Challenges

Recap of the Highs and the Lows of 2018

January 1, 2019 by Meg 2 Comments

After all the best nine of 2018 have been posted, and the insta stories that showcase all the highs of 2018 are finally tapped through… I had planned to jump on both bandwagons and share all the highs that made my 2018 great – but then I thought of all the struggles, the tears, the lowest lows and thought that sharing the full picture is more accurate than only glazing over the stress that happened in 2018. It is because of all the shitty moments that the sweet moments were made even sweeter. If I hadn’t gone through all that crap, I would never have savoured all the joy 2018 did eventually bring. So here is my recap – the good, the bad and the out-right stressful life that was this past year.

At the end of 2017 we visited Edinburgh, as a way to end the year on a bit of high since 2017 was the year when literally all the wheels fell off most of our big plans. We went into 2018 hopeful that things would work out, and they did… spoiler alert – it just took 6 months for it to all work out.

In January we headed to Sligo for my birthday, and while it was a great weekend away, my birthday is always a difficult start of the year for me. Partly because I have in the past put heavy expectations on what birthdays should be like, and all the goals I wanted to achieve but didn’t get round to often leave me feeling a bit defeated. 2018’s birthday was no different for me. I was left wondering what I had achieved in 36 years of life, no matter how I look at it, it never feels as though its enough. So while instagram was showing all the exploring we did in Sligo, I was secretly battling with my own demons.

If you live in a country that has winter in February, you know that what is the shortest month of the year, ends up feeling like the longest month – it felt like spring was never going to arrive. And for a while, it didn’t, in fact, the Beast from the East arrived instead and we were snowed in for 3 days. Our first snow day as a family, and Jack’s first experience of snow. It ended up being a great break, and we used the time for loads of walks in the snow together.

In March we had our first visitors for the year, Jane and Nic arrived from SA and we spent time showing them around Dublin. We spent our second St Patrick’s day in Ireland in Dublin. Then after they left, I got a chance to head to Lisbon, Portugal for work – it was a busy 3 days in Lisbon but I still managed to fit so much in and I really was grateful for the trip, even if the stress of work was hard.

We ended the month visiting London and our dear friends, Kristy and Kirsten. They pulled out all the stops with a surprise birthday cake for Rob, tickets to watch an Arsenal match, street art hunting, gin and wine drinking, and just spending time with these two on their couch talking till the wee hours of the morning was so good for both our souls. Honestly, through all the uncertainty that we had going on in our life, their friendship has been there for us no matter what. The infinite voice notes from Kristy throughout the whole year was honestly one of the reasons I think I made it through the year.

April started off well with an interview on a podcast about our life as expats in Ireland – it was kinda surreal that someone wanted to listen to our story. You can listen to it here. But with all the stress that followed us from 2017 still left uncertain, I hit breaking point and suffered my first of many panic attacks this year. Anxiety and stress all bubbled to the surface and I was left making some heavy decisions about who my friends were, and how I planned to recover and get back up. I am grateful that looking back, I can see that I did eventually get back up – but at the time, April was honestly one of the hardest months for me. At the end of this month we decided to make a few changes, and started looking at moving out of the city and somewhere closer for me to travel to work.

At the beginning of May we visited more friends in the UK, Derek and Candi and they showed us around their new home. We visited a lot of places with them including Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, York and even dipped into Wales for a day.

Even though we had no idea what was happening with our expat lives, we decided to take a huge risk and move to our dream home out of the city – it was a move that at the time seemed crazy to do, since we had no idea what the future had in store for us but it is one I am happy we made because in the end, things did work out and this new home has meant new friendships have blossomed and we have better life balance and a place that we can truly feel at home.

In fact things worked out just 2 weeks after we had moved in… Rob’s work permit came through and it meant that he could start his new job. We found this out the day we landed in Glasgow, and were about to start our road trip through Scottish Highlands to Inverness. It was the relief we needed to truly enjoy our second trip to Scotland. Scotland will always hold a special place in my heart because of this. Looking back we went to Edinburgh in December 2017 unsure if it would be our last trip abroad, and ended up opening the future for us and extending our stay indefinitely in June 2018. Life really does have a way of working out in the end.

