advice – Just Some Wandering

A New Year and A Brand New Adventure!

Before the Morocco idea was implanted in our brains, we had planned to fly to the Southern US to visit friends, then travel by land down into Mexico, travelling by bus and public transit.

In 2017 we packed up our life, and quit the 9-5 to head out into the world. We came with no expectations, we only wanted to experience life. Since we have left, we have packed more fun and adventure into our lives than we ever could have imagined. Being on the road now for over two years, has brought with it the freedom to explore what it is that we want to do to create an income for ourselves, the time to pay attention to the things that are truly important to us, and the adventure to truly make life fun and interesting once again. We left seeking an exciting life, and we have not been disappointed! Join us as we explore as much of this big old world that we can!

Wow! Who can believe that we are this far into 2020 already? Time is zipping by, and I suppose that is okay because we are flying off to Morocco on the 15th of this month!

We have been back in Canada since the end of August. We never meant to stay this long, but we kept getting more offers of housesits, and it somehow felt right to just stay put for a bit.

How Morocco came to be……..

In early September, we had a visit from a good friend of ours that lives in the town we moved away from in Canada, before heading on our nomad adventure, in 2017. He was on his way to help his mom pack up her house, and decided to stay a night in Canmore while driving through.

He mentioned at dinner that he was trying to get a group of people together for a trip to Morocco in January. He suggested that we should join him. Morocco? Hmmmmmmm, it had a nice ring to it.

A chance visit by our friend John has sent us off in a whole new direction to Morocco!

Before the Morocco idea was implanted in our brains, we had planned to fly to the Southern US to visit friends, then travel by land down into Mexico, travelling by bus and public transit. However, we also realized that that plan could potentially get us back to Guatemala and once again stuck in the jungle because we love it so much. Or, we may have made it as far as our buddies property in Costa Rica, before the jungle grabbed a hold of us and held on tight. The point is, we LOVE those places, and definitely want to go back, but the problem is that there is also so much more out there to see.

The temptation for familiarity, though, and for visiting our friends that we made that we hold near and dear to our hearts, is very great. We see peoples faces on facebook, instagram, or whatever other digital means, sure. But it doesn’t replace the in person contact that is so crucial for our connection to our community.

But I also realize that there are SO many more great people out there in the world, and we want to meet as many as we can! We want to learn about how other people operate, we want to experience their culture and their language. We may not understand many of their belief systems, but that part is none of our business. We just want to know people for who they are as simple basic human beings.

And so, the more we thought about it, the more we realized that we were about to make a crucial mistake. We don’t have the time required to see all the things we want to see on this planet already! Let alone if we start spending 3 and 4 years in one corner of the world. We need to keep moving, keep exploring and keep educating.

Are travellers the real peacekeepers?

I do believe that as travellers, we are responsible for helping others to understand the world. For example, we are able to help people to realize that certain cultures do things certain ways because that is how THEY HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT! I think it is important for us to send out photos of our experiences, and the things we see, so that others can understand what a spectacular world we live in. I think it’s great to share local experiences such as festivals and fairs so that people can see how others celebrate.

Despite the bad news that has reign on social media, news paper outlets, television news……..any news, there are so many celebrations going on in the world, all the time! There are cultures that are not bogged down by these issues that plague “first world” nations (I hate that term). They take the time to celebrate the good in their lives, they spend time with families, and they may sit on a neighbours porch just to chat and hang out. These are all moments of celebration, moments of human to human contact. But don’t get me wrong, many cultures celebrate big large festivals on a regular basis. To them it is important to get EVERYONE together celebrating as much as possible, something I think is sorely lacking in our North American society.

For more on this: Travelers, Are they the real Peacekeepers?

Checking in with friends and family

This time, visiting my hometown and area, for this long, has meant that I have had the time required to check in and see so many great friends from my childhood. It has been a real treat to catch up with so many and to just see how good we are all doing. I am so lucky to have had the chance to grow up in a town with such close connections. I went to school with about 30 people from my high school graduation class, since kindergarten. Now those are some strong and lasting bonds that get formed.

Chris was happy to hear all the fun stories that were regaled about my *ahem* slightly rebel teenage years. Many stories long since forgotten, brought back to the surface to laugh about again. I’m so thankful for the happy and fun childhood that I had. I think it is the best gift that a child can get, and I am forever grateful for mine.

My spectacular hometown of Canmore, Alberta, Canada!

New Years Eve on the Pond in Canmore with Jill’s parents!

It’s also been nice to have some solid time to spend here with Chris, showing him around to all my old childhood haunts, like literally ALL of them. In the past we would duck into town for 3-5 days, barely getting a chance to hug a handful of people, then jet out again. This time we have had the time to spend exploring trails and pathways, and many places from my past.

I also realized through this process that I haven’t been around my parents for this length of time in about 20 years! It has been an interesting and enlightening experience, really getting to know them again after so long. I mean, we all KNOW our parents, but over time, they grow and change like we do, and if you aren’t around them everyday, you don’t notice the subtleties. My parents are on their own change of life journey right now as they are downsizing their house so that they can sell it and move into a smaller place. So I have been using my experience of selling all of our things, to help them to get rid of the excess stuff that they have and don’t need anymore.

I have really appreciated having the time and space to really visit them and connect again. This is something that didn’t exist in my old life. In my old life I didn’t have time for such extravagances, it was work work work, busy busy busy all the time. So much running around…….. so much……… too much.

IMG_1594 copy — A visit on the farm at Christmas with Chris’ Mom, Stepdad, and his youngest sister Sienna and her boyfriend Landon.

It may seem now like all we are doing is running around, but it’s different. Yes, we move from place to place, and it seems to some like our life is upended all the time, but we spend good quality time in places. We spend time doing what is important to us. We try not to get caught up in the constant pressure from society to ‘get a job’ or ‘look busy’ or the common thought that we all have ‘you aren’t doing enough.’ We try as hard as we can to do only what we want to do, which usually means working on our online businesses and our various forms of artwork that we always have going on. We try as hard as we can to set boundaries and make sure that others understand what mission we are on and what we are working on.

We have also had a few nice visits with Chris’ mom, and his whole family, and even decided at the last minute that we were going to go and stay with his mom and her husband, plus see Chris’ youngest sister and her boyfriend for a good visit at Christmas time. It turned out to be a beautiful drive and all the trees were covered in white frost as we passed the vast, flat and barren landscape. Mother Nature was shimmering and sparkling as we drove along, and it was truly spectacular!

In getting in all of this visiting, we have realized that the most valuable part of this experience, and what has made us the RICHEST, is certainly NOT the money we make (believe me it is a pittance). Instead it is having the time to do the things that are important to us and sharing that time with the people we love.

Freedom of time, from my perspective, is the greatest and best kind of freedom a person could ever ask for.

New changes in 2020!

We are very thankful for this community that has been following us along on this journey. We are uplifted and inspired by those that email us, chat with us on facebook, or pop us a whats app message or more. As this blog is coming to the end of it’s life (who knew that blogs had memory and it’s almost full!), we have changed our direction slightly and have put our efforts into our new website and newsletter over at http://www.artisticvoyages.com. This direction will have a more specific slant towards travel, creativity, and helping to make the world a better place.

Subscribe at http://www.artisticvoyages.com

If you have the chance, please click on the link and sign up for our newsletter! I will be sending out 1 or 2 newsletters per month just outlining what we have been up to, who we have met, what we have eaten, and what we are learning from each country that we visit. Our aim is to live life with an open heart and open minds, to see and experience all that we can, and to share it, in hopes to inspire others to live their best life.

We are very excited about new opportunities in Morocco and beyond. It doesn’t pass me by that the country sits on the north-western edge of the African continent, and gives us access to the rest of Africa itself, Europe AND Asia! There are lifetimes of places for us to explore, and we can’t wait to see where following our noses will take us this time!

Wishing you all a wonderful 2020! As my Dad says, it has a nice ring to it! Surely this will be humanities best year yet!

This is me signing off on this blog! Please join us over at http://www.artisticvoyages.com if you wish to continue to follow along with us on our journey!

Thanks for reading! Please know that above all else, I aim to inspire others to just get out and see the world. Traveling is such an enriching experience, and I can’t even comprehend how much it has shaped me as an individual. If you have ANY questions, or need travel advice of ANY kind, PLEASE don’t hesitate to email me at the address below! I will do my very best to help you in any way I can!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: Cochrane, Alberta Canada

Travelling Plans: Off to Morocco on January 15th!

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our possessions to travel the world, click here.

To see many travelling photos and to learn about where we are travelling, please follow our Facebook and Instagram accounts by clicking on the appropriate icon in the right hand column. (Now under Artistic Voyages!)

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, (including all of the ones about letting our stuff go) head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To contribute to our Patreon account, please click here.

To learn about housesitting, please click here.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

21 Months Later and Still Letting Go

I do think our pasts are important in shaping who we become, but we must sever the ties that do not serve us anymore. We must cut the chords of our former selves, to allow ourselves to grow and move forward in this life.

