Experiencing Transit

Good bye NZ
(Collage courtesy of Mel)

So it turns out transit isn't too bad!

Singapore airport is so impressive, theres no chance of getting bored. You get a $40 voucher to spend and there are so many areas for resting and relaxing that you just can't go wrong.

I wandered around the terminal with my new friend from the flight, had a beer, visited the impressive smokers area, viewed the amazing rest areas that are surrounded in ponds and plants and fish and tv's, and spent some quality time with the butterflys in the butterfly garden.

I was absolutely blown away by this incredible garden, it was a definite highlight of my transit stay! 

I had already booked myself into the transit hotel well in advance, which was honestly the best advice I could have ever been given. After the first 10 hour flight this was definitely necessary. I couldnt sleep through my anxiety and excitement so killed time by watching movies and reading!! It was a quick but sleepless flight! So at Changi I got to enjoy a room to myself, a nice hot shower before and after an uninterrupted sleep, and complimentary coffee and tea! Woke up feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the next 13 hour flight.

Which, by the way, was terrible.

We had constant turbulence, just the small stuff, but enough to annoy me. I struggled to sleep and every time I tried to read I felt annoyingly queasy. So instead I entertained myself with a whole season of "the big bang theory" and a couple of movies!

 Needless to say, by the time I finally ended up in London I was exhausted.

And so incredibly excited!!!

Well, shit.

6 sleeps.

That's just under 1 week.

Oh my god.

If you have any tips/advice on how to prepare for this, now would be the time to fill me in! 

(Please and Thank you)

Unemployment

I am officially unemployed.

Yesterday was my last day of work before I head off on my big O.E!!

I then preceeded to get drunk at the local with my favourites while taking a mega load of selfies.

Leaving the only way I really know how.

(I really do need to apologise to Ritz for blocking her in this photo)

These ladies have made the last year of working and saving less of a chore and actually enjoyable. I couldn't thank them more. They spoilt me so incredibly much with farewell gifts, cards, and great banter!!

Now I just hope I've saved enough to keep me going till I get a job somewhere exotic and exciting. 

**watch this space**

To Tour

♥★  I have officially paid the total amount for my topdeck adventure!!!! ♥★
Here's a wee run down for those of you who care.

All these places over 24 days of fun-filled amazingness. 

The dream will soon be a reality.

I have also booked myself on a mini three day tour of Scotland for the beginning of March, to start off the adventure and to keep myself entertained :)

I cannot contain my excitement about visiting all of these counties.

And I shall document all the amazingness, right here.  

 Stay tuned.

Happy Days

"Can you be happy for 100 days in a row?"

I have recently signed up for the #100happydays challenge online! A challenge I have accepted to make myself find and appreciate the happy moments in daily life. 

The next month or so of planning, and working, and saving, and organising, are bound to be stressful. 

It's kinda how I do things. 

So I'm doing this happy day challenge to help me relax a little and enjoy these moments. 

If you would like to join me on my happy journey, pop over to my tumblr account (www.tangleddaisy.tumblr.com) where I plan to post my daily happy photos.

♥♥ 

So far, so good.

Insta-life

Yes, I am one of those people who documents their lives through instagram.

 Yes, you can expect to see a lot more of this happening during my travels.

 Yes, I use hashtags in every post  #andiloveit

Yes, I probably use instagram a little too often.

 
 But no, I will not stop.

Feel free to follow my instagram feed for regular updates of my european adventures - kathrynheffernan - or un-follow me if you feel like the idea of this is extremely horrifying.
I won't be offended.
#Justkidding
#Iwillactuallybeextremelyoffended
#ifyoudontfollowmyinstagramweshouldprobablystopbeingfriends

The Problem

My big OE travel experience shall start March 2. 

I am excited out of my mind.

I want to go everywhere and see everything and meet everyone and learn everything and write it all, right here, as a database for my future career.

The problem? I don't have the habit of writing like I used to. 

I don't know where to start, what words to use, how to convey any emotion, or how to describe what I see, the way I was confident I could.

So I'll start here. Please bear with me. It may be terrible and it might be painful to read, but I know I need to start somewhere. Hopefully I'll fill my pages up with images to keep you all entertained and up to date with my travels. ♥ I'm excited to share it all with you. 

And so it begins......

