Gypsy fabulous
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Shaking Things Up
Change is scary. Diving in head first, even scarier. Dipping your feet in slowly before retreating for a reprieve? Hmm, a little easier. Six weeks ago, three weeks after returning home, six months after ditching my makeup in Mexico, eleven months since the wearing of high heels – or anything other than sneakers and jandals - and five months since the compiling of any sort of “outfit”, I got dressed up in the name of fashion. Or, as I preferred to think of it, the name of friendship, curiosity and creativity. One sunny Friday, with more than a little trepidation, I dug out my old accessories, gingerly applied mascara, put on a – slight – heel and proceeded to "model" some gorgeous new threads for my dear friend Jenna-Lee’s online store, the fabulously fun and funky Jonty Apparel.
And, slight self-consciousness aside, once I relaxed, it was a whole lotta fun. Time trippin’ back to our fashion and art school days where photo shoots were for play and dressing OTT was the norm. I am not a model. But I do love playing with clothes and putting together outfits, and I especially love doing this with Jenna-Lee – in fact some of the best times in our relationship have involved the positioning of a camera lens between us. Jen doesn’t follow trends, she creates them. Taking things she loves – which may or may not reference the Seventies and Eighties – she produces amazing clothes and images which portray happiness, laughter and all inclusive beauty. Today, I want to thank her for reminding me how much fun fashion can be. That I shouldn’t take myself so seriously. And that it’s ok to love clothes and still care about the really important things in life.
You see, ever since the return from my overseas adventure I’d been avoiding my closet; eyeing it with distrust; feeling disconnected from the world inside. In a move my old self could hardly believe, I had continued to dress from the same small bag of clothes that had travelled with me throughout the last year. No matter how old, ripped or shabby they were, they were comfortable, they were easy, they were me. They reminded me of the lessons I’d learned, the journey I was lucky enough to have experienced and the simplicity and lack of attachment I had grown to love. I honestly could not see myself returning to the platform heels, palazzo pants and mini dresses that hung inside my closet, the treasured possessions that I had so carefully dry cleaned and lovingly placed on wooden hangers before I left.
It was the complete opposite to my last gypsy hiatus, when I spent the entire year bemoaning my lack of wardrobe space while longing for the jackets, hats, furs and heels of home. Upon return to civilisation I’d waved good bye to my travellin’ rags and leapt headfirst into a ‘grown up’ wardrobe to suit my new grown up life; my first real job; my return to the big city. Only now do I see how my need to look good became a little too needy. How I fell under the spell of fitting in. How much I wanted to be cool, look glamorous, become somebody. How I succumbed to the all too present pressure that to succeed in the fickle fashion world, one had to dress to impress.
Just a few months apart from fancy frocks and full length mirrors though, and this attachment began to die a slow and surprising death. Surprising myself more than anyone else, I cared less and less as the weeks flew by and the real world faded farther away. Wearing the same baggy pants, five dollar trucker cap and old t-shirts every day. Giving away pieces I never thought I’d part with as the heavy pack grew tiresome. Forgetting how it felt to care. Slowly forgetting fashion, my first love.
The night before our Jonty photo shoot, Jenna-Lee and I spent hours laughing over old photo albums. Remembering when each outfit encompassed a different theme and each day inspired a new work of art – however questionable the outcome - reignited a lingering spark, leaving me to wonder whether denying my creativity its obvious outlet was really the best idea. Yes, there are a million more important things in life, and my trip had slapped me in the face with that knowledge. But would dressing like a drop out change anything? Couldn’t I allow myself to indulge my daily dress-up pleasure without sacrificing my integrity? I sensed it would take more energy to suppress my creativity than to allow it to flourish.
And so I allow myself to ease back in, slowly supplementing my travel wardrobe with my cheap and cheerful Jonty tops and – just sometimes - my old (most comfy) heels. Still though, the travelling t-shirts remain firm favourites, and I continue to eye certain pieces in my closet with suspicion – many items likely destined for the nearest op shop. My challenge now is learning to dress for me, not some expectation of who I should be. Keeping it realistic, and not investing more time and energy than I get out. Allowing myself to dress for success one day, and keep it simple and sloth-like the next. Having fun with clothes without giving up my dreams for change. After all I used to proclaim fashion to be my art form, a passion which helped inspire me to wake up each morning. And if that passion can extend to the rest of my life and dreams, then that's the most worthwhile cause I can imagine.
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Friday, May 03, 2013
Time Tripping
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Finally Following
Saying goodbye to Google Reader and joining the Bloglovin club... come on you know you want to follow the winding road with me. Follow my blog with Bloglovin here. |
Our Next Adventure?
