Pushing my concerns aside I disembarked my flight and once again I made my way through customs with no delays.  Walking out into the open arrivals lounge my earlier concerns returned as my eyes darted around the room scanning for a familiar face. It didn’t take long before we made eye contact and shared a big smile as I felt my muscles relax.  Philip and Linda stood to greet me, and then as we embraced they admitted that they shared the same concerns. We laughed at ourselves and made our way to the car.

Linda informed me that Angus had clued onto my visit so the surprise was not going to be quite what we had hoped. Angus was most likely the kind of kid sleuth that found the Christmas presents before they arrived under the tree on Christmas morning.  I wasn’t too worried that my visit was no longer a surprise as I was just happy to be there with them and share in their life for a few days.

Angus was still at work so we went for a drive around Christchurch where I could see firsthand the damage caused by the tragic earthquakes earlier this year. In some places you would never know the sheer devastation that took place and in other areas your heart ached as you drank in the enormity of what Mother Nature was capable of.

They took me up to a lovely little look out café which sold overpriced food and drinks however more than made up for it with the panoramic views of the city. Having not eaten anything other than some crackers all day, my first holiday food was a huge slice of moist carrot cake with lashings of cream cheese icing, Yum! As I gorged myself we caught up on what life had brought them since Angus’s operations and what the plans were for the weekend ahead.

It wasn’t long before it was time to go and pick Angus up from work. A well dressed and impatient Angus was standing on the side of the road talking on the phone as we approached. He was excited to see me but not surprised. After a big hug and a quick hello we were back on the road again, this time heading back to the farm which was over an hour away.

Angus’s parents own a beautiful property where over three thousand sheep and about three hundred cattle call home.  With this being my first visit to New Zealand other than in transit I was mesmerized by the picturesque landscapes that were whizzing by my window. It was lambing season so the road was boarded by beautiful rolling green pastures peppered with mummy sheep and their cute as a button lambs.

By the time we arrived home I was starting to feel the weariness wash over me despite having slept for several hours on the flight. Angus’s older Sister Phillipa and her two gorgeous little girls were already there and had dinner cooked and ready to eat. For the first time I experienced roast mutton and vegies. Having only recently acquired the taste for lamb I have to say I quite enjoyed my meal despite the stronger flavour and smell of the mutton, although I did have some extra mint sauce to be sure. Not long after dinner it was off for a nice hot shower and bed, which after such a long day I think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

Until next time,

Janie xo

Departure Day After months of meticulous planning, positive thinking and bubbling excitement the day finally arrived to set off on my big adventure Thursday 6th October. Now I have travelled overseas on numerous occasions and I have always had wonderful experiences however I never usually get excited until I actually arrive. This was definitely not the case with this trip, I felt like a 5 year old child filled with wonder and optimism.

The alarm sounded loudly in my ear as I turned to see 4am flashing in my face signalling that I had only 2 snoozes before I had to roll out of bed. I don’t know about you but I’m a snoozer, I love nothing more than to set my alarm 45 minutes early. I like the staged approach to waking up, it’s a bit like giving a child warning that they have 15 minutes to say their goodbyes and its home time. It helps me to mentally prepare to say goodbye to my dreams and their characters until we meet again.

I digress, so as I hit the snooze button I realised I was no longer dreaming but busily working out how much I still had to do in my head. Once again like every holiday I’ve taken, I found myself still in the office late the night before making sure everything was just right. Having crawled into bed after midnight I didn’t exactly have the best night’s sleep but surprisingly it didn’t bother me because my inner 5 year old was jumping around as if Santa was coming.

I was staying with some friends who had very graciously offered to take me to the airport and with all good intentions we set off. We got away about twenty minutes later than planned and decided to take a short cut, the kind of short cut you’ve not taken for a long time and ends up being the long way after all. So after several road works and traffic jams I could see the time ticking away steadily and I have to admit my faith was wavering a little especially when I realised that the ticket said three hours before departure and not two hours! My heart started racing and all my good work looked set to slide away.

