annecy to anyone even if it's just for a small stay, it has to been seen!

Paris

The next destination on our Europe adventure was Paris. I mean I couldn't not go! Paris was exactly what everyone had told me. Beautiful but dirty. The buildings were truly spectacular. The whole city architecturally blends in a majestic way. My advice is just look up, don't look down at the streets and don't breathe through your nose too often, as a hint of urine might smack you in the face. Paris though is such a romantic city, one to defiantly visit with someone you love. I feel like I only really saw a tiny portion of what Paris has to offer. It's the sort of city that you don't visit on a budget, it can be done, but I don't recommend it. We visited all the hotspots and walked for miles along the Seine. We experienced some interesting locals, apologized again and again for not knowing french, pedaled a bike in the train station to charge my phone (that was a more testing time), ate crepes and macarons and mastered the metro like champs. Paris was beautiful and a little scary, but I would defiantly go back. 

London Take 1

Having the opportunity to travel is something that I will never take for granted. I know that not everyone wants to travel or has the ability to. But for me I can't experience enough. I think that the thing I love most about traveling isn't seeing the famous sights, or being able to Instagram that I've been to Paris. It's getting to experience the culture, the languages, the food, history. Everywhere you go in the world in so different in terms of what is considered the norm. How people greet each other, what is and isn't socially acceptable, tolerance of people from other countries, kindness, generosity, and sincerity. I always find that my mind and heart are expanded when I visit a new place. All of a sudden you meet someone new, they come from a completely different country to you, their native tongue is not yours. But you are both human beings and you find that you have so many things in common. You could talk to this stranger all day and night and never run out of things to discuss. Everybody has something to bring and that's the beauty of us all being different. No you might not hit it off with everyone and some people will just pass through your life for an hour, maybe the evening, sometimes longer. But all these different encounters and interactions shape who we are as people. It's how we choose to use our experience that really defines who we are as individuals. I know that when I travel it's when I get to experience the most, it's often overwhelming and unexpected. When we you come away and think about it all it's an incredible memory, a lesson learn't, a friend made, a situation that you can laugh about. All these things are special in their own way and I treasure each of them.

So London, the beginning of my little taste of Europe. I spent four nights there and of course it rained nearly the entire time. But I just felt like I was experiencing the real London.

London is an incredible city, it has all the good of a large city, but I felt like there was still room to breathe. Plenty of greenery, parks, and space. I love British people too and their accents make me happy. We saw all the famous sights in a day pretty much so we had plenty of time just to explore London. I loved Soho area. Notting Hill was gorgeous. It's easy to walk along and photograph the Thames all day. We ate some great food and of course drank plenty of coffee. We had a couple of fun nights with some friends we met at our hostel, I love that most about traveling, it is so easy to make friends. London just has such a cool vibe, its the sort of place I could be very happy living in. I was glad that we were coming back at the end our trip!

Next stop Paris... 

Europe 2015

I have just recently returned from Europe. I had the most incredible time. This was my first time there and you could say I fell in love and will defiantly be back. I visited England, France where we went to Pairs, Annecy, Lyon and Nice. Then over to Rome, Italy. Then back to London. I was traveling with my friend Rachael who has been living in England for the back 5 months. We were traveling for around 25 days and it was awesome. We met so many incredible people and had some very interesting experience, learn't a lot about myself and defiantly developed some traveling skills that will come in handy in the future. I will be doing a post on each place with pictures. So keep your eyes peeled for that. I majorly have the travel bug and just want to go again. It's aways weird re-adjusting to normal life after a trip and I can say I'm a little bored. Oh well back to uni and work and saving for that next trip.

Home

I have arrived back in the native country. Good old Straya, as it's often referred to as. It feels ever so strange and I am defiantly readjusting. But it's so nice to be back with family again. I'm enjoying all the catch-ups and hugs. I now just need to learn to relax and turn off a little. I can't quite seem to sit still and I still think I have to run around and organize three other peoples lives. So for now i'm home. Just need to find a job and start uni.