Having experienced a fair few varieties of this wayward, gypsy life, I can’t help wondering about our next mode of transport. My love of the ocean and an untethered lifestyle has often led me to ponder whether seafaring should be the next port of call. Sailing seems to encompass the ultimate way of life – no rent, no fuel, no responsibility, just going with the wind… Let me pre-empt your (and my) excitement here and distil the illusion that the above photo may have crafted about this happening sooner than anticipated, though. Alas, we haven’t committed to this lifestyle yet, having only just found our feet back on familiar ground. Yes, this is my parents' boat and no, we haven’t quite mastered the art of sailing ourselves yet. But our curiosity was quickly reignited after ten lazy days away with the folks. This holiday was the perfect antidote to a long year backpacking, which no one can call a holiday. And now, we’re inspired. To buy a boat, to learn to sail, to discover the world like our pal Fritz… or maybe just Auckland’s backyard like my parents. |
Home Again
Monday, February 11, 2013
Baking in Buenos Aires
Last night I baked. In the world’s tiniest kitchen, on a
steamy Buenos Aires night, I swapped backpacker for baker and tried my hand at these little lemon bars. Inspired by my
absolute favourite blog, the always inspiring, little-bit-of-everything-you-never-knew-you-wanted A Beautiful Mess, I created my own
mess, and enjoyably, some tasty treats.
Until recently, I wouldn’t have labelled myself the baking
type. I made a fair few cakes and cookies as a child - or so I assume from the
many photos of me in pint size apron with chocolate covered hands and face -
but I seemed to have outgrown this hobby along with the filthy apron. Aside
from the occasional hasty birthday cake or emergency sweet craving, my busy
life had pushed baking into the archives of strange things from centuries past,
somewhere in between Walkmans and Squiggle Pens. Yet send me away for a year
with no access to an oven or muffin tray, and apparently baking is all I can
think about.
The strange thing is, I find cooking anything other than
sweet treats a rather stressful occasion. In the realm of domestic duties I
always choose dishes over dinner prep. My boyfriend and old house mates can
attest to the fact that in my kitchen everything burns, pots are ruined, meat
is over cooked and the kitchen is generally a utensil and food strewn disaster zone. But
baking is different. It’s precise, and somehow perfect. It’s losing yourself measuring, pouring
and stirring. Melting, straining and whisking. Tasting, testing and digesting. For the majority of time the
food hides away in the oven where I can’t ruin it. I still make a massive mess,
but the edible reward at the end – and at each step of the way - makes cleaning up less of a drag.
An unusual new hobby to develop while travelling you might
say, since most hotel rooms consist of bed and no way to make breakfast, and hostel
kitchens are now out of bounds for fear of a parasite reprisal. And so this
becomes another blog where I sing the praises of airbnb, where rooms come
equipped with kitchens and at times, whole houses. Not to say baking was suddenly simple - I
still had the foreign ingredient situation to tackle, including translating
common ingredients into Spanish and wondering why icing sugar is so hard to
find. But I was a woman on a mission
with a craving for baking, and I would make it work, god damnit!
Hence, my first travel and bake was in a Mexican cabin with half
a kitchen and no oven, producing my one and only attempt at no bake cookies. Verdict: a
little soft and crumbly. In our next house, the beautiful Casa Menta in Guatemala, I was blessed with a terrifically
equipped, fabulously coloured 1970's kitchen where I managed to pull off a
gluten free chocolate cake for a new friend’s birthday. And last night, our apartment in Buenos
Aires resulted in the above citrus efforts, which were quite delicious, even
if they lacked the intrinsic beauty of Emma’s. But in my defence, I was maneuvering awkwardly in a one square metre kitchen, utilising a gas oven with no temperature gauge and cooking with a very limited oven tray
selection. But it didn't seem to matter as I was proud and my cravings were satiated.
As thoughts of
home, and fantasies of orange and yellow kitchens complete with grown up aprons cloud my head, I wonder if there is something strange in choosing sweating in front of a stove over perusing the Argentinian bar scene. And then, I refer my over active mind to my
last post, and say Que Sera, Sera. Just let it be.
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Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Letting Go
You probably won’t be too surprised that after seven
months of constant, full steam ahead travel, our bodies and minds were getting
rather tired. You may be more surprised however, to learn that we were so astounded
by this development. So much so, that we didn’t really believe we needed to
listen to the little message our bodies were trying to tell us, and trooped on,
regardless of the lack of motivation or energy. We were travelling, which meant
moving, exploring, seeing and doing – that’s what we had been doing for the
last seven months, that’s what we knew how to do, and so that’s how we would
continue.