As a way to start anew, in July we did a road trip just the three of us to explore West Cork and the Beara Peninsula. It’s a part of the country that is so wild and untamed, possibly one of my favourite trips of all time. I also started yoga twice a week, and it had life changing effects to my mental head space.

In August, we saw our family after nearly 2 years after leaving South Africa, Rob’s parents came to visit us. We spent just under two weeks doing an epic Irish road trip starting with a trip up to Northern Ireland visiting places like Belfast, Giant’s Causeway, Castlerock, Coleraine, Derry, and ending the North of Ireland adventure in my now favourite visited county, county Donegal.

We continued the Irish roadtrip with Rob’s parents into September, this time heading to Leitrim, then heading south to Cobh, Waterford, then Dungarvan, then along the copper coast, all the way down to Kinsale. September saw the final end to our immigration stress, with my work permit renewal being processed after 15 weeks of waiting.

In October I decided to invest in myself, and I started the unselfishly me 8 week course. It instilled some more good habits like listening to inspiring podcasts, journaling, and daily meditation. The course uncovered a lot of what I had failed to work through mentally in previous months and I learnt a lot about myself and the kind of life I want to live. Including letting go of toxic relationships and forgiving myself. I did a lot soul-searching and honestly can’t recommend meditation or this self love course enough. At the end of October we did a road trip as a family and explored Hook Peninsula, in Wexford. Another great part of the country, even though this trip was slightly less run around and see all the things – we perfected the art of slow travel and fully rested that long weekend. We came home feeling recharged and rested.

In November I had to travel to Killarney for a work event, Rob joined me and we had a great trip with my work friends. For the rest of the month I continued to practice yoga, journal, meditate and finally felt the anxiety and panic attacks ease a bit. I am learning that its best to take life day by day and to stop worrying about the future so much, rather focus on being present and mindful in the moment.

We ended 2018 with a trip of a lifetime visiting my whole family in Mauritius. My brother and his family live in Mauritius and my parents made the trip out from South Africa so that we could all spend Christmas together as a family. It was a lot of sun, sea, drinks, swimming with dolphins, running and screaming with my niece and nephew, simple moments with my family in their home, pushing my niece and nephew on the swing, playing hide and seek, cuddles, tears, laughter… it was indescribable all the joy and sadness I felt in that holiday. The joy of spending time with family and loved ones, and the sadness in not knowing when the next time will be.

So there you have it. The highs and the very lows of 2018. And when I look at it all set out in this blog post – I realise how much we have done; we visited 6 countries and explored 21 of 32 counties in Ireland. We did a lot of local travel and 2019 will be no different – we plan to see more of this beautiful country we are fortunate enough to live in. We plan to continue to face the struggles and admin that surrounds living away from home and in a foreign country – hopefully with a little more grace, and with a lot of deep breaths.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, WISHING YOU AND YOURS THE VERY BEST IN 2019!

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

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5 Reasons why you should experience living as an expat

November 25, 2018 by Meg 1 Comment

Last week I celebrated two years of living in Ireland. If you had told me two years ago what a journey I would have to go through to get here… would I do it all over again? I would like to think that I would, but that is my stubborn nature – if you tell me how hard something is going to be, I almost always push past to see for myself. But that is the thing about moving countries, you think because so many other people are doing it – that it will somehow be an easy thing to do. I can’t tell you how many people email me daily asking me how we did it, and how they can make the same move. Moving overseas is something you should try experience at least once in your life, here are my reasons why.

