Sometimes you just know

Have you ever had a strong intuition? Just a gut feeling? It happened to me yesterday night, while driving home in the dark. "Be careful!" it said, so I drove slower than normal. Two headlights were heading toward me but only when they were real close did I realise they were on my side of the road, coming straight at me. Time just slowed waaaay down; I have no idea how fast I was going (you're allowed 70km down that road), nor what was going on in the mind of the ghost driver... I managed to pull over and beeped loudly, and simply got the same in return. Then I just drove on, praying that Scott wouldn't come across the same insane situation, only to fully realise some seconds later what had really happened: my mind started to become active again after being fully present for just a short while (I'm reading the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, those of you who have read it will know what I'm talking about; and those who haven't have some homework to do ) and I started shaking and my heart started pounding. Yeah, intuition, it's an interesting thing...

Anyway, another birthday came and went. However, this time I was a 'winter child'. It was a cold winter day indeed, yet sunny as always and filled with love and excitement.
Yes, Scottie put together a wonderful day: first he made us delicious vegan pancakes for breakfast and after that we made our way to Queenstown to do the 'Canyon Swing'. For those who haven't seen it yet, Scott assembled a video with the footage made with a set of GoPro's during the swing on my facebook. We had some finger-licking sushi and went to relax in the swimming pools afterwards. Then we went for some delicious Indian dinner and had a chilled night at home with some amazing beers and just the two of us.

I must say I am much enjoying having time for ourselves and each other and a little break from the constant moving around. Despite the frequent inquiries, no, we don't get lonely. We meet some people here and there which we want to spend time with but otherwise we're just using the time for the stuff we want to do. My job hours did improve a little but are still not what I had hoped them to be. I realised that I just need to accept it for what it is and enjoy having the time to cook and keep the house clean so Scott and I can enjoy the time we do have together (as I work weekends and am off when he works).

About my work, well, next time someone tells me there are just women in the potential future workplace, I think I will run away screaming; It's a messy business. I should have known: I had a strong intuition the first time I stepped foot in the door... The romantic idea of working in a coffee shop got the better of me though, and fair enough, it's a cute place. Oh well, I have been able to learn from it, but also shan't be sad to say goodbye to this back-stabbing, judgemental, power hungry work 'ethic'. I try to just stay present and positive, looking into people's eyes and attempting to make a connection when I'm not drawn into the stress of the busyness of the place or allowed myself to be smacked back down by some nasty comment.

Anyway, more news: with pain in our hearts we sold Jade - which was much easier than expected, and we can even continue driving her till we leave as the guy who bought her will start travelling the same day we leave and wants to keep it on our lawn and for it to be used! Ha! Pretty sweet deal indeed!

Of course, we also bought a new van, George! It's been in the back of our minds for a while and we've been looking out for the right one, which has now finally come to us. Scott is getting very busy with finding all materials for insulation and building the bed and cupboards and the idea is to get it certified as self-contained, which would give us more freedom in camping later and less worries about getting fined as well. It's soo exciting to see the progress and know how much added comfort it will bring to be able to sit up on the bed and have sufficient storage space without having to put our stuff away like a jigsaw puzzle.

Meanwhile, Winter is finally coming, and with it... Well, the cold (yeah, we've been watching Game of Thrones in our spare time...) and it has taken a while, but we're having some seriously cold nights now, blowing little clouds in our living room in the morning, not wanting to leave the bed or the fire, but also stunning scenery of snow-capped mountains... Have a look at the picture gallery or feel free to use your imagination (it really is ridiculously beautiful here).

With love, always