I quickly gave myself a mental slap and calmed myself down by visualising myself sitting in a first class seat being served champagne and nibbles. I must mention here that part of my experiment was to visualise being upgraded at least once on my trip. Sadly, I have to report that this apparently was not within my power on this trip. I have however not lost my dream that one day I will get an upgrade to business or first class. I called my trusty best friend and travel agent Laura to find out what my chances were of missing my flight due to my complacency. Once the lecture was over about being so irresponsible she finally assured me that I should be ok.

With my mind a little more at ease I went back to my champagne and nibbles in my head. I did arrive in time for my flights and plenty of time to sit and relax at my gate before departure. I pretty much went straight through all check points without delay which became a fairly common theme for the rest of my trip.

I’ve always felt a bit like a naughty child in a classroom if I don’t pay some attention to the safety messages and demonstration and always keep alert and focused until this part of the flight is over and then all bets are off. I know some people are really bad travellers and find it very difficult to sleep on flights however I am not one of them. It is not unusual for me to be asleep before we even get off of the runway. Once I actually closed my eyes for a second and then next thing I heard was “Prepare the cabin for landing” What? I missed breakfast? My flight from Brisbane to New Zealand was no exception, only waking to go to the toilet half an hour before landing and then went back to snoozing until we started to descend.

Until next time,

Janie xo 

So in a nut shell so far I had a pretty good skeleton of an itinerary and was very excited about discovering what adventures and experiences would create the rest of the body. There was still a little bit of planning required for the little stops in between the three star attractions of the trip. Laura used her extensive personal travel experience and sorted out my accommodation in Miami and Los Angeles at the Crown International. These three nights would be the fanciest comfort I would experience in my five weeks of travel. Can I just say that I would highly recommend these hotels to anyone. Their service and facilities were exceptional for the price; however the nicest hotel of the two was by far Los Angeles.

After splurging on these hotels and conscious of my budget, I decided that I would look for some kind of alternative to a hotel when staying in Chicago. After some research I discovered a brilliant website www.airbnb.com and here I found all kinds of accommodation in pretty much every corner of the globe. This site is where people can advertise a room for rent by the night usually in their own home. These can range from sleeping on someone’s couch for $10 a night or a hotel room for $375 a night, something for every budget.

I found a lovely double room sharing a two bedroom apartment with a young aspiring artist and I suspect entrepreneur in the making. The room looked very cute and comfortable; it was close to the train line and apparently located in the 20^th precinct of Chicago, supposedly the safest. It also backed onto the very trendy and lively Clark Street. The room was only $55 per night so I was more than happy to risk the potential of a little discomfort for that price so I booked it. I would highly recommend this site to anyone working on a budget and wanting to get a more personal glimpse into the lives of the locals.

Next was what to do when I got to Chicago. I decided not to book any tours until I arrived there but to be aware of what the times and locations were. One tour in particular was definitely on my list and that was the architecture river tour. This is a 90 minute boat cruise which was supposed to be excellent and only $35 (http://www.architecture.org). One of my associates at work had talked highly about it and strongly recommended that I do it. There were a few other tours I was interested in as well but didn’t know what to expect when I got there so I just made a few mental notes.

Chicago is also renowned for its live Broadway shows and entertainment, so of course I looked into this only to discover that there wasn’t anything I wanted to see on those dates. Unperturbed I then turned to the Arts which again Chicago is renowned for. I discovered that they had The Art Institute of Chicago Museum (http://www.artic.edu) for just $18 per person this was also set to be a sure favourite on my to do list in Chicago.

Finally I felt pretty confident that I had covered more than enough to ensure a smooth and easy journey over the course of my five weeks away. There really is something very special about knowing everything is in order and going to work out just fine.

Until Next time,

Janie xo

My greatest apologies, this post was supposed to be the one for Friday and Friday’s post for today… I hope this will not cause too much confusion.

Enjoy!