Slight deviation off topic, but if you are new to my blog, a quick intro – we moved from South Africa to Ireland at the end of 2016. No, we did not move because we were fleeing our beloved country, or that we were worried for our safety back home, or that we thought Ireland would be ‘better’ for us. We moved because we are still young, and without kids, looking to travel and see the world. We thought Ireland would give us that adventure. The truth is – Ireland gave us a bit more than we bargained for. For starters, we had no idea the bureaucracy and paperwork and stress that it would take to move over and live and work here in Ireland. This is why I started blogging about it. Not a lot of info is out there about how complicated the process can be – so this is my little piece of the interwebs where I share the real story – and the truth is moving overseas can be hard but there are so many more reasons why you should experience living overseas once, than there are to not try it.

Becoming an expat will change you. In more ways than you ever dreamed, moving to a new country will open up your eyes to new horizons. Thousands of people move to new countries all the time, but equally there are many people who would love to move but simply cannot. Having the opportunity to live in a foreign country should be seen as the privilege that it is. This expat journey is a ride that you should try to experience at least once in your life. Simply travelling to a new place will not give you the same insights, as living in a new country will do. When you go on holiday abroad, the town you are exploring always shines its best features. Even if you don’t enjoy visiting a new place, you know that it is not forever so you never truly learn how to live through the tough moments in a new place.

When we decided to move to Ireland, we were adamant that we would not play the comparison game. The truth is Ireland and South Africa are similar in some ways, but vastly different in others – the two countries should not be compared. What living in Ireland as an expat has taught us, is that home will always be South Africa. We might not live there right now, but our hearts will always be in South Africa. Living as an expat will hopefully make you appreciate home. You will find yourself missing the simple things back home, like smells and feelings that you can’t quite put your finger on. That feeling of home just never leaves you; it might be a memory of how life was when you fitted in and knew how to work the system. How easy life was back home and that you didn’t quite appreciate how simple things like opening a bank account, going to work, driving to work really was.

As much as you try to fit into a new way of life in a new country, you will always be a foreigner in your surroundings. Living as an expat can be a lonely road to walk, especially in the beginning, when you are trying to figure out everything. This process of living overseas, it will make you stronger. You will learn more about yourself through this process, because it will push you out of your comfort zone. Making friends, learning new ways of working, small cultural differences, large amounts of paperwork and waiting in line for applications to be processed will teach you patience. It will teach you empathy for what other people from other countries and cultures must feel when they are in a new country too.

I actually think we have had it easier than most of the other expats arriving in Ireland. We at least have moved as English speaking, white immigrants to a country that is predominantly white and English speaking. Being an expat has taught me such empathy for people who don’t fit that mould. How hard and challenging it must be coming to a country where you are noticeably different from the norm brings about a whole new set of challenges I can only imagine. This process of living overseas will teach you confidence and resilience in face of those great challenges.

So there you have it, these are some of the reasons why I think you should try and experience living overseas at least once in your life. But perhaps the greatest reason you should live overseas, is that living overseas will change you. In some shape or form, you will experience a better appreciation for the life that you have. You will go on a journey through uncharted waters that you will never be able to plan for or predict. You will have no idea what lies ahead of you, and that adventure makes a life truly worth living – because it will teach you more about yourself than you can imagine.

ARE YOU AN EXPAT? WHAT ARE THE REASONS YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD EXPERIENCE LIVING OVERSEAS?

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

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How to make friends whilst living abroad

September 27, 2018 by Meg 4 Comments

It is easy to make friends whilst living abroad, right? I have found that if you look hard enough, it is easy to find other expat friends from your home country. So if you really wanted to make friends, you could make friends fairly easily with fellow expats from home. But should you rely on only making friends with people from the same country as you? If you were to look at your current circle of friends, how many of them are from the same country/culture as you? This is something Rob and I are pretty conscious about, and only really since we moved over to Ireland has it really become an obvious thing we want to stay away from.

I get the attraction to making friends with fellow expats, but why would you want to recreate exactly what you have back home, in a new country? Being South African, I have found a whole heap of South Africans who have made the same move as we have and are living in Ireland. The problem I have found is that so many South Africans choose to only be friends with South Africans – even when they are living abroad. But it is not just an SA thing though, it is a people thing. People generally stick to what they know, so you will generally find expats sticking together with other expats.