In 2017 we packed up our life, and quit the 9-5 to head out into the world. We came with no expectations, we only wanted to experience life. Since we have left, we have packed more fun and adventure into our lives than we ever could have imagined. Being on the road now for over a year, has brought with it the freedom to explore what it is that we want to do to create an income for ourselves, the time to pay attention to the things that are truly important to us, and the adventure to truly make life fun and interesting once again. We left seeking an exciting life, and we have not been disappointed! Join us as we explore as much of this big old world that we can!

It’s been almost 21 months since we flew away from Canada, bound on a one way journey to Costa Rica. We spent 9 months before that ridding ourselves of all of our possessions, pairing down our lives, shedding years of collecting things, letting go of our pets, our beloved garden and the house that we called home.

In that time, I wrote in what I called “Jill’s Letting Go Diary”, which documented the process, physically and emotionally, of literally letting go of everything. I last wrote under this heading in November 2017 , but since then we have definitely continued to let go of many aspects of our former selves. It’s impossible to dive down and list all the things, as we have now been given so much time in this life to do some deep soul searching, contemplating and realizing of things that just don’t serve us anymore. I’m talking about ways of feeling, old habits that needed to be broken, lies we told ourselves, stories that we made up in our heads. The list literally could go on and on!

But today, I realized that there is still one major thing that I STILL haven’t let go of, and that is the last town that we were living in in Canada. I lived in Powell River for 12 years, Chris for 4, and I had decided while there that it was the ultimate paradise. By then, of course, I had travelled to many places around the world, 46 countries in total. I felt that because I had seen so much, I knew how special Powell River was. And, I digress, I still do think it is a pretty special place. But I have to say, it is a small place, but a dot on the world map. Although it is spectacular, and many of its residents truly do value what it is to be part of a community, it is not the be all, end all that I had decided it was.

Powell River has many different issues that are tackled by the residents on a daily basis, their lives are entwined with what is right in front of their faces. Of course, this is the way it is with most people that live in their communities. We all react to those things that are right in front of us. We choose to be in those places, and to deal with those issues. There are always bigger problems in the world, but it is that which is right in front of us, that always gets the most attention.

Today, as I was mind numbingly scrolling facebook, I noticed just how much of my news feed still has posts about Powell River on it. Now, for a while I have been saying that I need to stop getting so wound up and involved in the politics of a place that I have no intention of returning to. But, you know, I didn’t really put two and two together that by actually seeing all the things on a day to day basis, that I WAS involved. It’s like a soap opera on TV that I can’t seem to switch off. It’s that addiction to drama, the need to keep tabs on others’ lives, the want to just see what happens with some particular project or another, that has kept me stuck. These issues literally have NO bearing on my life anymore, yet I am drawn to their outcomes, keen to find out every little detail.

OF COURSE, there are those people with whom I made special connections while living there. Connections that go farther than just the place that we both lived. These people are on the same page as me, and I feel like we are kindred spirits that will likely see each other down the road somewhere. I will keep in touch with these people always, and will always want to stay up to date with who they are and what they are up to.

OF COURSE, I do love it when people update me about the plants that we sold or gave them. They send pictures of their gardens, or mention us in comments about these sorts of things. I know that the people who bought our house are taking care of our beautiful garden well, and that makes me feel good.

OF COURSE, I will always have fond memories of Powell River and the people that helped me to grow as an individual. I grew immensely while living there, and I left a much different person than I was before I moved there. But the time has come to cut the ties. I will no longer follow business pages, the local news paper, the blueberry picking farm (oooohhh I miss those blueberries!!), or any other group that I was a part of in Powell River. My ties to these things are holding me back from moving forward. It’s like some long tether that keeps me looking back, always interested, always wondering.

It’s time to re-prioritize my time, to allow more space to focus on the issues that affect me in my current space and time. It is time to get involved in the places where I am living, and figuring out what I can do on the ground HERE, not somewhere else where I have no input anymore. We all only have so much space and time to put towards certain issues in this life, and it is up to us to decide what is important, what is not, and where we should be directing our energies.

You will always hold a special place in my heart Powell River, but it is now time to say goodbye.

An update on our current travels…….

For those that are following along, and are interested in what we are up to and where we are, here is a bit of a synopsis.

We have been working at the Botanical Garden on the island of Nevis since mid February. We have gone full circle from leaving our 9-5 jobs in Canada, to seek out more freedom, to arriving right back to a 9-5 job (well 8-4 actually) here in paradise. We absolutely love the garden, and have taken great pleasure in getting back to working with plants, as it is definitely something that we have missed since leaving our home and garden, but I won’t lie, the schedule has been HARD. The time that we would spend on our art and our online shops before this ‘job’ almost vanished and we found ourselves scrambling morning and night to fit time in in order to keep some progress happening.

One day, after some sort of emotional breakdown from both of us, we suddenly realized that we were both overworked and extremely exhausted with trying to do too much. We also had been raising 3 kittens and taking care of 2 dogs that kept escaping the yard to run around the neighbourhood to kill goats (plus they killed one of the kittens!), so our emotions were frazzled to say the least.

It has been a strange and interesting few months, and I won’t get into details, but many times we have felt like running as far away from this island as we possibly could. However, we had committed to helping out the owner here until August, and that is just what we are going to do.

The beautiful Oasis Restaurant at the Botanical Gardens of Nevis.

Call us crazy, many who have been here before us, probably would, but we have also had a huge realization that with this nomadic lifestyle comes the ultimate freedom of when you don’t like something, you just move on. However, the always running away from things, also doesn’t help us to grow. It is in the tackling of these issues and annoyances in life, when we can dig deep and learn the most about ourselves. This stop on our journey has tried us beyond belief, and it’s impossible for me to explain the details, but through it all, we have both come out feeling wiser and stronger than we did when we arrived. The serendipitous way that this place came onto our radar, meant that we had important things to learn here, and we have tried our hardest to open ourselves up to the learning, and to not be drug down emotionally by things that we have no control over.

Thankfully in June, the owner of the garden sent us off for a bit of a break to another property that she owns on another Caribbean Island called Anguilla. I have to say that it was JUST what the doctor ordered. White sand beaches and spectacular turquoise waters surround the island, and with it being the low season, we had most places almost all to ourselves. The house where we were staying was located a stones throw from the beach, so after our allotted 4 hours of work (yes we still worked a bit!), we were free to do whatever we pleased.

anguilla photo 4 — We were so happy to have made friends with BJ while in Anguilla. He is the caretaker of the house that we stayed at, and he took the time to show us around a little bit. This is the lookout down to Sandy Ground.

anguilla photo 7 — The fact that turquoise is my favourite colour, and lime green a close second, I couldn’t help but snap this beautiful quintessential Caribbean pic.

anguilla photo 3 — This is the beach that is close to our house where we were staying. It’s called Shoal Bay, and you can see just how close the corals come to the shore, making it an awesome snorkeling spot for all levels!

The beach we were on had some spectacular snorkelling right along the shore, and most afternoons we would don our bathing suits and snorkel gear, walk to the furthest point away, then drift on the natural current that ran along the shoreline, back to the house. This was the highlight of our day, and it seemed like each day we saw more and more incredible sea life than the one before it. On the last day we saw 3 Barracudas, 5 rays, 1 spotted eagle ray, a few puffer fish, some sort of spotted eel or sea snake, and numerous, NUMEROUS large schools of fish, and other sea life. The coral is not in the best shape unfortunately, likely trashed by years of people anchoring their boats on it, plus getting thrashed by hurricanes can’t help, but we did see much of it growing back, which gives me great hope that the reefs are mending.

We spent 2 weeks there healing from our kind of over-worked and hectic lives here on Nevis, but returned here on July 3rd to finish off our stint for one more month. We have arrived back with a refreshed view, and know that in a very short time, we will be off on a whole new adventure.

anguilla photo 2 — First day on ‘our’ beach and feeling pretty good about ourselves!

anguilla photo 8 — High above the natural arch! Photo courtesy of BJ Kirong

On August 5th we fly to the island of St. Martin, also in the Caribbean. There we will spend 2 nights before we make our way back to Guatemala for a short visit. In Guatemala, we will not only be checking in with the friends we have made in the last year, but will also be collecting our art supplies and Chris’ tattoo gear (plus some clothing), then we will start our journey back up to Canada to visit family and friends for a couple months. It’s a loose plan, other than our flights, there aren’t any set dates and times, but we like it what way of course! We expect to be back in Canada mid-August.

Thanks to everyone who follows us along on our journey. I know I haven’t done the best job of keeping you up to date, but I try to allow the writing to come when it is meant to, and not force myself to write just for the sake of it. It is in these moments that I feel like I actually have substance and thoughts that are worth sharing, and hopefully it comes through that way to my readers.

xoxoxo Jill

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: Nevis Island, St. Kitts & Nevis

Travelling Plans: On August 5th we will start our long journey back to Canada to visit family and friends for a couple months.

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our possessions to travel the world, click here.

To see many travelling photos and to learn about where we are travelling, please follow our Facebook and Instagram accounts by clicking on the appropriate icon in the right hand column.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, (including all of the ones about letting our stuff go) head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To contribute to our Patreon account, please click here.

To learn about housesitting, please click here.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

If you like my writing, and want to follow along on our journey, please put your email address in the right hand column to subscribe. That way all of my posts will go straight to your email inbox:)

Our Plan to Have No Plan, Was a Great Plan!

