Travel, food, and finding independence, whilst living abroad
Sylvia by Bryce Courtenay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Finding Ultra, Revised and Updated Edition: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself by Rich Roll
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Rich Roll has always been one of those people who just gets me thinking.
As someone who acknowledges his own less-than-healthy past, and history of overweighted-ness, his story is that much more relatable, as he talks you through his own transition from a promising college athlete, through alcoholism and junk food binges, and now into a healthful lifestyle, studded with both athletic and personal accomplishments, some of which were previously unachieved by anyone ever before.
I found myself cheering on the young boy who became known as the first-arriver, and last-leaver of swimming training; and his gratitude to his parents during this time is tangible in his writing and acknowledgement of their involvement in his early successes. As he ages, I found myself having an equal level of disappointment as Roll, as he reflects on his time at Stanford and his unexplored potential. The way he describes his fall from grace, into a blur of poor-but-lucky choices and accidents, I felt for him as he described his “rock bottom”moment.
His climb back to athletic prowess and almost super-human levels of endurance are inspiring, and his story is one of the tales that encouraged me to pursue both veganism and more structured athleticism in my own life.
With over 950,000 tulips spread across 5 acres, it is little wonder that Tesselaar draws large crowds each and every year.
SUPER chuffed to have been contacted a few months ago regarding my (first ever) opportunity to become a brand ambassador for Just Strong, I have taken the time to buy a few items of their range, and here I am to dish the deal on what I think of it, and what I recommend for you!
For those who don’t know this about me, in 2012 I went on a semester abroad to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That is where I met my partner, Matt, some of my dearest friends, and pretty much set the trajectory for a new life that until that point, had never crossed my mind.
Recently I was contacted by one of the girls that I met on that exchange; Jo Leen. Now contributing to her own website, Jo Leen is a keen writer, and regularly posts articles related to health, shopping and travel, along with a huge number of personal experiences and personal-interest stories.
She invited me to interview regarding my Malaysian experience, and what I thought of the whole endeavour. You can read the article here.
Having recently made an exit from formal employment, Matt and I decided that a last-minute getaway was in order.
In lieu of booking a flight to Istanbul or Victoria Falls, akin to LastMinute.Com, we instead elected for our local, and closest, national park; Mikumi. We were not disappointed.
Personally, I love learning new languages, though in all honesty I am not the best at it. I love it because it makes me feel smart, and it helps the culture make more sense to me. When you move to a country where your first language (in my case, English) is not the predominant one, it can be daunting, intimidating, and downright terrifying to comprehend how you will ever cope, or order a glass of wine at a restaurant ever again.
For me there were a few actions to which I owe all of my current language capabilities. If you are facing your first expat post, I strongly recommend you consider making the effort to learn the local language, regardless of how long you plan to be there, and I hope that some of the following resources can help along the way.
If I have any regrets about learning Swahili, it is only that I did not start sooner.