The reason Rob and I try to avoid only being friends with South Africans is that when we are among other South Africans, it is very easy to start talking about the differences between Ireland and South Africa. The ‘when we lived in South Africa’ mentality is pretty easy to latch onto when you surround yourself with people who are just like you. The other thing is (and I know I seem to harp on about this!) is that we never left South Africa because we thought it was a bad place, because we felt unsafe, or because we thought Ireland would be better for our family. We left for an adventure, and to experience what living overseas was like. This might or might not be a forever adventure but I hate being around all that negativity that seems to follow people who have left South Africa for all those other reasons. I hate being around people who seem to complain about what it was like in South Africa but also who tend to complain about what it is like to live here in Ireland. Honestly, living abroad is a struggle as it is, it is not easy to fit in and work things out, but if you spend your days comparing and judging and complaining – who really wants to hang out with people like that?!

There are tons of South Africans in Ireland – honestly, I was a little disappointed that we were not the first and only South Africans to ever think of moving to Ireland. But just because we come from the same country does not mean we need to be friends. I am sorry if that comes off rude, but hear me out… Friendship should be a little deeper than just the fact that you come from the same part of the world as someone else. The trap most expats fall into, is that it is easy to fit in with a group of people who are from the same country as you, but the risk is that you will never fully learn or understand the new culture you are living in if you don’t try to make friends with locals and perhaps other expats from other parts of the world.

So after my ‘I don’t want to be friends with only South Africans’ rant, I have to say that the South Africans we have found here have been lovely. Yes, we do have friends who are South African, ones we never knew before coming here and who we get on with really well. But we purposefully choose to not only rely on South Africans to be our friends. Our goal is to have more local and other expats as friends than we do our tiny select South African network. We want to get to know the real Irish, the people who have lived in Ireland all their lives. Just like we want to make friends with expats who have come from all over the world and who can relate with our struggles to fit in. We want to try to make friends abroad that will make this whole living abroad vibe work for us, but also who enrich us and make the adventure all the more authentic. Here are my tips to finding local friends whilst living abroad:

Be selective with your friends. Just because you are both from the same country does not mean you have to be friends. Having a friendship with someone else requires time and energy, you need to be available to meet up and keep in touch and so honestly my advice is quality over quantity.
Join local groups or volunteer. Think of things like joining the gym or running club or even search Facebook for local groups. I recently joined a few expats in Dublin groups, plus I joined a local yoga studio. This way might take a bit longer, but if you are seeing people regularly every week, you are bound to make a friend or two.
Make friends through your friends. This is actually a tip my mom gave me when I was looking for Rob. She always said I would find the guy of my dreams through friends, and she was kinda right! So once you have made a new friend, ask them to bring their friends to the next event.
Get a hobby: There are clubs for absolutely anything and everything if you look hard enough for it. Things like photography, painting, pottery; are great place to find people with similar interests. A website I regularly use is meetup.com.
Say yes to anything, and try anything twice. You need to have a yes attitude, just say yes to doing things and getting out, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable and even if you feel like a complete stranger at first. Also, sometimes people need a second chance, so if you go to an event and it was awkward and awful, try go a second time – who knows, maybe things will be better the second time around.
You need to learn how to share more of yourself and be prepared to be a little vulnerable. The only way you make friends is if you open up and tell people how you are feeling. Another hard truth is that finding friends whilst living abroad takes a big knock to your ego, and unfortunately not everyone will want to be friends with you. You need to learn to let that go, and move on.
Get to know your work friends. The quickest way to make friends is with people you spend most of your time with! Rob and I are lucky that we both work in environments where our work colleagues are actually fun to hang out with. Set up after work drinks, join the social club, go out for lunch – there are plenty of ways to make friends with people you work with.