For us, by having no plan for what was next, we opened our future up to literally ANY and EVERY possibility to come our way.

In 2017 we packed up our life, and quit the 9-5 to head out into the world. We came with no expectations, we only wanted to experience life. Since we have left, we have packed more fun and adventure into our lives than we ever could have imagined. Being on the road now for over a year, has brought with it the freedom to explore what it is that we want to do to create an income for ourselves, the time to pay attention to the things that are truly important to us, and the adventure to truly make life fun and interesting once again. We left seeking an exciting life, and we have not been disappointed! Join us as we explore as much of this big old world that we can!

Well 2 months have gone by since my last post, and mostly, I apologize for that. When I got to thinking that I really needed to update my blog and let you all know what we are up to, I had that familiar inkling of guilt, for taking so long to write. I thought a little bit about why I hadn’t done it, and at the end of it all, I really don’t know.

At one point I thought that maybe I was just tired of writing about our lives. In the beginning it was fun and exciting and I couldn’t wait to share all of our travel adventures with you all. But as time has gone on, and this just all seems to feel normal to us, i guess I’m not as anxious to write about every little detail.

The other thought is that I really do spend a good portion of my day working on my online business (www.jillianamatt.com), marketing etc, so maybe I was just sick of the computer?

I’m sure if I dug deep enough, I would find a few other excuses, but really, it is what it is and I can’t change it, so I guess there isn’t much point in dwelling on it. I do know that we have been pretty busy for the last while, and our life has changed, once again, in ways that we never thought possible! Let me fill you in.

After leaving our housesitting gig in Livingston on January 5th, we headed off into Rio Dulce for a couple of nights. We had heard great things about staying on the river, so we decided that it would be nice transition from our busier lives with taking care of 3 cats, 4 Ducks, 5 Chickens and 1 Rabbit, to one of relaxation and lounging around for a couple of days. We stayed in a quintessential bamboo hotel that had a beautiful common area as well as individual cabins. For the price of about $200 US, we spent 2 nights there which included all of our meals plus kayak rental. It was really great. Check out Hotelito Perdido Here.

Our days consisted of diving off the dock into the fresh river water, lounging in the hammocks and pretty much just enjoying ourselves. One evening we kayaked around the corner to a neighbouring restaurant to check out the sunset. We were not disappointed and afterwards were treated to an absolutely stunning star filled sky for our paddle back. We even turned the headlamps off to stop and float beneath the cosmos for a while. A beautiful night, and one that we won’t soon forget.

Next we made our way back to Flores where we met Chris’ Mom and Step Dad on the 10th. This was the start of their 12 day holiday, and we had a jam packed few days lined up for them! I have another blog post that I am working on that will outline this trip in detail, but we basically did the major sightseeing destinations in Guatemala from Flores to Lake Atitlan! Every day brought a new and exciting adventure, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that by the end of it, we were all pretty exhausted. Good times were had by all though, and we really did enjoy our time with them and the experiences we shared.

On January 24th, we flew off to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where we then connected to St. Thomas in the USVI. We were meeting my parents for a two week holiday to celebrate my Mom’s 70th birthday. We managed to celebrate it many times through the course of the trip, although her actual birthday was on the last day, February 9th. We spent one week chartering a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands, then another week on the Island of St. John (USVI) in a timeshare. It was a nice reminder of days gone by when my family used to head down to the Virgin Islands over Christmas and New Years for many years when I was a teenager. We visited lots of the old places we had hung out in, plus some new ones, but were a little shocked and saddened by the changes that had occurred since the last big hurricanes tore through the islands. All in all though, I think we all enjoyed going back, just to check it out, and we had a wonderful time filled with fun and laughter with them. This trip marked the end of our ‘planned’ future, and just as that adventure was ending, another one was beginning.

Now, this is where our lives managed to find the familiar serendipity that we have experienced through this chosen life of ours………

The story starts with us deciding to head the the USVI on a one way ticket from Guatemala. With our last booked housesitting gig in Livingston behind us, we found ourselves with literally no plan, after the Virgin Islands, of course. Our future was stretched out before us, every corner a possibility, over every horizon another adventure waiting to unfold.

It was a risky move. The USVI is NOT cheap! I knew this heading in, but I really didn’t realize just how expensive it was, as the last time I had been there was 24 years ago. We knew after the trip with my parents, that we would have to figure out SOMETHING . Maybe find some work on a boat, maybe Chris could tatoo, maybe a housesitting job would pop up in the area (secretly this was my hope.) We didn’t know what was going to happen, we just went and knew that we would figure out something. The worst case scenario was that we found nothing, then flew somewhere else, if even back to Guatemala.

Once arriving in the Virgin Islands, we vowed that we would take the first week on the catamaran, to really enjoy ourselves and not get too worked up over what was next. Something would unfold, we had faith that it would. After the sailing trip, we would be spending a week in a hotel with good wifi, so we would figure something out then. For now, we needed some time to relax and not think about what was next.

Not 2 or 3 days into our sailing adventure, I got a notification for a housesitting job on the island of Nevis, part of the Caribbean country called St. Kitts & Nevis, and only an hours flight south of us. As soon as I read it, I had that feeling of “YES! I KNEW SOMETHING WOULD COME UP!” Without hesitation, I messaged the lady to let her know that we were indeed interested in her housesitting position. Up until this point, I had rarely seen housesitting jobs posted for the Caribbean Islands. But here one was, and it was right in our neighbourhood! This could not have been more orchestrated. The only catch was that she wanted us to start April 1st. Since we knew that our time with my parents was over on February 10th, we didn’t really know what we would do to fill the time in between the dates. But I messaged her none-the-less to let her know that we were interested.

The post stated that we would have our own self-contained cabin, taking care of 2 dogs and a cat. Fair enough. We could handle that. However, she didn’t reply to my application until a couple days later with a hasty email explaining that she was seriously busy and promising to write us again in a couple of days. But, she told us, in the meantime, we were to check out her ‘project’ The Botanical Garden of Nevis. After clicking through to the website and seeing the property and the gardens, I was ecstatic! I could barely contain myself when I told Chris what she had sent me. At this point we didn’t know what was in store for us, we just knew that this lady had some pretty awesome gardens that we really couldn’t wait to see!

A couple more days go by and she finally writes us to let us know what the posting is really about. She is looking for a couple to come and help her with organizing her volunteers at her botanical garden. We were asked to commit to a bit of a longer term than most of her volunteers that are only 4-8 weeks. Our housing would be covered, all lunches while working, and a small grocery allowance for each month.

Now, as avid gardeners and plant lovers, I have to say that we both have been missing this aspect of our lives since we set off travelling. While we have dabbled in a bit of gardening here and there at various properties that we have taken care of, we certainly hadn’t satisfied our gardening itch since leaving Canada. This was a great opportunity for us to get back to something that we love, all while having most of our expenses covered. Plus, in retrospect, I think that we were both craving something a bit bigger than what we have been doing. Most of our ‘work’ time is spent on our art and promoting our various online stores, but at times, that gets to be old, and we tended to be flailing around a little bit with trying to find other ways to entertain ourselves.

This was an opportunity to really get into a project, and a REALLY big one at that. We were ecstatic of the prospect! Not too mention, we both have put on a few (ahem) extra pounds since leaving Canada, and this would be a good way to use our bodies again and rebuild some of the strength that we have lost.

But there was still that one catch, though. The post stated that we would be starting in April, which meant that we had 7 weeks to kill before heading there. With the Virgin Islands being unbearably expensive for us, and no other cheap options in the area, Dad suggested that I just tell her that we are available now if need be.

Again, another couple of days go by…….

Then, gloriously, she wrote back telling us that if we were willing to share a house with another couple that had a shared bathroom, then she could arrange for us to come at the beginning of March. This was making it better, as we would only have to find somewhere to stay for 3 weeks. OF COURSE we didn’t mind!

Because we had decided that St. Thomas was too expensive, we figured that it would be a good idea to head to nearby Puerto Rico instead, only a 30 minute flight and a MUCH bigger island. Surely there would be cheaper accommodation and cost of living there!? I looked online and was dismayed with the prices that were laid out before me. All of it was still well above our budget, but we still reasoned that we could likely find something that would work for us once we got there. We knew that there was small villages and towns where we could find something that would carry us through for 3 more weeks before we could head to Nevis.

We booked our flights and felt good that we had a new plan moving forward, and were ecstatic to get to Nevis to start our journey there. Well, within a couple days of booking our flight, she said that if we wanted, we could come anytime after February 21st. This meant ONLY 10 days in Puerto Rico! This was getting better and better by the minute!

We flew out of St. Thomas on February 10th, ending a wonderful 2 weeks spent with my parents, and jetted off to Puerto Rico to wait out our 10 days until we could head to Nevis. New adventures were right around the corner, and we couldn’t wait to see what was next!

TO BE CONTINUED…………

Now, I will continue our story soon, I promise (!), but I want to just touch on a couple points with what has taken place in these last couple months.

