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"You're so Lucky"



Bugger Off. I am not Lucky. If I was lucky I would have won a huge stack of money or scored a free ticket around the world, not got altitude sickness or seen a tiger on ally attempts in National Parks in India....

Sorry folks this is not a life of luck. It’s called hard work, prioritisation and determination. Hell I had a good thing in London when I left. A great flat, family, fantastic friends – who at my farewell all knew each other so I could enjoy time hanging out rather than trying to make connections between my wonderful web of buddies – good colleagues and a great lifestyle full of culture, art, running and socialising (regularly!). Every day I would fall a little more in #LoveLondon.

Over the past 4 years before leaving I starting building a nest egg. I was unhappy in my job and I needed change. It was either a job change or to scratch the itch. I had a big trip in me for a long time. I had envied so many of my friends taking time off from their lives as contractors to see the world for 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12 months. I had a full time job and being able to do this has never been an option for me. After being delayed over Christmas 2010 due to a couple of inches of snow in London I knew my time had come. But where would I go? Could I really afford it? Could I really do it alone? How long would I go for? What did I really want to see of the world?

The time was right. I had no mortgage, no children, no man.

And so from here the Big Adventure began. See not luck. This is all a calculated series of adventures based on the fact I’m not as “Lucky” as those who fit the Norm. With no daily plans but a Lonely Planet and a questioning loud mouth.

It was easy to plot some key dates on the path…I had tickets to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in September and October 2011, My best friend’s wedding in my hometown in November and then the London Olympics in July 2012…I didn’t want to be tied down to a job during the Olympics if I could avoid it….and so it was a year to enjoy summer in Eastern Europe, my favourite season – Spring in New Zealand hanging out with my growing nieces and nephew - and then an endless summer through South East Asia, India and Nepal.

Maybe its the Wink in me,
 that makes me adventurous?
The luckiest thing about me is that I was born to Nellie and Wallace Herring of 11 Hilbre Avenue Gore. The youngest of 5 adventurous Kiwi kids raised on weetbix, rhubarb and vegemite (I have a tube with me!). Travel was a rite of passage for each of us – hell my Mum didn’t even see me off at the airport when I left the first time and my brother had me find my own way to East London on my first visit to my now home! I have a good smile, thanks to my Mum, a practical mind, thanks to my Dad and a warm heart because of them both.

The rest of it is not luck. Genetics, nature and nurture play a big part. I speak the universal travel language; English. Something I am more grateful for despite my relentless teasing in London for my funny accent.  I can count, read and write. I come from a country that is seen as beautiful and inoffensive politically or socially. I am a women (+/- as it goes!). I’m (sometimes painfully) sensible, in life and with money.

I have choices which millions of others in the world don’t have because of where I was born and how I was raised.

For all those people out with working class parents who you see between shifts, and sleeping in the chair from sheer exhaustion, living in a small town, where going to the city is a huge treat and the internet doesn’t always work, where going out for dinner in your hometown is unheard of, when there is food in the fridge, where you only talk to family on cheap phone deal weekends, where you are loved unconditionally and nurtured by family, friends, neighbours and your community and you have no idea what all of this will mean when you’re a grown up, and if you leave this safe home will you ever be the same. Life is not luck. It is what you make of it.

“you’ve got shoes on your feet, you’ve got brains in your head, you can steer yourself any direction you choose" Oh The Places You Will Go, Dr Seuss

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Comments

  1. Anonymous16 July 2012 at 21:09

    Nice one JM. You've worked damn hard and been very smart with your saving to give you this 'lucky' opportunity. Your choice to travel is one that will make many envious as it is a privilege that few get. Dad only went to Oz once for a mates wedding so funny to think how far the rest of us have been! Your eyes will have been opened to lots of things whilst travelling which you will be able to share with others.

    Enjoy the last few days of your adventure!

    Lots of love
    TJ and VJ.

    ReplyDelete

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