New York Again

I went back to New York for what is probably my final time with my friend Bek. We had a short stay, but it felt like we got a lot done.

We arrived Friday afternoon, managed to navigate the subway to our hostel in Brooklyn. Changed, then headed out to see the giant christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center. After battling crowds and basically shuffling our way there we made it to the magnificent sight. It truly is spectacular to see and opposite the tree is Bergdorf Goodmans on fifth ave. The have a light show on the outside of there building, which is beautiful to watch even when there are people smacking into you from all angles. We then hopped back on the subway and headed to time square cause it's awesome to see at night. All the tourist attractions were busier than normal because of all the people coming in for the New Year. So it wasn't that enjoyable being in the touristy areas. We did a little window shopping, then headed back to the hostel for an early night. It was slightly disrupted by the people having a very loud party in the common room, and our window facing the street with loud trucks coming by all night. But we got some shut eye.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Beautiful view of the city from Central Park

Beautiful view of the city from Central Park

Bek in Time Square

Time Square

Rockefeller Angels and Bergdorfs

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Rockefeller Center & Christmas Tree

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Saturday we headed to St Balmain in Brooklyn for breakfast and coffee. We made a plan to start from the bottom of Manhattan and work our way up. Battery Point and the Statue of Liberty were first on the agenda. We didn't go on a boat ride or anything, just viewed her from afar. Next was the 9/11 memorial. Then Soho. I had never been to Soho, but have always wanted to. It's a beautiful place, probably my favorite in Manhattan. The buildings are gorgeous, the shops are amazing. Plus just the general vibe and atmosphere of the area was on point. We walked around there for a while making our way towards the East Village for some famous bagels. Russ and Daughters was the place, but the wait time and price for the bagels, just wasn't for us. So we headed towards Central Park in the hope for some food and ice skating. Neither of which we was had or done. We did however find Bethesda Fountain, and the famous lake restaurant seen in some many movies. Oh and of course the place where Chuck and Blair got married (for the Gossip Girl fans). Food was defiantly the priority after that and it was found at Wholefoods in Columbus Circle. Donuts for dessert? I think yes, especially when the donuts in question are apparently world famous and some of the best you will ever eat. The 45 trip into Brooklyn to get them was well worth it. I have never tasted something so spectacular in my life! We headed back to the hostel for the evening, not really knowing what we were going to do. We ended making a friends with two other Australians and a Canadian. We then became part of the party that we were hearing the night before. It's a lot more fun being on this side. 

Scouting out Gossip Girl Locations

DIY Donuts @ St Balmain

Statue of Liberty

9/11 Memorial

Freedom Tower

Central Park Lake Restaurant 

Columbus Circle

Most amazing Donut ever from Dough

Bethesda Fountain

Beautiful Soho

My travel buddy

Soho, favorite place in NYC

Sunday we headed off to The Met, with our New Canadian friend Marty. We stopped at Grand Central Station along the way. She was awesome and really down to earth. Someone who had in her short 20 years, many interesting life experiences. I could have talked to her for hours, something that I often find rare these days. After the Met it was a well needed coffee time. Stumptown Coffee Roasters is one of the best, so thats where we went. After caffeine it we needed back to the Rockefeller Center where Marty had a ticket to go to the top. I have been up several times now so Bek and I didn't go. We just relaxed downstairs and had some lunch. After a walk down 5th ave. Bek and I went to Hillsong NY. It was cool being able to go to church even on holiday and to hear Steven Furtick speak was the icing on the cake. After dinner at whole foods yet again, and another extremely long trip to get another donut (creatures of habit). We went back to the Hostel for another fun night with our new friends.

Bek in Grand Central Station

The MET

Monday we got up (it was difficult) packed our things and checked out before heading into Manhattan with our friend Jeff. We were planning on going ice-skating in central park, but the line was so insane we wouldn't have had time. Instead we just roamed the streets. Ate some food and soaked in the last of the New york atmosphere. It was an amazing sort trip, one that I'm so glad I shared with Bek. We explored, made new friends, and navigated the subway like champions. I was sad to say goodbye. It might be for a while, but certainly not forever!