We had NO PLAN. I believe that this is one of the scariest things that humans have the capacity to do, live a life with no plans. So many of us have completely constructed our life so that each day is meticulously laid out, each hour scheduled, each year has its holidays, x number of years means retirement. We take comfort in the knowing what’s next, and we feel like we have no worries when it is all structured and neat and tidy. But with that structure comes a life of predictability, a life with less excitement and adventure. and possibly can lead to life that is stagnant and somewhat boring. For us, by having no plan for what was next, we opened our future up to literally ANY and EVERY possibility to come our way. Because we did this, there were literally infinite amounts of things that could fall on our laps. We didn’t have a structure laid out, we just sat with the unknowing.
We got hired because we had no plan. A couple days after she had emailed us with the info about the Botanical Garden, my parents commented that it would be nice if we knew for sure that we had the job. There had been no mention of others applying, but one never knows. This was posted on our housesitting site where we apply for housesitting jobs, other do as well, of course. But I had a knowing in my gut that we needn’t worry about any others. I stated out loud “Don’t worry, we got the job if we want it.” It was a brazen and bold statement, and of course Dad said it was so. “Well surely other people will be applying as well?” He stated. Sure, they would be, but at the end of it all, how many people can apply that have managed their own businesses (and crews), one being a landscaping company, absolutely love gardens and anything to do with nature, PLUS (this is the biggy), have the time and flexibility to stay as long as she needs. THIS was the catch, and Dad agreed on that point for sure. BECAUSE we have NO PLAN, we are able to orchestrate each day as it comes, and figure out every moment by every moment. I can’t tell you how much stress this has taken off of our shoulders. One would think that having our life structured before us would make us comfortable and relaxed with the knowing. But the problem with constructing everything, is that you are then expected to make it all work. You are suddenly tasked with deadlines and expectations. If you don’t get your to do list finished, it’s a failure because then your next day is set back. This could set back your week, unless you work harder to make up for it so that it doesn’t leak into your next week.
We got this job because we are FLEXIBLE. When I initially told her that we were flexible and could make anything work with our accommodations and any arrangements that she had for us, this set us above most others as well. Even since we have been here for 2 weeks, we have seen her turn away potential volunteer candidates that asked a thousand questions, challenged her on why things were certain ways, and obviously displayed to her that they had their own agendas and expectations. We didn’t have that when we agreed to this. We were open to anything really. I believe that by being flexible, and displaying to her our willingness to make this work, she felt more comfortable in our commitment level and seriousness of taking on the job.

So, you can see how this job, in the words of my mother “fell in our laps”. However, it is also important to understand the reasons that it did seemingly do so, as I have outlined above.

From the beginning of this journey, and since letting go of so much, I have felt fully supported in all decisions that we make. And I feel like the more that I trust in that support, the more I feel like somehow, someway, somebody out there is looking out for us. By letting go of so much that tied us down, we are in the position to let the universe guide us, and in doing so, the most beautiful and wondrous life is unfolding in front of us. Day by day we are thrilled and excited by life. It is constantly changing, morphing and rearranging itself to provide us with so many wonderful experiences. Through the places we have seen, the wonderful people that we have met, and the ‘pinch ourselves’ moments that we have had, we have found a life that is full filling in ways that we never could have imagined.

My hope is that you too can build yourself a life filled with wonder and excitement, a life of adventure and a bit of unpredictability. Because, let me tell you, it is the most exhilarating way to live!

(a sneak peak of the gardens!)

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: Nevis Island, St. Kitts & Nevis

Travelling Plans: We hope to be here for up to 6 months, but we are taking things day by day, and haven’t committed to anything long term at this point.

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our possessions to travel the world, click here.

To see many travelling photos and to learn about where we are travelling, please follow our Facebook and Instagram accounts by clicking on the appropriate icon in the right hand column.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, (including all of the ones about letting our stuff go) head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To contribute to our Patreon account, please click here.

To learn about housesitting, please click here.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

If you like my writing, and want to follow along on our journey, please put your email address in the right hand column to subscribe. That way all of my posts will go straight to your email inbox:)

Venga Vale Vamos Guest Interview

I am honoured to join the ranks of many before me, and have been featured in this section with regards to our recent experience of travelling and living in Costa Rica.

Kristie Jeffries is a traveller, blogger and digital marketer. She has been on the road for a few years now, and has travelled to 72 countries…….and is still going! Her website offers a wealth of information about travel around the world, expat life, budget backpacking, working as a digital nomad, Australian working holidays/work visas, the Spanish auxiliares de conversación program, and so much more.

She has a section of her website where she features interviews from fellow travellers, called the Travel Talk Interviews. These interviews run the gamut from learning about being a Digital Nomad, to becoming a Spanish Teacher’s assistant in Spain, from travelling on a budget to seeing the world in style.

I am honoured to join the ranks of many before me, and have been featured in this section with regards to our recent experience of travelling and living in Costa Rica.

You can read that interview here.

Thanks so much Kristie for the opportunity to share my travel story and my tips to travelling in Costa Rica!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are currently in Flores, Guatemala. We have rented a house and expect to stay here for a minimum of 2 months.

Travelling Plans: Our next plan is to head to Livingston on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, where we will be housesitting for roughly 6 weeks at the end of November.

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our possessions to travel the world, click here.

To see many travelling photos and to learn about where we are travelling, please follow our Facebook and Instagram accounts by clicking on the appropriate icon in the right hand column.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, (including all of the ones about letting our stuff go) head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To contribute to our Patreon account, please click here.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

If you like my writing, and want to follow along on our journey, please put your email address in the right hand column to subscribe. That way all of my posts will go straight to your email inbox:)

How to sell all of your things to travel full time.

Is all of this stuff what is standing in the way of my travelling? The answer turned out to be yes.

Over the course of 9 months in 2017, my partner and I sold all of our possessions, including 2 vehicles, and a house full of stuff. In order to sell the house for its maximum value, we also completed 3 months of renovations that had been lingering for over 3 years. We wrapped up 2 businesses and left a town and tight knit community that we both cherished. We did all of this in order to seek out a life of freedom, away from the hustle and bustle of the 9-5 life, but most importantly, we did it so that we could travel. This is our story…….

Today marks 8 months since we left Canada. On October 15th, we flew to Costa Rica, on a journey that had barely any structure. We were to housesit for 2 months on the beach in the South West corner of the country, but really, that is all we knew.

Chris was bringing his tattoo gear, I wanted to write, but really, other than that, we didn’t know how we were going to make money, we just knew that we needed to go. We were tired of the life we were living in Canada. The constant crush to make money, the massive overhead that we carried around, house mortgage, vehicle payments, gas costs, utilities, credit card payments, insurance payments…….the list literally went on and on.

So we did it. We made a decision and made it happen.

It really is as simple as that.

Some will ask where our inspiration to do this came from. For me, it was a bit of a build up over time. I had been complaining about having too much stuff for months. Finding a tool in our house was like searching for buried treasure, as our workbench was a heaping mass of different projects, bags of screws, and any manner of ‘you name it’.

Our basement was…….well let’s just put it this way. We actually BUILT a shed in the back yard, a REALLY nice and EXPENSIVE shed, so that we could move STUFF from our basement, out to the shed. It was ridiculous! I look back at it all and all I can do is laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

We had grand plans for that basement, we were going to create the ultimate artist space in our basement so that we could finally one day focus on our art to make a living. But we worked our asses off at our real jobs, hoping one day that we would get to that magical place. That place somewhere off in the distance.

But you know what? It was a fictional place, and we kept running on the hamster wheel, barely making a dent in our debt, barely eeking out an existence at all.

Then there is the travel part. I grew up travelling and continued to do so all the way into my late 20’s. But then the magical number of 30 arrived and I told myself that it was time to grow up. It was time to start a family, it was time to build a life. Pretty much all of these decisions led to a life of no travel.

8 years flashed by, struggle……. struggle……. struggle, a divorce happened, career changes happened, houses were sold and bought, a new relationship was born, but the outcome was always the same. I ended up running, running, running and never getting anywhere. PLUS, I realized that I hadn’t travelled anywhere significant in all of that time. This coming from a girl that used to travel at LEAST once per year for 2 months or more.

What had happened to me? Where had I gone? All of my priorities had flown out the window and I was left feeling like I was constantly scrambling to pick up the pieces of my life.

When was life going to get easy?

I was tired, worn out and frustrated. SOMETHING had to give!

And so, at the age of 40, I finally felt like I had a plan. I was watching the Minimalism documentary when I had a lightening bolt moment. It was like someone just smacked me in the back of the head.

“Is it really this easy?” I asked myself.

“Is all of this stuff what is standing in my way of my travelling?”

The answer turned out to be, yes! All of the things that I had carefully crafted my life around, having a house, building a career, gathering a bunch of stuff, is what was actually holding me back. In that instant, none of it mattered anymore. All of the stuff I had worked so hard to get, suddenly meant nothing to me. I realized in that split moment, that I needed to let it all go if I ever wanted to live the life that I only dreamt about.

I was going to do what was important to me after all, because I realized that if I didn’t do it then, when the hell was I going to do it?

Thankfully my partner was on board right away, despite not travelling very much at all, and we got started getting rid of things right away and working towards our goal.

In the beginning, we thought it would take us 1.5-2 years to downsize everything, finish renovating our house, and to close down our businesses. But as we started to get rid of things, it all kept snowballing, opportunities came up and we managed to do it all in 9 short months.

