I'm off to Johannesburg today. And then to Livingstone Zambia where I join my safari group at a camp at the base of Victoria Falls.
I can't even believe it.
We'll be safari-ing through Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Kenya over 21 glorious days of no computers, no cell phones, no desks, no offices, no London Undergrounds. I AM SO EXCITED.
It is a strange feeling sitting here, on my last day at work, still sorting through emails, action items, transition plans. My mind is cranking logistics. And in less than 24 hours, I will be in the middle of the African bush. How amazing is that?!
The world is small. Life is long journey. There is so much to see and explore.
It’s very late in London – 1am to be exact. I’m running on about 8 hours of sleep over the last 48 hours. Portugal with the girls this weekend was lovely – warm, funny, relaxing. But we didn’t sleep and I am not going to be getting much sleep tonight either. It is always such a mad rush before I go off on holiday. But this time it’s not really a holiday because I’m not counting vacation days!
Tomorrow is my last day at work.
I have been so busy trying to sort work projects, transition plans, health insurance, travel insurance, travel stuff, girly trips, bills and flat things. All while trying to stay sane. It has been more than stressful.
Turning your life upside-down is not an easy thing. Actually, it can be a bit maddening. But as my to-do list dwindles, my excitement grows. THIS IS IT!
“There is so much World out there to discover” said a friend a few weeks ago, after sharing with her my news.
Hello World. I’m here. I’m ready. We’re going to have an incredible amazing year.
Maria and Cyn are in town tonight. We're off to the Algarve in Portugal for a girly weekend on the beach. Sun, beach, food and drinks with my two best loves. =) Wonderful.
LS and I were watching Meet Joe Black last night in the living room. Soup, movie and a warm summer night. Really beautiful.
I’d forgotten how gorgeous the dialog is in this movie. Moving and heavy. It gives you pause. Makes you feel butterflies in your stomach. William Parrish’s dialog with Claire in the helicopter is my favourite:
Love is passion, obsession, someone you can’t live without. If you don’t start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who’ll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I’m not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you’ll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love – well, you haven’t lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven’t tried, you haven’t lived.
This is true of all things: work, play, love, friendship and family.
We settle for something not quite right, or an outfit that isn’t our best look, or a job that doesn’t quite maximize our talents. We settle for relationships that don’t give us joy, or a website that’s, “good enough.”
The only way to get mediocre is one step at a time.
You don’t have to settle. It’s a choice you get to make every day.
There’s a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that can describe what I’m feeling right now.
Leaving this place is like jumping off a cliff. The future is uncharted and when people ask me what I’m going to do next, I have business plans, travel plans, tango plans, Spanish plans, writing plans. It both excites and scares me. One door is closing and infinite possibilities are appearing before my eyes.
Google has been a dream. It has been a blessing, a joy, an incredible, indescribable journey. Leaving this place has been one of the most difficult decisions ever. It’s like breaking up with the perfect boyfriend who just isn’t the right fit. There is so much love inside me for this place – for the people, for the wonderful opportunities and the beautiful memories. Google has changed me forever. I am better, stronger, different because of the time that I’ve spent in these walls. And as my days here near their close, I become more aware of how precious the moments are. These are amazing days. I’ve met my two best girl friends / soulmates here, have traveled more of the world than I could have ever imagined, have made friends in countless cities and have witnessed greatness, brilliance, astounding talent every single day. It has been life changing.
A friend, after hearing about my decision, sent me a quote from Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford University from a few years ago. It sent goosebumps through me.
“… you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. “
In my life, I am trusting that God will work wonders. He has worked some pretty incredible wonders thus far. I have always known that I am meant for something different. There are talents to be tapped, lives to touch, people to help, things to learn, places to discover and many many days to marvel at the wonderful blessings that abound. It’s time for me to listen to that burning desire inside, urging me to push myself and discover how high I can fly, without the net of stability that has caused me to procrastinate making the tough decisions. No more procrastinating. Change is good. Chaos is good. Life needs to be shaken up every once in a while. And it has been a while.
I received this email from Cyn and asked for permission to post. It made me laugh/smile.
I was standing in line at the immigration office and there was this little baby boy and he was running around furiously. You could tell that he just learned how to use his legs and was still a little unstable. Anyway, he was running full speed for the door and then suddenly, he fell onto his knees. It was quite loud and all of us cringed because we felt badly plus we knew the wailing was about to start. But instead of crying, he just giggled and started going in the same direction crawling. It was amazing to me that his instinct was to keep moving forward and to not give up.
This little baby also taught me something else. After the run/crawl incident, I saw him run straight into a glass door. I have to admit, it was a little funny, and he did start crying after that for a little bit. Five minutes later, I see him running full speed for the glass door again and I am thinking that he is going to hurt himself once more. But right before he smacked into it, he stuck his hands out trying to push it away. Here he clearly demonstrated that if something isn’t working the first time (smacking into the door), do something different to try and get a different result. I don’t know how many times people do the same thing over and over again hoping to get a different outcome.
Babies are quite smart. How do we grow dumber as adults?!
Mom just left after her two week visit here in Europe! It was AMAZING. We didn’t fight! We didn’t even get annoyed with each other! This is great considering the last time we spent some quality time together in Europe, she gave me the silent treatment for two days because I brought us to the wrong airport and we missed our flight to Prague. Ooops! =) This time around, we didn’t lose our passports, we didn’t miss any flights and we didn’t get robbed. Dad must be so proud of us!
We explored London with Auntie Jose and Auntie Beth, who were visiting from Vancouver. They managed to be-friend every possible Filipino in Camden market that day. Discounts discounts! And then we saw Nice, Monaco and the Amalfi Coast. Just beautiful. It was full of laughter, nonsense and inappriopriate chatter. For those of you who think that my Mom is little Miss Innocent – DO NOT BE FOOLED! I am, after-all, my mother’s daughter. And what daughter does, mother did also…
You can see our pictures from France and Italy here.
Things I learned from my mother:
Always look your best. You never know when you’ll find a potential husband driving nearby (in his Ferrari, Bentley etc etc).
It’s ok to wear revealing clothing when you’re running around Europe all by yourselves. For some reason, people are so much more friendly and willing to help you out!
You can be a fashion model, anytime, anywhere. See examples here, and here, and here.
Eight thousand foot gondola rides aren’t that scary. As long as you scream and freak out the ENTIRE way up!
It’s OK to marry your daughter off to the first man who asks. Even if he is fifteen years old!
It’s OK to talk to random people about anything and everything. It doesn’t matter if they speak English, Spanish, French, Italian. Just talk to them.
It’s also OK to try to crack jokes, in conjunction with the tour guide. Example:
Tour guide: “The winding steep road that goes up to Anacapri can sometimes be considered dangerous. It has a special name. To Americans, it is called ‘Oh-My-Gawwwwd’.” [Insert laughter from the crowd here] Mother interjects: “And ‘HOLY COW’!” [Insert silence from crowd here]
Next time, I will have to remind her that “Holy Cow” is so 1980′s.
Anyway, that is a short summary of how the last two weeks have been. Needless to say London, and Europe, seem just a little quieter these days. =)
In all seriousness – we had a great time. I am blessed with the most incredible mentor, supporter and friend in my Mom. =)
Hi there! I'm Denise. I share my name with Dionysia, the Greek god of wine, pleasure and joy. I'm a photographer, writer, marketer vagabond. I take photographs of enchanted places and the people seduced by them. This blog is an account of the wisdom, joy and grace that I've encountered along the way, and a place where I showcase some of my favourite photographs.
If you have similar stories to share, have questions about purchasing prints or just want to say hello, I'd love to hear from you!