The one thing I had decided long ago was that I wanted to go to the Caribbean for a few weeks of my holiday. Earlier circumstances had shifted my attention in this direction of the world and I was keen to check it out. In late 2010, I met with some old family friends Michael and Michelle whom I hadn’t seen since I was a ten year old. When we met it was just like no time had really passed (I’m sure Facebook helped with that a little:). They brought along their beautiful daughter Sarah who was only 6 months old when I’d seen her last and her now fiancé Myles. I clicked with them instantly and we had a lovely afternoon catching up on the last twenty years.

As the afternoon moved on I told them about my dream of going on a big overseas holiday as a kind of present to myself for my thirtieth birthday. They had half joked that I should seriously consider going to Costa Rica as their son and his family lived there and they might just be visiting then. I had considered several options for my holiday before remembering their offer. I got in touch with them only to discover that it was again perfect timing as they would not only be there but Sarah and Myles were also going to be there on vacation. So it was decided that I would spend part of my holiday in Costa Rica.

Throughout this whole process there was one friend I desperately wanted to visit however it just didn’t look like it would work out financially or practically. Despite the hurdles, I continued to think about how wonderful it would be to go and see her. Kelly was my ex-boyfriend’s house mate and as soon as we met we knew we would be lifelong friends. Kelly is originally from South Africa and after travelling the world for some years she decided to go back to study in Australia.

Just before we met, she had been living in the States with her Mum and Dad. Whilst living there she met Bobby and fell in love. It wasn’t long before he asked her to marry him and she excitedly accepted. After six long months apart, Kelly finished her studies and headed back to Cleveland, Ohio to get married.

We have kept in constant contact and she has been an amazing support to me often playing the role of Editor for my work. I missed my friend terribly as all of our conversations over the last two years had been in the form of email and Facebook. One day I decided to do another review of my finances and costs for flights only to discover that I was actually going to have more money than I thought. So I checked out some of my options and low and behold I could afford to fly to Cleveland to visit my friend. So I emailed her straight away and told her I was coming to stay for a few days and finally meet her precious little bundle Ella Mae. Kelly was as excited as I was and again it turned out the timing couldn’t have been better planned as it was her last week of maternity leave.

As I ticked another item on my wish list my mind went back to Chicago, the only city in the States that for some reason I really wanted to visit. Maybe it was because one of my idols Oprah was from there or maybe it was just a connection I couldn’t explain. I knew nothing about the city however wanted to go and see it anyway. Suddenly I noticed people talking about it and how great it was and all the things you could do there. So I investigated a little further and discovered that I could afford a few days to explore Chicago as well.

Until Next time,

Janie

As it would happen America’s economy took a backward step during these two weeks, losing their AAA rating and effectively meaning that my flights dropped in price by almost a thousand dollars, Yay for me!!! (Sorry, as sad as this was for the States it was very economical for me…) With so much working in my favour I was getting more and more excited and found it easier and easier to stay positive and not let the little things worry me. I was finally able to breath and just believe that this was going to be the best holiday ever and that I wouldn’t have any problems along the way.

So late into the night I found myself most days busily researching all of the options available to me in Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and most importantly Costa Rica. The more I read about Costa Rica the more excited I became and decided that I really wanted to write about my travels. I didn’t want to write the typical travel blog, I wanted to capture something a little more special than just the touristy stuff.  I wanted to write about the culture, the people I met, the lives that they live, their beliefs, their attitudes, their trials and tribulations and how my personal journey has been affected by these encounters.

I was going to be spending effectively seventeen days in Costa Rica so I decided to spend five or so days with my friends and travel on my own for the remainder. When I mentioned my plans and ideas for tours to my friend Michelle, she promptly told me to hold off on booking anything until I heard back from her. The following day I received an email telling me that a very good friend of her sons was a personal guide. So for a daily rate plus fuel he would be my guide picking me up from the airport and taking me on a ten day road trip around Costa Rica before taking me to meet with them in Hermosa Heights.