You might ask,

But how did you get rid of all of your possessions?

Here is a short guide to how we did it, and how you can too!

Facebook

I immediately started a “Things for Sale” album on my facebook page. This album quickly turned into a “Clothing For Sale”, “Books For Sale”, “Plants for Sale”, and “Our Art for Sale” albums. Almost everyday I was photographing items and posting them in these albums. We had great success with doing this, but I attribute most of that to living in a small community where the community definitely does support each other. Plus I knew many, many people through my involvement in community organizations and having owned a shop in town for 4 years.

These albums, with the exception of our Artwork Album, would usually be items that were under $100. Chris and I would walk around the house at night and just grab things that were the least important to us. Normally this would include items that we had been carrying around just because…….you know the ones, gifts maybe, or something you had to remember a certain memory. I think we all know what stuff this is. It’s the easiest to let go of, and you just have to get started. Once you get started, things start to snowball. Suddenly you start to realize that these items that you have been holding onto so tightly, really are just things after all, and they are simply in the way of your goal and potential freedom.

I also sold items on Facebook using local Buy, Sell, Swap pages. Again, our small community is all about buying used stuff, and if they can get something used, they would much rather do that than grab it new. On these pages we had great success selling tools, some appliances, our lawn mower, bikes and other larger ticket items. I have heard that people in larger cities use Kijiji and Craigs List. While there are certainly risks involved with using these platforms, they do present a good way to rid yourself of items. My advice for selling things in large populations, is to meet people in public areas to do the exchanges.

2. Garage/Yard Sales

Over the course of the 5 months of nice weather that we had available, we held 6 yard sales. Things that weren’t selling online, or that were too small to bother listing online, would go into boxes to go into the next garage sales. We priced everything! Normally we used masking tape and just wrote a price on with a sharpie, but it was essential to do this. Of course, people would haggle (and we normally wholeheartedly accepted any offer,) but at least we wouldn’t have to decide prices on the fly. Everything was laid out simply and easy to read. Of course, we had a few boxes with things like books, DVD’s, Shoes etc. where we would just write $5 per item on the box, or make a small sign, but it was always clearly labelled.

Normally Chris would stand inside our yard, and I would be outside along the driveway. We both had change and would negotiate our own deals with whomever approached us. We never argued about what we should get for an item, it always came down to the fact that it needed to go. That was the end story.

When pricing items for sale, I would normally ask between 1/3 and 1/2 of the value that we would have paid. Of course, some items are just easier to ask $1 or $2, and it really isn’t worth getting too bent out of shape about losing a couple dollars here or there. Just remember the end story……it all needs to go. Getting $1 or $2 for something is still better then getting nothing by donating it to the thrift store.

We ALWAYS had a free pile at our garage sales. Items in the pile included bits and pieces of lumber, coat hangers, plant pot and gardening trays……anything that really was a dime a dozen. I mean, you can certainly bundle your coat hangers and ask $1 for them, but you have to pick and choose your battles. Be honest with yourself. If the items aren’t worth the effort put into selling them, just give them away. It’s much easier that way.

3. Group Garage Sales

We had a group of friends that organized a group garage sale in a big hall while we were doing this. Of course, we jumped at the chance to be a part of it. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be what we had hoped, and we didn’t move much stuff at this sale. But it also gave us a chance to chat with our community members to let them know what we were up to. The farther our story spread, the more people that would be interested in what we were up to. Consequently they would be keeping an eye out for our yard sale dates, or would be making sure to check into what we were selling on Facebook.

4. Thrift Stores

After items had been in 2 yard sales without selling, they were carted off to the thrift store. Once an item went into the box, we weren’t allowed to look in the box or think about what was in it. It just went. After our second yard sale, and our first trip to the thrift store, we were ecstatic when they took everything except a pair of ski boots. We left the place and high fived each other afterwards. I can’t tell you how good it felt to do that initial drop off. Our basement finally could breathe a sigh of relief as this really felt like we had cleared a lot and we could now use that area to start organizing the remaining items.

5. Give things to friends and community members

There were many items that we had that we did cherish, of course. The best option for these things, were to give them to some friends that we knew would appreciate them. Over the course of the process, we would decide that certain items were meant for certain people, and we would set them aside to give to them at some point. Both of us are artists, so this meant that many people got little pieces of our art here and there. I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that little bits of our art, and our most valuable possessions ,are scattered across many peoples houses.

Another great idea is to find out if there are families or organizations that are in need of certain items. Bedding, dishes, kitchen supplies and other basics are great to give directly to people who need it. At the end of our process, we had a ton of pens, highlighters, paper clips, binder clips and all manner of office supplies. I put a call out to my facebook community to suggest a local organization that could use these supplies. Many answers came back and we were able to choose the one that we felt could use these supplies the most. It was a great feeling to give this stuff directly to an organization that we knew provided so much to the community, and we could see how grateful they were to receive them.

Office supplies and other goodies getting delivered during the last couple days.

By the way, as this stuff is usually the most overwhelming stuff to deal with (ie. junk drawers etc.) I simply created a small tote for each item and left them out in the living room. Anytime I came across a pen, a roll of tape, a paper clip, an elastic band etc., I would simply pop it into its appropriate container. At the end of it all, this stuff was all organized and so easy to deal with when we donated it the the community organization that we choose.

This bear became a symbol, or more appropriately, a mascot, of our letting go process. I posted a facebook post about this bear, and my cousin just couldn’t bear the thought of it going to a thrift store so I sent it to her to keep. (Check out my blog post titled The Bear to read about it.)

Also, if your community allows it, you can place FREE items on your curb in front of your house. Quite often these items would go quickly…….we even got rid of a small bar fridge that didn’t work anymore. Of course, we labelled it as so, but someone picked it up all the same. The old saying “One mans junk is another’s treasure”, couldn’t be more true. You just never know what people are going to want.

6. The Dump

One of the things we detested was having to take things to the dump. And in the end, we really didn’t have to take that much stuff there thankfully. After giving away free items in garage sales, and to anyone that we could think of, our dump runs were few and far between, but they were still necessary. It was heartbreaking taking items that we still knew had reasonable life spans, but we simply could not find ways to get rid of them any other way. In our town the dump charged dumping fees, and I’m sure they do in most places now. So the more we could get rid of another way, the better.

One idea that we had, and unfortunately our town didn’t have one, is a re-use facility. These places take all manner of building supplies, sometimes old tarps, and other items that people simply don’t want to take from you. Its best to research some of those places to see what they accept before carting stuff to the dump.

We had a REALLY old and crappy mattress that just had to go to the dump. This was the final day…….our bed was the last thing to go. This was it! We were definitely going that day!

All in all, and at the end of it all, I felt like we had accomplished an impossible mission. We started with an overwhelming amount of stuff, but by tackling it all in bite sized pieces, we were able to get rid of all of our stuff in a short period of time, and we still brought in roughly $13 000 by doing it. This didn’t include our vehicles which netted us another $4500. Unfortunately our vehicles were left until the last minute, as we both needed them for work, so we ended up taking them to a dealer to get rid of them on our second last day in our town. So, we possibly could have gotten more for them if we had of had more time to try. But again it was all about moving the stuff, and they really were left to the last possible minute.

Through all of this, our end goal was to reduce our possessions to only those that we carry with us. Of course, it’s really hard to let go of some precious items, and we both have one tote stored at our parents houses, and I never did have the time to scan all of my old photos, so my albums are at my parents house as well. But the rest, it travels with us.

What remained in our living room at the end of it all.

Today, when we want to leave a place to go to the next place, we know that we can pack up in an hour and be off. I can’t tell you how good that feels, and I can assure you that we DO NOT MISS OUR STUFF! Plus, I can assure you that you won’t either!

So what are you waiting for? Get the ball rolling by opening that drawer or cupboard that you haven’t looked in forever. Take a good look at what is in there and just get started. If it’s sellable, put it in a box to sell. If it’s an item to donate, put it in a box to donate. But the key is to get started!

At the end of it all, these are the only keys we had left. They both went to the realtor, and for the first time in our adult lives, we didn’t own anything that required a key! A strange feeling indeed!

I can assure you that once you do, the end will come quickly. Soon enough you too will be off travelling into the wild blue yonder, and you will look back at it all like it was some big dream. You will ask yourself, as we quite often do,

Did that really happen at all?

Our last meal in our town as we waited to catch the ferry out that evening!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are currently in Samara, Costa Rica. After having to leave Nicaragua unexpectedly due to civil unrest, we are here still figuring out where we want to go next.

Travelling Plans: We have nothing scheduled at this point other than a housesitting job in Livingston, Guatemala in late November.

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our posessions to trave the world, click here.

To see more travelling photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, (including all of the ones about letting our stuff go) head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

If you like my writing, and want to follow along on our journey, please put your email address in the right hand column to subscribe. That way all of my posts will go straight to your email inbox:)

You Can Envision It! Envision Festival 2018

Us and many others, I’m sure, came away inspired by what we heard, empowered to try and make a difference. And of course, the main message always was that if you can ENVISION it, then you can CREATE it!

