And so the search continues…

Having finally settled on Costa Rica as the place for me to stay while i wait to go to Germany, i went to book the flights and was shocked to see that in just 2 days the cost of them has gone up over $500 wow!!! Note to self: stop procrastinating and book the cheap flights when you see them So, after much prayer, i started reassessing my destination and came up with Paris. Hmmm you may be thinking…isn’t that an expensive place to go? Well, not in winter it seems. Flights there are a lot cheaper than Costa Rica, so i discovered, and accommodation is the same price (and it will mean i am only 1 1/2 hrs flight from my final destination of Germany, and my son and his family).

With iPad in hand, and my high school rusty French, i started my search of accommodations. All rather nice but…hold on…what’s that??? Kitchens and bathrooms aren’t necessarily INSIDE the apartment ummmmm huh??? Have i read that right…ok so time to revert to google translator and research, instead of guessing what the french says lol. On investigation it is quite common to not have the kitchen and bathroom in the apartment. So another note to self…check the place has these INSIDE the apartment lol. After a few emails to different places i have found a place near the centre. Looks like Paris is a go 😉

Some interesting things i have learnt so far about Paris: the central districts of Paris are divided into 12 Arrondissements, or ‘areas’ which are positioned in a circle around the centre of Paris. Some of these are safe, some arent. From my research it seems that Arrondissements 1-7, 9 and 12 are safe. 18 is more quaint, but also is next to the red light district, so you have to be careful to pick accommodation away from that section.

The first blog of many…I hope lol

Travelling from Australia to the USA after the death of my mum, the admittance of my dad into a dementia home and the break down of my marriage was in a way a new start, a chance to think and regroup. During this time I hoped I would spend more time with God, reconnecting to him after finding that I wasn’t speaking to him as much as I had been before.  Why hadn’t I been speaking to him? Well in honesty because it hurt, I found that I felt like a child sitting at his feet not wanting to look up at him because, I knew that when I did, I would start to cry over all the things that were happening and I wasn’t sure I would stop crying if I started.  So I kept my face looking down and didn’t speak to God much.  I knew he was always there, loving me and holding me close, but it was hard to look up.  To the world I kept a typical ‘stiff upper lip’ of my British culture, smiling and trying to help those around me, few knew what was happening in my life, I didn’t want to burden people and also because we Brits don’t cry in front of people, we are private people.  So, after all was packed away in Australia I came to a remote farm in Washington state, a beautiful, peaceful farm with no tv (my initial reaction to that was ahhhhhhh!!!!) and silence.  I have always been a busy person, mentally and physically.  Loved learning and also challenging myself, so to just ‘be’ was a new experience for me.  To sit with no music/tv/anything but nature and God was something that I thought would be too hard at times.  But, as the last 5 1/2 months have slipped by, I have found that I crave the silence.  My aim was to start writing a book about ministry; what really happens in ministry and how can we help ministers and their families thrive and not die in it.  Instead God has spent this time talking to me and teaching me.  I started looking up again at his face and yes the tears came, but with it came the healing of the pain of all that had happened.

During my time here I also found a best friend, someone who means so much to me and now knows me better than anyone in the world. Someone who let me cry on their shoulder and encouraged me to look up to God again. I will miss them terribly when I leave.  Thankfully there is always the Line app so I can keep in contact 🙂

So, why this blog.  Well the aim of it is to share with you my travels, what God teaches me, reflections on ministry, advice on travelling alone as a woman and the fun times I encounter.

My tentative itinerary is as follows: head to Costa Rica on 10 Feb, stay there till 11 Mar then head to see my son and his family in Germany and their new baby.  Then head to UK to see my dad and sister, head over to Amsterdam to see one of my students and then back to my son’s place, and do all this with minimal cost, because I am not working at the moment By the time I am back in Germany in April I hope to have an idea what I will do from then on lol. So, please follow me on this adventure into the unknown.