So effectively for the same money I had budgeted for the five or six tours and transport I could have my own personal tour guide, translator, negotiator and travel companion for the first ten days.  Of course I jumped at the opportunity as I trusted my friends’ recommendation without question. It had only been a week earlier that I had been telling some friends that I just wished that I had someone to show me around that could speak Spanish and show me the real Costa Rica not just the tourist stuff.

Well it would seem that the universe had heard my request and again delivered All I knew about my guide was that his name was Roy; he was a Tico (Costa Rican male), spoke fluent English, had long dreadlocks, was covered in tattoos, liked spear fishing and was a long trusted friend of my friends. With all of this in place I simply worked out my dates for travelling and staying with my friends and left the remainder of my trip blank until I arrived in San Jose. I don’t think it even occurred to me that we might not get along and then have to spend ten days together. I guess I just trusted that I had been asking for this so surely we would get along, wouldn’t we?

Note: When you are booking overseas travel it really is worth your while to visit a good travel agent, someone you get along with and feel comfortable doing business. They are experts in what they do and know exactly how to find and get you the best prices and deals on flights, seats, accommodation and tours  that you can’t always access online. However, when it comes to domestic flights within a country or within Australia you are much better off buying these online as agents do not get any special deals on these flights. They pay exactly what you pay.

Until next time,

Janie xo

I am not a religious person however I am spiritual in my own unique way.  I believe in the power of positive thought and like attracts like. I believe that what you put out into the world you get back and what you focus on most you attract. So I finally realised that when I focused on my fears I only ever seemed to manifest them into reality and yet when I focused on the things that I wanted in my life I attracted those too. With all of this in mind, I set myself a mission that I was no longer going to let my fears rule my life or decisions and that I would only focus on what I wanted.

Every time I thought a negative fear based thought I would automatically focus on the opposite of that fear and almost say a little chant to myself about the positive outcome I desired.  It was also a kind of experiment. Could I actually get everything I wanted and needed simply by focusing on them enough to bring them into my path? If I just trusted wholeheartedly that everything is going work out and that if I believe I will receive?

So with my new attitude I set about planning my trip, I decided on a few key points of what I wanted to happen and then let things unfold. The first thing I needed to focus on was having more than enough money to take a five week holiday. This was particularly hard to stay positive about as I didn’t have any at the time. Unperturbed I continued to focus on having money and less on not having any. Over the coming months and with some hard work and sacrifices along the way my bank balance soon grew healthy again. I then decided on a few key things that I would like to achieve on my holiday i.e. like whom I wanted to visit and what I would like to experience.

The first person I wanted to visit was my very dear friend Angus in New Zealand. Angus had been my house mate in early 2010 when he received some devastating news. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour the size of three golf balls and had flown home for the lifesaving operations. After two operations and months of intensive rehabilitation Angus was now back working and creating a new life for himself. He had been bugging me for months to come over and I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to visit him and his family.

I wanted to try and surprise Angus so I contacted his mum Linda to confirm the dates I had in mind. The timing was perfect as she advised that the day I planned to arrive was in fact her first day of school holidays. Excellent, I was thrilled that I was finally going to get to see Angus again. I gave Linda the details of my arrival and departure and then I left the rest of the details up to her. I knew that whatever we did, it would be wonderful.

Until next time,

Janie xo

We all enter this world with only two natural fears, a fear of falling and a fear of loud noises. These are obviously there to protect us from pain or danger and throughout our lives we continue to learn and develop all kinds of fears for the exact same reasons. Some fears we inherit from our parents, our family or our friends. We can’t forget the media and modern technology, they are generating fear like nothing else and then of course we have our own personal experiences.

Everyone has a particular year in their life where they really came into their own and finally found an inner peace with their past and everything just kind of fell into place. For a lot of people this year usually coincides with a fairly significant birthday such as their 30^th or 40^th. Everyone’s journey is different however I have discovered that thirty is my year for transformations.