As I sat down to write this post, I thought about ways that I could bring some humour into the familiar festival ways. You know the ones; the stinky and almost full porta-potties, the ridiculously long line-ups to get anything, the throngs of people pushing and bumping on the dance floor, the Squish of 1000’s of tents squeezed in together, leaving only small pathways between them, creating a blinding maze of zigging and zagging, every time you are to return to yours. But I have to say, in the aftermath of what was a spectacularly run festival, I find not much humour in it at all.

Sure, there were some toilets that left little to be desired, but really, they were cleaned frequently, and if you were smart about the ones you chose (Hint: don’t go in the first 4!), they weren’t bad at all. The line ups really weren’t all that long, and I have to say, that with roughly 5000 over the top friendly people attending the festival, the chit chats that took place in those line-ups made them flash by. Similarly, the dance floors were a happy bumping vibe, not too many people, plenty of room for everyone. And the tents, well, they were certainly squished in but coming and going was manageable for sure, and I must say, I enjoyed the challenge of finding ours each and every time.

One of my biggest take-aways from the 4 day festival was that I literally did not witness one bad exchange between any two people. I saw nobody who was drunk and unruly, yelling at their friends, nobody angry or upset. All that we saw, day in and day out, was happy people! Gloriously happy people!

Volunteering

My partner and I volunteered for Envision Festival this year. It was our first time volunteering for such an event and it was our first time attending Envision. It just happens that it’s held about 40 minutes south of where we have been living for the past 4 months in Costa Rica, so it seemed silly to not partake in some way or another. Volunteering seemed like a great option, it would save money, and it would give us an insiders look into the goings on of events of this nature. And like all good experiences, we have no regrets and are exceedingly happy that we took part in the way that we did. We each worked 3-6 hour shifts in our respective departments, and were able to enjoy the festival around those times as we wanted. With each shift came a meal voucher, so we would hit up the Cantina where the kitchen crew was constantly cooking up delicious food for the masses, and we would sit and mingle with other volunteers and staff alike, chatting about the world, where we come from, where we are going next.

28A063FF-1425-49D7-A446-9E0AF1AAE549 — This is where I volunteered. We answered questions for many volunteers and checked them in and out of their shifts.

4823B8DA-0303-491C-B0A0-CFD1267DEC03 — The inside looking out and a couple of my co-working buddies.

There were people attending from all over the world, but I have to say that out of all the people that we met, I’m pretty sure the scales were tipped in Canada’s favour. I was astounded at the number of Canadians that were there! Like my good friend Joseph said “Canadians are always well represented at cool events!”

But many other places were well represented as well, including a large contingent from Costa Rica itself. The Ticos were many and could be seen not only just taking the festival in, but also volunteering and working the festival grounds. We met people from many places in Europe, South and Central America, North America and many other places in between. It was truly diverse.

EE50D112-31F0-4034-A47E-036C2C614C22 — Volunteer/Staff Meal time!

Why do you want to go?

I was asked this question a few times before heading to the festival. Of course, the main focus of most festivals is around the music, but this wasn’t my interest. There was an astounding yoga component to this festival, and I’m pretty sure there was a different yoga class happening at least every 2 hours through the day, if not more, but we weren’t going for yoga (but we probably should have been). There were plenty of lectures planned and lots of opportunity to learn about all manner of things to do with different thoughts on Society, the Environment, living in alternative communities and the like, and I knew that I would partake in some of these along the way.

But, as an artist and creator, my answer always somehow revolved around wanting to witness the artwork, of which I had heard great things. I knew there would be a ton of art and I couldn’t wait to feast my eyes on it, but I also had another reason to want to go. I wanted to meet more people of a similar mindset to me. I wanted to find more people that I could slot into my growing global community of friends. I knew that these sorts of festivals draw a different crowd. These festivals draw people who want to see the world in a different way. They draw people who want to step away from the 9-5 corporate life, those who wish to seek out a life of purpose, one of passion, one of building community and one of making the world a better place.

I was not disappointed!

Well, I can assure you that I was not disappointed! To begin with, the artwork…….well the artwork was simply breathtaking! Over the course of the weekend, we witnessed several paintings evolve that were being live painted throughout the day and night. This included large scale pieces by famous South and Central American artists, and also smaller canvasses by many up and coming and renowned artists from the United States and beyond. The art gallery was literally dripping in talents from all sorts of different people, from all stages of life. I would lazily stroll through, numerous times in a night, always finding something that I hadn’t noticed before, always coming out more amazed then when I went in.

0DA7E18D-D754-4C37-8ADE-B950D76AEF8F — The Luna Stage was incredibly oranate and this photo really doesn’t do it justice. At night the various sections were lit up each with their own visual displays. It was absolutely incredible!

D417A270-87E9-4EA3-AC1F-6E01B8FBE63D — Similarly the Audio Visual booth to this stage was breathtakingly beautiful!

169B05CE-6565-4E7E-A41E-54C10D8E2ACB — Just a sample of the show at night!

After dark was when colours, sounds and lights would come to life! The stages were lit up with the most incredible audiovisual displays that I have ever seen, and we would spend most of our time at night wandering from art piece to art piece, watching each canvas evolve and transform over time. And although we didn’t take many pictures of some of our favourites, their memories are etched into our brains, in a certain section that is reserved for the magical things we see in life. We listened to some music (it was impossible not to), danced a little here and there, but we were mostly focused on seeing the art. We loved the art, and we came away incredibly inspired.

We also were not disappointed with the people that we met! We met some great new friends that we have appropriately slotted into our growing global community. And of course, Facebook is such a great way to continue to keep in touch with our new friends, many of which are full time travellers themselves, and others that are now being convinced to become them.

4A467EA7-860D-4238-B67F-0599709C3574 — This incredible piece was over 20ft tall!

875123E6-F4D6-47F3-8544-5EA21A59E14E — We c ircled back to this quite often and many times missed seeing the person painting it, yet there would be huge new sections finished. The final piece is simply amazing!

We had many invigorating and interesting conversations with people that we met while we waited in lines, or while we sat in the village during lazy afternoons. Conversations revolved around ways that people were passionate to see a change in the world, how they felt that they could make a difference. It was inspiring to have deep conversations with complete strangers, about things that normally are reserved for close friends, or people that we know are on the same page as us. It seemed though, that most people at Envision were on the same page as us.

The Village

The village was the central hub of the festival, and where much of the daytime activity happened. Around one side of the village was the food vendors where one could find many different options of good wholesome quality food being served. This was not a place with deep fried doughnuts, mars bars or chicken nuggets! These vendors prepared fresh, wholesome food, many times vegan or vegetarian, and always healthy. There was a local craft beer booth, Envision Festival coffee, roasted specifically for this years festival, vegan hamburgers, smoothies, Thai Wraps, wood fired pizza and so much more! Everyday we found ourselves wandering up and down from booth to booth trying to decide what delectable thing we would try next.

AABB9ACA-9C75-458A-AF60-D8AE9D8CA956 — Chill time in the Village! The heart of the festival grounds.

A9C7D6D8-40A0-4FB8-BFE8-15EE2392F535 — Lots of relaxing, hanging out and meeting new friends!

Envision is officially a Zero Waste festival meaning that at the end of it all, there would be as little garbage as possible to deal with. This meant that they had a plate and cup exchange program. If you didn’t have your own, you could rent one for $3 from the first vendor that you visited. When you were finished with your plate, there was a dish pit where you could drop your plate off to get a voucher for a new plate, that you would give to the next vendor and so on and so on. There were also numerous bins set up for compost, recyclables, Etc. All of this went to a massive central hub that sorted and recycled anything that could be, and then composted the rest. Of course, there were always pieces of non-recyclable plastic in the actual “garbage” bin, but it was definitely not the fullest bin of them all, which was nice to see.

128A8080-6113-4DFA-B814-582BC7FF4C1F — How food is meant to be served! On a Banana Leaf! The lettuce is my Gluten Free bun to an incredible veggie burger!

6C8FE57A-46EE-43CB-8A6D-5261ED9C1302 — There was always a bit of a line up at the Coffee Booth!

The other side of the village was lined with various artisans booths filled with all manner of exquisite creations. From delectable dehydrated goodies (we tried dehydrated watermelon!), to the most impossibly intricate Guatemalan beaded necklaces, to funky festival clothing, jewellery, face paints and stunning tapestries, all manner of creations were very well represented. We spent as little time as possible strolling through this zone as it was nothing but a HUGE temptation to spend money on more THINGS! However, we did both come away with a couple items to remember the festival by.

During the days, if we weren’t working, we would lay our ground sheet down in the center of the village and sit and draw, trying endlessly to get out the inspiration that we had taken in, and would chat with many other’s that were relaxing in the shade and just taking it all in. Above us stood massive palms and other trees, providing a welcome umbrella from the unrelentingly hot Costa Rican sun that was blazing above. Once in a while I would see a lone Howler monkey crawling around, hanging out on the branches and looking down at us and I’m sure, wondering what the heck we were all doing there. And one morning I heard the familiar call of a Toucan high up in the trees, and was able to spot it and show it to someone else before it hastily flew away. Drums were being played, songs were being sung, it was peaceful, it was serene, but best of all it was a community. A community of people that seemed intent, at least in those moments, of working together to find ways to make the world a better place to live, of helping each other out, and of caring for each other.