And yet, rather suddenly, I was over travelling. I couldn’t
get excited. I didn’t want to go on another tour, see another building,
or read another guide book. I couldn’t be bothered doing
anything. I just wanted to settle down and stay – somewhere, anywhere. In part,
I wanted to go home. But because we were travelling around the world for a
year, that was what we kept doing. Of course, as is usually the case when one
doesn’t heed one’s bodies' warnings, we got sick. And then we got sick again,
and again. Until, after another month and a half of heart-not-quite-in-it
travel, we were finally forced to stop.
Now I’ve been chronically sick before, and therefore theoretically know
the need for pacing, listening to your body, and taking time out when needed.
However, travelling seemed to throw all my carefully learnt rules out the
window, as the complete lack of routine and stability created new rules,
schedules and systems. Plus, both mine and C.P’s inherent perfectionism meant we
couldn’t help wanting to see every monument in every city, every city in every
country, every corner of every continent. We wanted to make the most of every
minute of every day of this year of travel. Hence the reason we probably chose
to do a round the world trip, with quick stops in four continents, unlike the
slower, more sensible method of spending a year truly exploring one continent or one
country.
I never understood most travellers’ preference for chilling
out in one place for a few months - relaxing, just hanging out, not doing much
of anything. More like I didn’t know how this was possible for someone like me,
who needed to keep busy to keep the anxiety of not having a routine at bay. Until
now. Or until this last month, which has seen us doing absolutely nothing. Not
seeing much, not doing much, just staying in one place, waking each day, and taking it as it comes.
Admittedly we were literally forced into this situation by our constant
sickness, but hey I’ll take a break when it’s offered on a plate.
However, as you
can imagine, being sick and starting to crave the comforts of home meant hotels, hostels and bathroom’s shared with other sickly creatures were starting to wear thin. Enter our saviour in the form of airbnb - our new home abroad, and the chance to reacquaint ourselves with the joys of cooking and cleaning. Our delightful little
cabin in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico came equipped with three cats, one
dog, a gorgeous, grassy section, vegetable and herb filled garden and - oh yes
the house - a tiny, rustic one room retreat encompassing just a bed, kitchen
bench, writing desk and clay pot fire. Rekindling our love of home cooking was never so much fun as when we could pick our own vegetables, roast
potatoes and beetroots in the fire, and eat it outside our house looking over
the animals and garden, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. I put aside my
need for seeing every church and climbing every hill and let myself revel in a
whole lot of nothing, and a little bit of home making. And it wasn’t as hard as
I had expected, although it helped that my constant headache and
active parasite made it near impossible to move.
Of course, once we had experienced this quiet variety of
travel, we finally understood the appeal. And now we can’t imagine going back
to the speedy ways of before, the need to do everything. We're not so worried
about all the places we are missing by spending longer in just one spot. We stopped feeling the need to experience
every country in Central America. After all, we were never going to see it all
anyway.
On the eve of our journey to South America and (hooray!) closer
to home, I’m looking for the perfect spot for another retreat, perhaps in an adorable sea side abode this time. What better place to do some writing, some
relaxing, and a little bit more of nothing.
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Monday, January 28, 2013
Tourists or Invaders?
Back in Cuba, fate steps in, throwing C.P. an injured ankle, forcing us to forgo the whirlwind city tour and stay in small town Vinales for a week. Offering us the chance to see Cuba through new eyes, and to realise perhaps it was just the jaded Havana city dwellers who couldn’t stand the sight of us. Staying at a warm and friendly Cuban guesthouse, five days enforced ‘repose’ becomes a humorous tangle of hand signals, smiles and stuttered Spanish, as our hosts become our temporary family.
When my adopted Padre peers over my shoulder and asks to see the book of travel adventures I am busily scrapbooking, I cringe, wishing I could gloss over all the amazing places we have been, hoping to skip a few pages to lessen the impact. But he seems fascinated, perhaps enjoying the chance to travel through our eyes more than I expect. Five minutes later, he returns, bearing his own ‘scrapbook’. Simply three family photos, each thirty years apart. A fascinating study of children, long passed siblings, and changing fashions. Along with a travel book by a French photographer amigo, bearing a photo of him opposite one of a bevy of African women. His pride in his own lifetime of memories and adventures is tangible and relieves my guilt, while the chance for me to time travel through his world reminds me why we do this thing called travelling. It’s moments like these that make it all worth-while.
For fascinating Cuban musings direct from Cuba, be sure to check out the poetic Yoani Sanchez at Generation Y.
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Slowly but Surely
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