I talk about all of this because I feel that it is important to understand that this blog is not just about the tourist attractions. This blog is about my personal quest to better understand not only myself but the world around me. In order for me to truly tell my story of my travels, it’s important that you understand the journey that led me there in the first place.

I have always been a deep thinker and my mind is in constant overdrive so I have always struggled to keep things simple in my life. Despite this I have always strived to simplify my approach to life and illiminate as much drama as possible.  As it turns out, this is the year that all of my hard work and self-development seems to have finally come together and paid off. In the months leading up to my trip, I took the time to really have a good hard honest look at who I was, who I wanted to be, where I was and where I wanted to go.  One thing was for sure, I was determined not to live in the shadow of my fears, real or otherwise any longer.

Until next time,

Janie xo

Wow! I blinked and five weeks seemed to whiz by me at an

I also discovered that when I had access to internet I didn’t have time and when I had time I didn’t have access. And, if I am to be completely honest I was having far too much fun being present in the moment and soaking in every millisecond of my journey that it hardly occurred to me to communicate with anyone other than those in my presence. I did however manage to take oodles of notes along the way and now that I am back and have had time to fully digest my journey I am excited about reliving these adventures with you.

Over the coming weeks I will take you on a journey of wonder, laughter, joy, tears, sadness, exhilaration and so much more. One thing I will say here is that these past five weeks have been by far some of the best in my life to date. I spent weeks meticulously planning my trip as far as flights, accommodation and budget but nothing could prepare me for the wondrous endeavour it would become. This was a full mind, body & spirit experience for me and I hope through my stories and words you may also share in the magic I bathed in day after day.

This is just a short note today to say hi and let you know that I haven’t forgotten you. I have finally started penning my trip for your reading enjoyment however, please be patient with me as I have a lot to say and there is quite a few weeks’ worth to catch up on.

Until next time…

Janie xo

Welcome to my blog!

For many of us around the world 2011 started out a little bit wobbly to say the least, however I have to conclude that despite blinking and suddenly finding myself almost ten months down the track it has been an incredible journey for me.

At the beginning of the year I made only two New Year’s resolutions and they were to simplify my life and embrace every opportunity that came my way.  It never ceases to amaze me how twelve months doesn’t sound like a long time until you look back, it’s incredible how much can happen and how significantly your life can change in such a short time. So far this year I’ve fallen in love, turned thirty, sold all of  my possessions, moved house twice, got a pay rise, fallen out of love and now I am about to go on five weeks holiday, my first holiday in over two years and the year still has three months to go!!!

People often tell you that the older you get the happier you become and I have to conclude that for me this is true. This year has possibly been one of the most cleansing, humbling and healing journeys of my life to date and I’ve rarely been happier than I am right now. This year I set about letting go of all the thoughts, feelings and attitudes that no longer served me and de-cluttered my life in more ways than my material possessions. It’s astonishing to learn that by just making the simple choice to take the path of least resistance you can eliminate so much drama, stress and worry from your life.

One of the most exciting things that have come from this year is the clarity I have finally discovered about what it is that I want to do with the rest of my life and what my purpose is. After a few false starts on this path I have set this blog up in order to start the first steps to achieving my dream of becoming a published Author. I guess this will be kind of my practice space and I am hoping that you will help me on this journey by sharing your thoughts, ideas and my work with your family and friends if you enjoy it.

In many ways I am still finding my footing with this new venture and swinging between genres as the mood takes me. Sometimes you will find short fictional stories on here or a recount of something that has taken place in my own life and other times it may be an article on something I felt passionately enough to write about.

So back to this holiday… for years I’ve told anyone who would listen that in my thirtieth year I was going to go on a big overseas holiday. At the beginning of the year this seemed like an impossible feat however I tried to maintain my “If you believe you will receive” attitude. Somehow through all kinds of adversity and uncertainty a chain of events has divinely enabled all of my dreams to come to fruition. Next week I will be departing for my much dreamed about holiday, five weeks of indulgent me time!