2CA97EBF-7B3B-42CD-BC2F-6783BF724FEF — The always bumping and hopping beach stage!

55500D5B-648B-4E41-9445-28E736D17094 — Intricately built using bamboo!

Presentations/Workshops/Inspirations

On the edges of the village, and throughout the grounds, there were different stages that had constant presentations going on. As we sat in the shade and relaxed, we were able to listen to one or the other and tune in to what we wanted to hear. Topics of these presentations were diverse, but many could be heard about how we can instill change in the planet, about what we can do to make a difference. It was at times impossible to walk from one place to the next without hearing some sort of important message being told on a nearby stage. Us and many others, I’m sure, came away inspired by what we heard, empowered to try and make a difference. And of course, the main message always was that if you can ENVISION it, then you can CREATE it!

DC0BD647-C7BE-40A9-B223-381EED841FCB — So much art!

157D9AF3-B09D-4527-A69D-E798518B82C4 — There were light hearted, yet serious signs like this scattered all over the grounds! A potent reminder to stay hydrated and healthy in the extreme climate. One of my favourites was “Friends don’t let friends get dehydrated!” This one reminded me to grab my water bottle at one point!

Drugs, Alcohol and Shenanigans

Of course, like all festivals of this type, there was a very obvious drug component to the festival, and I would be dishonest in my post if I didn’t report on this aspect as well. However, as with any of these events, you can partake in any way that you see fit. Sure drugs were being sold, and the craft beer booth was always busy, but there were also families there with young children. Parents who maybe wanted to introduce their kids to a different type of community than the one they live in back home. Possibly there were parents who wanted to expose their kids to more artwork and creativity.

There are so many different reasons for people to want to attend this festival, from yogis to artists, musicians to climate change specialists, people from all walks of life were very well represented. It’s unfortunate that in some peoples eyes, Envision is just another “rave” or party where people are getting wired on all sorts of things. Of course that is going on as well, as it does everywhere in the world, but I would say that the majority are there for so many other reasons, and really “Drugs” is definitely not the most important one.

You Should GO!

If you are planning a trip to Costa Rica next year, I highly recommend this experience! Because that is what it is……..an EXPERIENCE! It is an experience like no other and if you open yourself up to that, and just take in the parts of the festival that you are interested in, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed! As for us…….we will be back for sure! In what capacity, I can’t say for certain, but we were both very inspired by it and I can imagine will continue to be involved in one way or the other in the coming years.

To check out the Envision Festival website head to: www.envisionfestival.com. Here you will find all the information you need to learn about the festival, volunteer, be a guest artist, performer and more! Check it out and get involved!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are managing a Cabina on the beach at Playa Matapalo, between Quepos and Dominical, in Costa Rica. If you are travelling in the area, please get in touch! We would love to connect with fellow travellers!

Travelling Plans: On March 15th we are headed up into the Costa Rica mountains to stay at our friends farm in the jungle. There we will be helping him with some large landscaping projects for 5-6 weeks. After that we have been accepted to housesit at a house in Rivas, Nicaragua beginning May 4th. We will be there for 4.5 months. To learn how you can housesit, click here.

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to sell all of our posessions to trave the world, click here.

To see more travelling photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

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To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

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The Threat of Stagnancy

“You either change, or you stagnate. You either leap forward, or you fall backward. You cannot stay where you are today.”

My partner and I have officially been living on the same beach in Costa Rica for 3 months now. While that may not seem like a long time to most people, it is a bit of a bench mark number for me. In the past, when my ex husband and I would travel for long lengths of time (back in our 20’s before “real life” kicked into gear), we would always start to get itchy to go home around the 3 month mark. Granted, that usually meant that it would take us another month or so to get back home, but the intention was usually laid around the 3 month mark, and the plan would be set.

This time is different though, this time we aren’t going home. This time there is no home to go back to!

In the last couple of weeks I have started to feel the pang of boredom, that feeling of “spinning my wheels”, a feeling of not really getting anywhere. That yearning to see and do more has crept in, and I go through feelings of a bit of anxiousness as I wrestle with it all. After all, we are supposed to be travelling right? (Accent on the “ing” part!)

However, and this is a HUGE HOWEVER, we are sitting in the absolute most perfect spot right now. We are making a little bit of money, our accomodation is paid for, and we are parked on one of the most undiscovered, and picturesque beaches in all of Costa Rica.

So what really IS the problem??

I have been contemplating this for about a week now, and I think the answer is that stagnancy has crept in, and with that a certain laziness. Suddenly we have a routine, suddenly we are comfortable, suddenly we have a community, suddenly nothing is new anymore, things aren’t as exciting as they were when we arrived, and we have started to become complacent.

My Dad, John Amatt, has a quote that he uses in his motivational presentations:

“You either change, or you stagnate. You either leap forward, or you fall backward. You cannot stay where you are today.”

When I look at this quote, and I think about my reasons for wanting to go on this traveling journey, I realize that it is the need and the want to see and experience different things, that really gets me excited. That is what travelling is all about after all, seeing new things, experiencing new experiences, trying different food, finding out about what is around every corner. As we have new experiences in life, we grow, we change, and we become better people all round.

This past few weeks I haven’t posted many new photos on my social media pages, I have been finding it hard to write blog posts (therefore already dashing my goal of one per week in 2018!), and I haven’t really felt like doing much at all in general. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been doing lots of artwork, and continue to upload images to my various online pages (clickShops here to see more of this), which is always a lot of work, but that’s all I have really felt motivated to do. And I do realize that this all sounds like a very “Poor Me” post, but it’s not. It’s simply just real. It’s simply my human experience, and that is all.

We just had a friend visiting us for about 12 days from Canada, which really felt nice, having our routine broken up for a bit. He fell in love with this place, and proclaimed that he could stay here for a really long time. When I told him that I am starting to get itchy to go somewhere else, he stated that I was crazy. Why would I want to leave such a perfect spot? We have friends here, we have community here, we have a routine, we have created a new life.

It might seem bizarre to people that these are the exact reasons that I want to start a new, go somewhere else, experience something else, but I guess that is just how I am built. I feel like when I do the same thing for too long, have the same scenery over and over for too long, I become bored, I become disinterested in doing much, I become lazy, and worst of all I become stagnant.

When we lived in Canada, it was an easy fix. We would just jump in the car and go exploring, go for a hike, go on a road trip, go see something new. And looking back, I think that is pretty much what we did every so often. But here, we have no car and we have 3 dogs to take care of, which makes it difficult to even leave at all.

But, as I said before, it really is the perfect scenario, so I will just sit with it, I will continue to appreciate my surroundings, and I will continue to be thankful that we are so fortunate to be here. After all, we worked very hard to get ourselves here, it would be a shame to not enjoy it!

Not too mention, no matter what I am thinking, and no matter how anxious I get, we are here for as long as we need to be. The owner of the place we are managing is not sure when he is coming back, so it’s necessary to stay and take care of his dogs and manage his business until he returns. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be thinking about our next moves! I have a growing list of places we want to visit after we leave here!

Maybe this is the lesson I need, to be able to learn to be patient. Maybe I just need to breathe in one spot for a while. Maybe THIS is the universe trying to tell ME something!

I have to say though, it hasn’t been all being lazy on the beach this past month, and while our friend was here, we did have a couple of adventures, and had some exciting experiences!

#1, We went Ziplining!

I really can’t even remember the last time that I went ziplining, it has to be at least 20 years I think! We went to Hacienda Baru, a 330 Hectare Wildlife Reserve that is located just down the road from here. We flew through the canopy with reckless abandon on 8 different zip lines! It was exhilarating!

#2, We went camping!

We spent one night up at our friends farm in El Silencio, located 30 minutes away, in the mountains behind us. It was his 60th Birthday celebration, and we arranged for the dogs to be cared for while we enjoyed a night with friends around the fire. He also took us on a pretty awesome tour of his property and a few of us marched through the dense jungle to reach a lookout high above his house, that looked out all the way to the ocean!

#3, We got Accepted to Volunteer!

We learned that we have been accepted to Volunteer at Envision Fesitval about 3 weeks from now. Click here to find out about more from this amazing festival. We can’t wait to be involved in the creativity and meet incredible artists from around the world!

#4, We saw Whales!

Yes, we had a pod of about 5 humpback whales swim past our beach, very close to shore. We saw them spouting and breaching and could really see just how big they actually are! Quite a spectacle! Unfortunately I started videoing JUST as they finished breaching right in front of us, so I have nothing to share in that regard.

Another thing that I have worked on recently is a small crowd funding campaign that I have launched. Chris and I have made a friend here in Costa Rica, and she is going through a rough time right now. She is only 21 years old, has a 4 year old daughter and is going through a divorce. I can’t imagine having to take all of that on at such a young age!

She works as hard as she can, and as much as she can, to try and make ends meet. While I know that money doesn’t solve the worlds problems, I feel that a small boost for her in the short term, would get her through her current rough patch, and would maybe take away a feeling of hoplessness, and a scary outlook as she navigates parenthood alone. She is so young, and just starting out, and life can be a long and difficult road.

