I feel like my life for a long while now has been full of uncertainty. This is not a bad thing, I've created my life this way. I'm always keen for a challenge and something new, which can mean having many incredible experiences and also a lot of challenges and low points.
Some would call the way I live a lot of my life as type 2 fun. The type where in the moment everything can seem hard or stressful but then you look back later and think, wow, that was such a cool experience.
I started thinking about this blog while sitting on a local bus in the Philippines with no idea where exactly the bus was going or if we would make it to our destination. I spent 3 weeks in the Philippines with a good friend where we both fueled each other's need to get off the beaten track and have new, and often, uncomfortable experiences.
At the start of 2023 I thought I had my year and the following years planned out ahead of me. I knew where I was going to be and I knew my goals. And the first 4 months went as planned, until tourism started dropping off and work was getting cancelled. After the past 2 years of flat out work this was not what I expected and all of a sudden I ended up living the rest of 2023 with a huge amount of uncertainty.
Here's a few things I've learned:
I'll say this one to everyone & I'll probably write it on every blog I ever write. Everything always works out how it's supposed to. This is not to say there isn't going to be tough times because I can definitely tell you this year was full of tough times for me. Many hours spent scrolling through job websites or just panicking about what I'm going to do, but I found that as soon as I got my head in the right space and set my intentions, work seemed to find me.
Getting out of your comfort zone can lead to the most incredible experiences. This one can be so tough. There are so many days when I think why don't I just get a regular 9-5 job, stay in one place and live a 'normal' life. But then I scroll through a job site where I don't see a single job that appeals to me and get back to planning the next fun adventure. This is how I ended up in the Philippines, spending 3 weeks out of my comfort zone having an incredible time.
Sometimes no plan is the best plan. Most of my holidays are just a flight booked to somewhere and then work it out when I arrive. For the Philippines we actually booked quite a lot of our accommodation but wished we hadn't as we ended up changing quite a bit and hearing about different places which would have been good to go to. While we had booked accommodation we hadn't planned what we were going to do in any of these places, which turned out to be the best way to do it. Our favourite days, although challenging, were taking the scooter we hired out and getting off the beaten track to waterfalls, hikes & beaches that only had a few locals or no one else.
And sometimes a little planning helps. I did my first multi day tour as a guest this year and wow it was great! Being a guide, I never really thought I would need someone to guide me but I had a tour pop up on my Facebook about hiking and kayaking in Norway & it fit perfectly into a gap in my work schedule. It was meant to be. So I booked on and I had the best experience. I would never had been able to do this on my own because I didn't have the gear and we also got off track into places most people don't go. Amazing! And the best part, I didn't have to do any research other than booking my flights and getting to the start of the tour.
It can be hard to get off the beaten track so sometimes a local guide can get you to amazing places. While we were in the Philippines we read one blog about this one waterfall, but it wasn't on the main tourist route. It sounded like our thing so we thought we'd try and find it. We'd used guides for a few trips but we didn't love the experiences so we tried to find places where we didn't need them. When we got to the 'trailhead' of this waterfall it seemed to be someone's house and a young girl, about 10, came out and said 'you need guide?'. As always we went nah we're fine and got ready and set off. The trail wasn't on the map and we seemed to walk straight into this house where the girl was sitting with her mum and 3 friends. They said we could go through and asked again if we needed a guide. "Nah, nah", we said and kept walking. Then one of the young girls quietly said "oh, but we want to go for a swim". We replied "Okay, fine, you guys can come along but we're not paying". Stoked, the kids all joined us and the girl that came out first straight away took on guide duties, showing us local fruits and trying to help us over obstacles. So cute and yes, we did end up paying her. We ended up being very grateful the kids were there because the trail wasn't obvious at all. The waterfall was stunning and it was only us and the kids there. And the kids were great fun to have with us! What a cool adventure.
People, in general, are good and happy to help. The Philippines was an amazing reminder of this. From the tiny old man who carried my huge pack onto a bus asking for nothing in return, to the local lady on the bus who bought me a fried banana because I didn't have the right change, to the girls on the side of the road who flagged down the right bus because we had no idea what we were doing; it was just incredible how amazing people are. I think it's a great way to go through life too, just remembering that people are inherently good and just doing their best.
There's nothing wrong with adventuring close to home. After a year of travel and so much uncertainty I am so excited to be back in Australia, the best country in the world, and have the time to get out on lots of mini adventures and explore my own back yard some more. South Australia doesn't really have a reputation as a place for adventure but far out it has some incredible places & I can't wait to explore every little hidden gem it has to offer. A little less uncertainty isn't a bad thing.
Finally, that feeling of uncertainty or discomfort won't stick around forever but it is a place that you learn and grow the most. I've had so much personal growth this year so I don't regret a second of the uncomfortable situations I put myself in.
As 2023 comes to an end I would encourage everyone to look back at the year you've had a think about what you learned. Whether it was an incredible year or the toughest year yet there is always lessons to learn.
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