So full disclaimer, finding friends in Ireland is still a work in progress for me. I have been here for nearly two years and I still find it really tough. Making friends, wherever you are in the world, requires a lot of putting yourself out there. It means you have to keep trying different ways to make friends. Finding friends is a little like finding a partner – you have to find people who get your sense of humour, have similar interests to you and who you actually like hanging out with! And finding those special people is never going to be an easy, quick thing. It requires time and patience and little bit of hanging out with a few frogs before you find your new BFF. Hang in there, it does get easier… At least I hope it does, I will let you know!

IF YOU WERE TO LOOK AT YOUR CURRENT FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE, HOW MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS ARE FROM A DIFFERENT COUNTRY/CULTURE TO YOU?

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

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35 moments that made my 35th year

January 30, 2018 by Meg 4 Comments

This past Sunday I turned 36. Lately I have been focussing on all the negatives that surround my birthday (the awkward time of year it is, how people are always broke, and a lot of people often forget about it entirely!). But I recently stumbled across a new blog that I am absolutely falling in love with, and I loved her outlook on reviewing the moments of your previous year around your birthday. I decided to follow her example and rather focus on all the incredible things that have happened this past year, my 35th year of life – my 35th trip around the sun. When I went about writing this list I got a little teary. It’s been a challenging year, but it has been filled with some outstanding moments.

