Life on the road

A common question I get asked is if I get homesick. My answer is always no. Sure I miss family and close friends. New Zealand is a beautiful country and I love it. I also miss New Zeland wine and some of my favourite foods. But I guess my position right now is I would rather they all came with me! I relate more to the German word 'fernweh' which means homesick for places you've never been. I can't get enough of being around different culture, people, language, landscape and food.

Following that question I get this one -don't you get tired of living out of a suitcase? My suitcase may be bursting at the seams and be a mission to repack and close shut every 2nd morning but in reality I had the same issues with my drawers. Give me a bigger wardrobe, drawer or suitcase, it will always be full. Just like no matter what time I need to be ready in the morning whether it be 6am or 11am I am always in a rush. Somehow I fill whatever is available to me whether that is space or time! 

Travelling is so tiring, especially non stop travelling while working hard and playing hard. Yet the love and passion I have for it and the inspiration I get from it energises me and outweighs the physical exhaustion. Lazing in the sun outside our guesthouse in the Austrian alps, showing passengers the quirky sites of beautiful Prague and having masquerades in Venice!

The first day of the trip we arrive in Paris and head on a driving tour of the city after dinner. This is one of the most rewarding parts of the trip for me. As we head around the sites and I yarn to the group it takes me back to my assignment before even beginning the training for this job. Looking up photos for the sites and following it up with information, taking sooooo much longer than I ever though it would. Planned to be done a few days before Christmas so I could relax with the family. You can imagine the frustration when I was only 2/3rds of the way through by 2am on Christmas Day. I wanted to throw the laptop against the wall and quit. I am SO pleased I kept going. 

I keep my group distracted out the right window hunting for topless waiters and waitresses in a restaurant (fake yarn) while the coach comes into perfect position with the Eiffel Tower, I tell them to look left. Try to time it perfectly when it sparkles on the hour. Though I have seen it numerous times myself now I don't think I will ever get sick of the sighs, the oooo's and camara clicks that happen in that moment. The first of many moments they will be wowed on the journey of the stunning continent of Europe - the trip of a lifetime that people work so hard for and hearing that realisation click into place that they have arrived is so satisfying.

So many highlights from this 28 day trip with a wonderful group of people. I love that one day I am running in a Valley in Switzerland, a couple of days later along the waterfront in the French Riviera and another day out in the Tuscan country in Italy. Such a privilege. My running stopped after this thanks to a bout of Bronchitis. Took myself to the doctor while on Pag Island Croatia. Not a lot of English was spoken so I was somewhat confused when I was injected in the butt and put on a drip through the arm for 45mins. Still no idea what that was all about. Anyway got on the old antibiotics and tried to catch up on some zzzzz's. My scissors got a work out on Pag Island with a whopping 10 haircuts.

Had this amazing meal in Florence  yum!

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Rome is incredible - all the ancient ruins and the history but now that I have been I have to be honest and when I arrive I can't wait to leave. I do however love wandering around Florence and Venice. We also make a day stop at a cute village sitting on top of a hill called Orvieto, it's so great going somewhere with more locals and less tourists. A couple of happy snaps I took on my Italian wanders -

I went for the most incredible bike ride I think I have ever done while staying in the Austrian Alps. Me and two of my girls did a 50km bike ride around a mountain called Kalkstein which took us through 6 completely different villages and we came across a random mini theme park in one of them! Villages where not a word of English was spoken. We went along roads, along paths, along rivers, through fields of dandelions, daisy's and buttercups, cold valleys with cliffs either side of us, snow almost close enough to touch, passed traditional Austrian houses, baroque churches, a lake, cows with bells grazing - so high on beautiful fresh mountain air and scenery soo stunning there are no words to describe it. New fond memories formed - singing sound of music with the girls as we biked along and also when we didn't have to peddle and the downward slope sent us flying through a gorgeous valley!

When we returned from this I went straight to the airport and followed 12 of my passengers with one of the best things you can do ever and skydived over the alps that I had just been biking around. The snowy alps went as far as the eye could see and being skydive #5 I was feeling more relaxed and could take it in enjoying the flight, fall and landing.

As I write this we are travelling from Berlin to Amsterdam. I had such a good time in Berlin. I broke my 8 day no alcohol fast with a nice glass of wine over dinner - such an achievement with this job, pretty sure I deserve a medal. A couple of us hired bikes and cruised through the various parks, past the east side galleries Berlin Wall and along the river and had lunch in a beer garden before returning the bikes. Dinner at the Hofbrauhaus Berlin beer hall where numerous people ordered pork knuckle, I got myself schnitzel and a 1L stein and we enjoyed the sound of an oompa band playing in the background. 

Sunday brunch is planned with two old school friends who now live in Amsterdam and then looking forward to a few days off to organise myself and catch up with friends in London. Maybe a sneaky trip to Majorca if time allows before I head out with another group :)

Ciao for now!