The Big Adventure - 6

Who will be there?  Today I find myself wondering about the Tutor for the Writer's Lab on my Skyros holiday.  A quick web search tells me 'Monique Roffey is an award-winning writer and memoirist'.  The 'memoirist' word catches my attention as I have not heard that term used much - usually one is an 'autobiographer' but as I like to write about myself perhaps I am a 'memoirist'.  I have always thought you had to be famous to write an autobiography although I know many a novel is based on true life stories.

That aside, she is younger than I am but has loads of writing experience and I feel assured by her smiling photo that I will like her and learn much from her.  I have not met an 'award winning' author yet although my circle is forever widening in this field.  I hope she is as down to earth and fun like the authors I already know.  How wonderful to have been in the writing field all your career - do I wish I had followed this path earlier?  I have no regrets about my working life, it has been varied and full, so in that respect the answer is no.  I hope to have a good few years at it ahead though! God willing.

Monique has been a very busy lady and has held some high ranking posts.  Someone of such high calibre would have made me feel intimidated and caused me anxiety in my younger days, but with the maturity of years this does not phase me now thankfully.  I can say 'well done you' to her knowing the extent of sitting behind a desk studying she will have done to achieve what she has, the stresses and tensions of exams, the moving around the world, and finding what makes you happy.  Joys, tears, sacrifices and sheer determination all go into the pot of a 'successful' life.  It takes grit, focus and a circle of good friends who are there to encourage you and listen to your woes from time to time.

 

Monique - people are only strangers you haven't met yet.

Next blog : who else will be there?

The Big Adventure -blog post 3

What is happening to the Euro in Greece?  Everyone heading that way for a holiday will be asking this question.  The news advises taking Euros in cash, not a card to use in Greek cashpoints.  Makes sense, but travelling alone, this will, I am sure, make me a little more anxious.  Hopefully by the time I leave the UK it will all be sorted out and worries unfounded.

Today, I bought swimwear, shorts and flip-flops.  Well the sun was out and my holiday looms nearer each day.  Got to have the right gear for the climate!  Still can't quite believe I am going, but in the moments I think about it I am looking forwards to being part of the Skyros experience this year.

Friends and family are supportive and encouraging which helps enormously.  I admire all the foreign travelling my daughter has done alone in the past and how she still does around the UK in her showpiece VW yellow car.

There is a self confidence to be found in travelling alone whether for business or pleasure.  There is no one to rely on except yourself, you make all the decisions and then go with the flow.  Afterwards there is such a sense of achievement and a confidence that enables you to try other trips or other pursuits.

With that in mind, I am off to make a list of what else I need!

The Big Adventure - blog 4

The sun is out, the bikini fits, can I go now please? Skyros seems sooooo far away, not only in distance but in time.

I am in the zone now, I have reconnected with a former me - I found a pile of rejection letters from publishers I chose to submit my children's stories too during the 1980's. I have re-read the stories I wrote 30+ years ago. Besides that which I am working on at present, these stories are very precious. I hope to road-test them on a child soon to see what they make of them.

Meanwhile the big adventure plays on my mind when I lay down to sleep, I have to actively fight off unhelpful thoughts. In the morning light though a reconnection with authors, bookworms and friends via Facebook and Twitter puts me back on track.

Today I would normally be in my garden cabin writing, writing, writing but alas my beloved laptop is at the computer hospital with a virus. I am assured it has been healed but that I need to install something that detects malware. Not sure what that is but no doubt will pay out for that too! Losing one's computer is a great loss. A gap appears in your life that forces you to look for alternative ways of doing what you usually do. So this blog comes via my tablet. Yesterday's blog seems to have got stuck uploading, so it will appear out of order when I get said laptop back.

In the meantime I might just garden sunbathe today. Have a lovely day too.

The Big Adventure

For as long as I can remember I have always liked writing - letters, journals, magazine articles, short stories, children's books.  I sent the children's books off to several publishers back in the 1980's.  I have a collection of rejection letters as is par for the course. I self published a children's religious book but that was a hard learning curve that probably put me off course as, other than a few magazine articles, I have not tried for publication since.

However, I have reached the grand age of sixty and it is now or never. I have retired early and am pursuing my goal with a vengeance and passion.  I do believe all things are possible if you try hard enough, and if it doesn't you can enjoy the journey and have no regrets about what you tried to achieve before you die.

My two hobbies now are keeping fit and healthy, and writing.  Reading obviously comes hand in hand with writing so a new routine to fit all these things in, run a home, see friends and family etc is beginning to emerge.

The suitcase, sitting empty and new in the back bedroom is a daily reminder that it is only 60 days until my big adventure.  I see it as a pivotal turning point in my life, so it is both scary and exciting at the same time.

The Big Adventure

"I bought a new suitcase. There I've started".
"Started? What?"
"My blog"
"Well that's not very interesting is it. So what's the suitcase for?"
"My big adventure".
"ooooh now  that's  interesting, tell me all about it.  Are you going on a cruise.  Oh I love cruises, they are so glam, all that dressing up for evening meal.....
"No no no, here, sit down".  I pour tea.
" Thanks, nice mugs, I saw some like this in Morrison's, did you get them there?"
"No, do you want to know or not?"
"Oh your big adventure, suitcase, and its not a cruise. Yes do go on".
"'I am going on a Writing holiday....
" oh you are going to Devon, you went there before, I remember you stayed at a cottage, the owner had a dog....
"Have a cake".  Pushes blueberry muffins plate forward on the kitchen table.
"These are nice, I expect you made them yourself? I get mine from Morris...
" Will you let me speak! I'm going to Greece, well to a remote Greek island"
"Wow, that is exciting, tell me more...." Chomps her cake.

Fruit craving

Being on holiday should not be a reason to spoil good eating habits, but it does!  The sea wall where you sit to eat fish and chips, the quaint coffee shops for cappacino's and cake, the restaurants, take-aways, deli shops, all lure one away from good habits.

You tell yourself "I'm on holiday" or "you've got to treat yourself on holiday" and it all sounds plausible and acceptable until ' the bloat' happens.  Constipation and a protruding tum is you're body's way of saying 'hang on - what are you doing to me?"

Then you have a child sized ice cream because you would rather have a small one than say 'No' to the offer. 

Today the craving for fruit was so strong that I ate a whole bowl of fresh cherries, yum,  a nectarine, and a big juicy orange.  Now I only have bananas left for tomorrow.  Well that's an improvement on no fruit for three days!

I am also craving the gym and swim too that my regular routine allows for.  Although I walked for 1.5 hours through the woods on Monday I am feeling decidedly sluggish.  Perhaps I'll run up and down the stairs in the holiday cottage or swim in the sea? Brrrr.

What are your holiday eating habits like?  Got any tips that don't deny me holiday foods but maintain good eating?  Perhaps I'm asking the impossible - you can't have it both ways Mrs! Soon be time to return home and get back on track.