I got to experience working from home. When we first over my previous employer in South Africa offered me an opportunity to work on contract while I moved over and settled in. It was the first time I had experienced such a way of working. Working away from the team, and in a totally different country was challenging but there were some incredible plus sides. It meant that I could walk Jack in the middle of the day around lunch time, I could stay in my PJ’s all day and work if I wanted to, I was able to keep the home tidy, and the laundry done in between work – which meant when Rob came home from work, we were 100% free to do what we wanted. It was a great time, but the one thing I really missed was chatting to people and being in an office sometimes helps you to engage better at work – and to brainstorm and get creative with other people. Two heads are better than one and all that.
Getting caught in sideways rain and laughing so hard. This such a fun walk we did one day, and ended up walking over the east Link Bridge in the middle of a heavy downpour of rain. ending up being half wet – half dry just because of the wind and the sideways rain. In the middle of winter, we could have been grumping but it only made us laugh. Such a fun moment.
Our first braai in Ireland. Rob and I found a disposable braai in the shed and it was the first proper sunny day, we opened a bottle of chilled white wine and did what any South African would do – we braai’d. It was so lekker.
Seeing Jack run along the beach and swim in the ocean. This little South African pug, born in Pretoria, and raised for the first 2 years of his life in Johannesburg, with no sea. Seeing how excited he gets to run along the beach, and how when the weather gets warmer, how he loves to see how deep he can get (just deep enough to stand, he is not really a great swimmer). Pure joy and happiness, I can see it beaming from his face and it always makes my heart full to see how good moving to Ireland has been for him. It was exactly the kind of life he was meant for.
Taking risks and going to new places on my own. I made a few friends through a Facebook group and went to Athlone to meet them. I have to say that the trip there, I was nervous about meeting new people at first but at the end of the day, on the way home, I was so happy to have taken the risk and made some great friends.
Finding a job in Ireland. You wouldn’t think this would be one of my fond memories, just because the job hunt and the process to getting a work permit was such a long and slow process. But finding the right job, at the right time, with the right company, with an amazing group of inspiring people who work in the team – that is pure magic. I have been fortunate in my career to make moves that meant that my role and my working environment taught me more about myself, raised me into the person I am today, and mentored me into growing and reaching my dreams. I am incredibly thankful to have found a role that is even better than the last. This is because leaving South Africa from a job point of view was risky – I had finally found my dream job back in SA, and it was hard to leave. There was always a risk it wouldn’t work out, but I am grateful that it worked out even better than I had expected.
After work drinks, and picnics at the beach. Summers in Dublin might not be super warm, but the long days make for amazing excuse to live in the now and make spontaneous plans to go exploring or just to get out the house.
Making friends that fill my heart with love and light. And through the strangest of situations. I have been so very brave this past year – at putting myself out there, and at making some friendships that even if everything were to change, I know these are people I will always hold on to. The love these women have shown me, I can only hope that I will one day pay it forward.
Enjoying time with my little family, just me, Rob and Jack – just us. This time here in Ireland has meant we really had to stick together and I have enjoyed the QT we have had just the three of us.
Exploring Dublin first. It is no secret that the original plan was always to arrive and travel overseas. We wanted to use Dublin as a central spot for all our travels. Life had other plans, and it meant we had to change our ideas about what travel and exploring meant to us. This past year has shown me that you really do need to explore your own city first – there are tons of things to do in Dublin and in Ireland, and so few people take the opportunity to really look in their own back yard. If tourists come to your city and find things you have never heard of or done yourself, you are only doing a disservice to yourself. Take the opportunity to explore your home city like a tourist.
Trusting strangers and going on adventures. We met a bar owner in Waterford who kindly offered us a ride to Dunmore East. Had we not taken him up on his offer we would have missed exploring more of county Waterford.
Getting to see more of Ireland. Even with limited funds we have somehow managed to see over 14 counties in Ireland in one year – and saw a lot more than what most people get to see all over Ireland. This year we want to keep exploring Ireland. The trips we took only made it more obvious that there is so much more to see here in Ireland.
We had great friends come and visit us. All throughout the year, friends came to visit with us. We are incredibly grateful that they took the time, spent the money, and made the trip to visit us here in Dublin. I got to be in my element of planning out itineraries and creating things for them to do while they were here. I hope that they left feeling like they really saw Dublin, how we see it and perhaps even feel a little more in love with how captivating this little city can really be.
I finally got my capsule wardrobe sorted out. It was a long time coming, a lot of scaling back. But when I look in my cupboard now, I see all the clothes I love to wear, and none of the clothes I held on to in hopes that I would wear them or that they would somehow fit. I went from two full length double hanging closets, a full row of cupboards, and a chest of drawers filled with clothes to: one hanging closest and 2 shelves. And I have never felt freer, and less anxious about my clothes. It has been an incredible journey to less is more.
Visiting Northern Ireland. I absolutely loved all the trips we took this year, the first mini trip we did was in April when we went up to Northern Ireland for the day. I loved exploring Giant’s Causeway so much so that I only have a few photos of that day – I was too busy experiencing the day to really worry about taking loads of photos!
Learning to live on one salary. I can’t tell you how good it is to be in January, and not be stressing about when pay day will come. If we hadn’t experienced having to live on one salary we would never have learnt how to manage our money better, and get into better spending habits.
