Been AWOL, I know

24 Jul

I am grateful. So incredibly grateful to my husband that I am able to explore things on my own terms. Taking a break after 4 1/2 years of running a business, not sleeping, working through holidays and days off, this time to myself and to travel is giving me a lot.

I am learning storytelling, crochet. I made my first 2 plush toys.

I learned how to develop black and white film.

I met people.

We went to Iceland for the first time. I cried when we landed.

I learned how to drive an automatic car. I drove in Reykjavik, I drove through a tunnel under the ocean (nerve-wracking!).

I saw the village where Walter Mitty jumped on an helicopter piloted by a drunk Icelander (though he was supposedly in Greenland 🙄).

I got a new tattoo, my fifth, in the third country: Italy, England, and now Spain. Promise I’ll put a photo of it at the end of the post.

I took a train to the coast one day because the promised forecast was wind. I photographed so many waves (1500+ photos in the span of 2 hours). I signed up to that website for surfers, so they’ll tell me where the best waves are. I always loved the ocean, and now I found my way to celebrate it.

I started putting together a photography coffee table book. It will take me eons to finish it if I know myself well enough, but I am doing it. I want to put together all the wonderful things I saw in Iceland. We drove so much, covered maybe a third of the country. I am so proud of us. On the last full day we were there, we did something crazy (for two neurodivergent who need to have everything planned, at least): we took a whim decision and drove 120 km to bathe in a hot spring. It was lovely, and so freeing: we finally had a bit of sunshine, it was no more than 8*C outside, but the water was lovely. Getting out was a bit dramatic 🥶, but after getting back into our warm clothes we didn’t feel cold anymore for the rest of the day. All warm and fuzzy.

My husband was the best in Iceland: he waited for me while I was taking photos, he wondered around and went exploring, he took care of filming while we were driving (I will at one point release that YouTube video), he was up for anything (I made all the travel plans and he went along with it without an ounce of doubt). He trusted me. He looked out for me at every crossroad, as in the first one I got slightly confused and took a turn like I was still in Britain 🙄 (none else was around no worries).

We listened to Anderson Cooper’s podcast about grief All There Is. We cried, we remembered, we continued on our personal healing journey, this time together. Driving long distances through a breathtaking landscape will do that to you. We both have ghosts, inner children that need unconditional love and compassion. We came back the same two people, but with more empathy towards one another. More patience, more understanding.