I will be starting in New Zealand, then onto the States where I will visit Cleveland, Chicago and Miami before my ultimate destination COSTA RICA for seventeen glorious days. I will be keeping a travel journal of my trip, the people I meet and the adventures I seek. I would love for you to join me on my travels over the coming weeks and will endeavor to keep you updated regularly.

I hope you will find my writing fun, interesting, informative and thought provoking!

Until next time,

Janie xo

He stepped closer and took her delicate hand in his; he lent forward and kissed her tenderly on the forehead before sweeping her matted and tangled hair from her face. He looked behind him and with his spare hand pulled the chair closer so he could sit and be comfortable without having to let go of her hand. She looked so peaceful now, her breathing even and quiet, watching her chest rise and fall as she slept soundly was almost mesmerising. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was still in any pain now, she didn’t seem to be but it was still hard to tell. Her hair was messy and her face was blotchy, there were the remnants of her eye makeup smudged around the edges of her eyes and yet he thought she had never looked more beautiful.

He pulled his chair closer to her bedside and brought her hand to his lips and held his kiss for a long time as he felt a tear roll down his cheek. He recalled the sound that echoed around the room as she cried out in pain; every scream felt like a knife had been plunged into his own heart. He had sworn to provide for and protect her at all costs and he had never felt so absolutely powerless to protect her from pain. He was in awe of how despite the pain, she was so gracious about it all, asking him regularly how he was doing. “How I was doing?” he thought, how she could possibly be thinking of him when she was the one going through the gruelling pain was beyond him.

No amount of training could prepare him for the reality of what had taken place, and no amount of preparation could prepare him for the feelings that ensued after it was over. He had always reined such stony control over his feelings and emotions, but today was different. He no longer cared to keep them hidden and appear to have power over them, because today proved that sometimes there are circumstances that are so much stronger than your need for self preservation. He wondered if he would ever be able to hide his feelings again, he knew something in him had changed and there was nothing that could reverse it.

His thoughts returned to her and he remembered the look on her face when she was going through the worst of it, he had never been more proud of her and had fallen even more in love with her if that was even possible. He’d held her hand throughout the ordeal and unlike what they show you in the movies, she had looked at him with such love in her eyes that his heart had almost felt like it would burst with the love he felt for her in return. It hadn’t always been this way; they had come the long way around on this journey to happiness and taken a few wrong turns along the way. He hadn’t always known what he wanted or how he felt but she had been adamant about her feelings and she had persevered with an unwavering resilience. She eventually said something that turned his life around “Happiness is offering who you are to the world and knowing it’s enough, I believe you are enough.”

He realised that he had always loved her but was scared of being hurt, after digesting her words it didn’t take long for him to take the risk. They had married 12 months later in a beautiful little ceremony with only their closest family and friends. Their honeymoon was one of his favourite memories together; they were carefree and truly happy and for the first time he’d lost every doubt he’d ever held about his future. As long as he had her by his side he was always going to be the richest man alive and somehow he knew she would always be by his side.

He turned toward the door to see the nurse roll the trolley to position it closely by her bed on the other side; she stopped momentarily and smiled at them both before leaving the room without a word. He couldn’t help himself as he let her hand go so as not to wake her and made his way over to the trolley. There lay the most beautifully formed little being he had ever laid eyes upon. He was so tiny, and his little face scrunched up as he started to stir no doubt ready for his first feed. He lent in and scooped him up like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The love he felt was intoxicating and a broad smile spread across his face as he inhaled the subtle smell that only comes from a newborn angel. He thought that he had known happiness before but nothing could prepare him for the emotions that rushed through every fibre of his being when he held his newborn son for the very first time. This of course was his second cuddle since he’d entered the world only several hours earlier and already he couldn’t imagine life without him. Unconditional love was by far the best gift of having taken a risk on loving another and letting them in to his world and nothing on earth could change that now.

By Janie Hall

© Janie Hall and janiehalldotcom.wordpress.com, 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janie Hall and janiehalldotcom.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.