Going camping in Ireland with Irish folk! My friend Ruth and her husband invited us to go camping with them and a group of their friends. It was such fun, made possible because they all grouped together to give us a tent to use, and sleeping bags etc.; even a lift down to Tipperary. It was a great weekend away and came at the right time for us, a time where we needed a bit of laughter and a bit of hope that things would work out.
We paid off both our credit cards on Black Friday. It was the most satisfying purchase I have ever made. Slowly we are getting out of debt, and it feels great to know how we plan to get there and that it is possible. For the longest time I thought we would forever be in debt and forever be anxious about money.
Sneaking Jack on to the Luas to go for a walk to Phoenix Park. While not entirely legal, the only way for us to get all the way to Phoenix Park with Jack is if we take him on the Luas. And he loved both the tram ride, and the big walkies in the park.
Seeing how I can be the stronger partner. Just knowing that I have this strength and resilience in me has been such a confidence boost. Sure it only took me till I was 35 to actually see it, but I am happy that I know that I can be a strong partner if I need to be.
Swimming in the sea. One evening after Rob finished work, we went off to go swimming at Sea Point. It was amazing, we had a picnic there, brought Jack with, and I managed a whole 5 minutes in the sea – even in the middle of July, it was still freezing!
Seeing the Cliffs of Moher through the mist. Watching the mist roll over the cliffs could have been someone’s worst part of the trip. To sit on a bus all day and then arrive to mist covering the cliffs, what a travel fail, right? Wrong. We let go of our expectations on what perfect travel is, and just enjoyed being there and you know what? The mist rolled off the Cliffs just as we were leaving meaning that our reward for acceptance was what we wanted to see all along.
Loads of hiking trips, missioning by taking a bus and walking 5km to the Dublin Mountains will always be a fond moment in my 35th year. I loved hiking those trails, it was also just at the start of summer in Dublin, and all around us it was so very green. Just beautiful views for day.
Watching over Guinness Lake, finally getting out exploring Wicklow mountains and Glendalough was another treat of a day – getting Rob to watch ‘p.s I love you’ before the tour was hilarious achievement for me and the memory will always makes me laugh. The guy must really love me!
I got really good at finding all the free things to do in Dublin – I have tons of tips on how to do it, from free museums, to art galleries, to simple things that don’t cost a cent in Dublin. It was a challenge I fully accepted this past year, and one I intend to build and grow on every year. From now on, I am all about budget friendly, free stuff to do in any city or place we travel!
Another year of conquering fear of heights – I am deathly afraid of heights, I do not like it at all. I freak out at the second floor of Penney’s. But somehow I always seem to put myself in situations which test my fear of heights. Throughout my travels all over the world I have conquered my fear by going up various tall buildings and towers, always pushing myself out of my comfort zone. This year I kissed the blarney stone and did a sunset tour on top of croke park stadium. Both of which, really tested my fear of heights yet again.
Visiting Cork and long-term friends. I have known Amy for over 16 years and it is so special that through all that time, and all our own life challenges that we have managed to keep our friendship. Plus we loved visiting Cork and we might have only scratched the surface at what cork has to offer but we are happy we started somewhere, and with Amy.
A hundred walks, a few hills and taking all the panoramic pictures. We have done some pretty rad walks, along cliffs, up steep hills, we just always seem to find a new place to walk each time.
Sampling every donut Dublin has to offer. I am not kidding either, last year we tried every single donut shop in Dublin, I need to update this list, because since this post even more donut shops have opened up. It is incredible.
Getting rid of 465 items and wanting to get rid of more. I took up the Minimalist Challenge for 30 days and I realised so much more about Minimalism. Aside from just throwing out a bunch of stuff, I realised that living a simple life and letting go of things that don’t bring me joy.
Seeing snow – this past Christmas was an exceptionally cold one in Dublin, we nearly got a snow day. I will never forget how it felt to arrive at work the one morning and see all the snow on the ground and on the mountains. Forgive me for my childlike excitement about snow but I am South African, we don’t get to see much snow! Also seeing Jack eat a melted snowman in Kilkenny will always make me smile.
Trying tiny living in Kinvarra. As part of our first Irish roadtrip with Jack. We rented our first Airbnb, and off the grid cabin in Kinvarra – let’s just say, we learnt a lot about tiny house living. More to follow in another post.
Letting go of other people’s perceptions and expectations and doing our own thing – we decided not to give presents this year for Christmas. With all the financial strain we have been on, it just felt silly to be spending money on gifts we didn’t really need or want. It was our first Christmas were we decided to be present, and have experiences instead of buying gifts and I have to say I learnt a lot from doing it. I think it might become a new tradition for us. We had such a special Christmas, even more so because we didn’t mask it with heaps of gifts.
Having our first ever friend-mas at our place. Along with letting go of peoples perceptions and expectations, it took a lot of courage to let our friends into our home, one that we are not entirely proud of (simply because our home is old, and small). Our first ever Christmas with friends was truly a moment I will always remember – it was so much fun!
Ending 2017 in Scotland, our first trip overseas the whole year was a great way to end a personally challenging year for us. Not to mention being at Edinburgh Castle while it was snowing will always be a highlight for me.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR BIGGEST HIGHLIGHT FROM LAST YEAR WAS?

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

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PIN THIS AND READ LATER:

Recap of the Highs and the Lows of 2018

5 Reasons why you should experience living as an expat

How to make friends whilst living abroad

35 moments that made my 35th year

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