*watch this space*

The Edge

"I want to think of dangerous and noble things to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable, beautiful, and afraid of nothing as though I had wings." 

Mary Oliver

I am afraid of many things. 

The dentist.

The doctor.

Heights.

Of the future. 

Of mistakes.

Of heartbreak.

Of forgetting.

Of being told that I'm unwell.
To go somewhere new.

To admit my faults.

To fail.

Of change.

But also of things staying the same.

 Of showing too much of myself.

And of not showing enough.

 To live life over the edge. 

But if I live life in fear. How will I enjoy any moment of it?

the EDGE from Piotr Kabat on Vimeo.

"The edge. There is no honest way to explain it. 

Because the only ones who know where it is, are the ones who have gone over. 

The others, the living, are those who push their control as far as they felt they could handle it, and then they pulled pack.

Or slowed down.

But the edge is still out there."

The Scared is Scared

This is gorgeous. Adorable. Absolutely loveable. 

It puts a smile on my face when my brain is having stupid attacks of emotion. 

Which is often.

So I watch this.

And I smile.
 Can this kid get any cuter or smarter????!

the Scared is scared from Bianca Giaever on Vimeo.

"If something feels like it's closing, you should just say

 'OK, I'm Fine'. 

I usually let it go and just think of something that I really like to do,

and you just think of something else, until the nervous has gone put of you. 

I let that thing disappear out of my head, 

out of my ears, 

out of my mouth.

When the scared feeling comes into you,

 the scared is scared of the things you like.

So I was scared of a monster, 

and I thought of pizza. 

And Juice. 

And some meringues.

And a cookie. 

Chocolate chip cookie. 

I mean OATMEAL cookie. 

And then I ate it all up. 

And some milk.

And the cookie was shaped like a piano, 

a keyboard I mean."

Beauty in the Sky

"We were shooting for a commercial with my DP waiting for an helicopter flying into the sunset, when thousands and thousands of birds came and made this incredible dance in the sky."

I wish to witness this some day.
It is absolutely stunning.

Always looking up. There is so much beauty in the sky.

A bird ballet | Music Video from Neels CASTILLON on Vimeo.

Creative Patience

Um. Yes.

Just yes. 

And the making of?
Yea, that's pretty 'yes' too.

I'm off to find me a coloured moleskine.

Paperman

This is a little bit adorable.

First-time director John Kahrs merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques in this beautiful animated, Oscar-nominated, short film, Paperman.

 In short, it's a story about the magic of that 'love at first sight' feeling.

While I've only posted the trailer, you should definitely watch the whole 6 mins here.
Enjoy.

 

Your song

I love a good Elton John classic as much as the next gal.

And this version just breaks my heart.

(I have a mini obsession with Ellie Goulding at this present moment in time)

Attempting to Run

I'm trying to be healthy and attempting to get fit.
I thought it was about time really.

Running scares me.

But they say you must face your fears.

So I downloaded an app called C25K which is designed to get my lazy ass of the couch, outta bed, and on the pavement to running my first 5k in 8 weeks.

And then maybe I'll run 10k, then who knows what else.

Wish me luck. 

There was a time where women running was unheard of, not allowed, bad for your health etc.

(I should have been born in that era.)

But I should be glad that others have struggled before me to make my new dream of fitness possible.

"The idea of running long distance was always considered very questionable for women because, 

you know, 

an arduous activity would mean that you were

going to get big legs...

grow a mustache...

hair on your chest...

your uterus was going to fall out..." 

Katherine Switzer

Coffee Understands

It's safe to say that I might have a little addiction.

I love my coffee.

And I have absolutely no plans to give it up.

I will keep on drinking.

Just as the rest of the world plans to too.

As I work through a few tough moments in life and attempt to answer some of the harder questions it seems to be asking, I take comfort in knowing that I have a nice hot cup of coffee to help me through. 

New

A New Year.
New city.

New Travels.

New memories.

New job. 

New tears.

New smiles.

New experiences.

New laughs.

New opportunities.

New fears.

New posts.

New dreams.

New photos.

And new addictions to instagram.

(I don't know what it is about posting my photos on instagram that's so enjoyable.

But I do love documenting moments through photography and showing the world)

Plenty of 'new' to last through the year and to share here, with you.

So far, so good.