One of my goals when we set out on our journey, was to try and make a difference in the world. This is one way that I feel like I can maybe give back a little bit. We are so fortunate to have the lives that we do in North America. The fact that we can afford to do most things that we want to, even those of us that are seemingly scraping by, means that we are already in the top percentages of the wealthy people in the world.

In Costa Rica the wages are incredibly low in comparison to the cost of living. We have noticed that much of the food, gasoline, electricity and other common bills, are comparible prices to those found in Canada. At a standard rate of roughly $3 per hour, I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for some people to get by.

If you have even $5 to spare, it would mean a lot to me if you were able to contribute to the Go Fund Me Campaign that I have set up. Help me to help others, but making a small difference in one persons life.

Thanks for reading! Pura Vida to all!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are managing a Cabina on the beach at Playa Matapalo, between Quepos and Dominical, in Costa Rica. If you are travelling in the area, please get in touch! We would love to connect with fellow travellers!

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to do this, click here.

To see more photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

My 5 Most Read Posts of 2017!

So I leave this with you! What do you want to create for yourself in 2018? Because until you decide, and until you ask for it, it simply will not happen!

I’ve noticed that many bloggers are doing some sort of wrap up or feature about their 2017 blog posts. Some people post their favourite posts, and some post their most read posts. At first, I wasn’t going to do anything, but then I got curious. I decided to take a look, just to see which ones actually were read the most. It turns out that my 5 top read posts are definitely some of my favourites as well. So here goes!

In 2017 I wrote 47 blog posts all together. It’s interesting because I just made a 2018 goal yesterday to do at least one blog post per week! So it’s nice to see that I was already really close to accomplishing this last year!

If you haven’t read any of these, take a look, maybe they will resonate with you as well! Just click on the post title to go straight to it! Enjoy and Happy New Year to you all once again!

Notes on My Hometown – Canmore, Alberta, Canada

By FAR this was my most read post at 420 views and 7 comments! However, as I also list my email address at the end of each post, I got many emails from complete strangers who also grew up in Canmore, who resonated with my words.

In the post I outline how the town that I grew up in has changed so much, yet there is so much of it that is also still the same. Over time I have become angry and jaded by the multitudes of changes, but recently I was able to make peace with it again. I realized that no matter what, I had an incredible childhood growing up there, and nobody can take that away from me!

Did you grow up in a place that has changed a lot? Maybe there are some insights in here that will make you see things in a different way.

I Dream a Dream

I’m very excited that this is the second most visited post at 287 views and 30 comments! This post was the start of all of this! This post is when we decided to sell all of our possessions and hit the road. It feels so amazing to look back on this and remember how full of excitement, nervousness and fear that we were feeling. It was a HUGE decision to do this! But now, here we are, and looking back it actually all now seems so incredibly easy!

Through this process we have both realized that our life, and how we live it, is simply a long string of choices that we make. By making this choice, we have opened ourselves up to a whole new world and we couldn’t be happier!

I hope this post inspires you to make some tough decisions that will give you the best and happiest life possible!

September 22, 2017 – We Are Unplugged!

The third most visited post at 182 views and 12 comments is definitely one of my favourites! It is a re-cap on our final days in Powell River, the place that I had called home for 11 years, and a little bit about my feelings a couple days after we left. To say it was an emotional roller coaster, would be a massive understatement! But we never faltered in our plan. We were heading in one direction, and we were doing it together!

This is when we really felt like we had unplugged! Unplugged from what society had dictated that we do, unplugged from a life that wasn’t serving us anymore, unplugged from other’s expectations of how we live our lives. In this moment, we felt free! Free to head out into the world with no incumbrances and no commitments to anyone else. The horizon was laid out before us, and that was all that mattered.

August 20th – The Bear

In number 4 spot at 121 views and 4 comments, this little Bear got much more attention than I anticipated. He became a symbol of letting go, the mascot if you will.

After posting this post about the difficulties that I was having of letting this little guy go, I received many messages from friends and family wanting to adopt him, instead of seeing him go to the thrift store. It really struck me that not only was it difficult to let go of my OWN posessions, others definitely had a vested interest in my posessions as well. How strange of a species we are when we are so attached to things, that we can’t even bear to see others getting rid of their things?

In the end, this little fella flew all the way to Alberta where he is now part of a greater collection of family bears, living in Edmonton at my cousins house.

August 9th – The House is Listed

At number 5 with 93 views and 5 comments, this post was the culmination of a ridiculous amount of hard work to get this place ready to sell. We finished it about 5 weeks later than we had wanted, but we worked day and night, while also working our full time jobs, and knew that we were doing the best that we possibly could. We were so exhausted, it’s hard to even comprehend now.

Because we had a housesitting gig in Costa Rica lined up for November 1st, we wanted to leave by about September 20th to give ourselves time to visit family and also arrive in Costa Rica a little early, so we could do some exploring before settling into our job. Because of our late listing date we knew that for this to sell before we left, it would have to happen quickly. Well, about 4 hours after posting the video that you will see in this post, our Realtor called us to tell us that he was writing an offer, sight unseen. The buyers were gardeners, first and foremost, and they knew that it was the house for them based on this video. They wanted it primarily for the work we had put into the yard, for the time and effort we had put into building the soil and cultivating the land from scratch. They were EXACTLY the buyers that we had requested from the Universe! Not a more perfect match could have been made!

So! That is it! My top 5 most visited posts that I wrote in 2017! I’m glad that I chose to do this as it has again reminded me how amazing this journey is that we are on.

We made a decision back in January, almost one year ago, to change our lives. To live with more purpose and meaning, to live with happiness and joy, to only do those things that inspire us and motivate us. We made a decision that absolutely changed our trajectory, and along the way all of the pieces have literally fallen into place. Along the way we have asked for what we wanted, and we truly have received it all.

Miracles can happen, but it is up to us to ask for them! Don’t sit and wait and hope that something manifests itself. We must do this work for ourselves. We must seek out what it is that we want out of life.

So I leave this with you! What do you want to create for yourself in 2018? Because until you decide, and until you ask for it, it simply will not happen!

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

To see more photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

From Housesitters to Cabina Managers…..

And so here we are! Entering 2018 in a way that we never anticipated or imagined!

Wow! This last couple of weeks has been a bit of a whirlwind!

Two weeks ago our plan was to finish our housesitting gig here in Matapalo, Costa Rica on December 30th. We had booked ourselves into Spanish School up in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua from January 7th-13th. But that was it, that was our plan, at least in the immediate future. Beyond that we had a rough idea to head up into the mountains here in Costa Rica, to work on our friends farm, and help him to get some projects finished that he has been needing to do. But that was a loose plan, nothing was set in stone, and we pretty much could have just showed up anytime that we wanted to.

We had also been applying to some more housesitting jobs, but nothing was confirmed, and we had been researching WWOOFING opportunities here, but again, nothing was really decided.

C1F34A81-6E1A-4F5E-AF27-46ABD30D5EAA — We had a visit from a herd of cows that walked by the other day! I’ve never seen cows on the beach before!

6EFAB49B-C518-4FD2-9C87-7A831459F721 — This guy was hanging from a tree just in front of our house the other day. The sloths are quite prevelant in this area, but they usually sleep much higher up. This guy was only about 8 feet off the ground, allowing a great opportunity for photos.

We weren’t really worried about our futures. We had a short term plan, and knew that we would just figure the rest out as it came along. As stated before, we want to be open to new experiences, and allow things to flow our way, without constructing our future too much, and over committing ourselves.

We want to be able to say YES, when an awesome opportunity comes our way!

Well, I can tell you that that is exactly what happened!

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While walking the dogs on the beach one evening, we discussed the fact that we only had a few days left here. We both felt sad that our stint at Playa Matapalo was coming to an end. We had grown to love this place, we had made friends, we had built community. We didn’t feel like we were ready to go, and we both verbalized this. We finished our walk, and didn’t think much else of it.

Around this time we had also learned that a German man that we had made friends with, suddenly had to leave the area, and it wasn’t clear when he was coming back. He has three dogs, of which had become quite fond of us, and a small Cabina Rental with only 2 units. Immediately we offered to step in to feed the dogs and take them for walks, plus put them in their house at night. But over the course of the next few days, we started a conversation with him about possibly taking over managing the cabina rentals as well. Christmas was coming and his bookings were full, cancelling them would mean a huge loss to him.

Of course, this meant that we would get to stay here longer, and our wishes would be fulfilled. But it also meant that we had the chance to make some really good money, which is never a bad thing! However, it also meant that we had to cancel our Nicaragua trip, but really, that isn’t a big deal. We will go to Nicaragua another time, when we are meant to.

This is our new view from our Cabina job. All day long the Pelicans fly by, we see fish and mantarays jumping, and we listen to the rhythmic rumble of the waves crashing to shore.

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The irony was not lost on us that this was another instance of verbalizing our wishes, and having them come true. This has happened to us over the course of this entire year. We manifested the buyers of our house, we manifested our housesitting job here in Costa Rica, and now we have manifested a longer stay here in Matapalo.

We are also fully aware that the reason this opportunity came our way, is because we were open to it. It’s because we have freed our life up in a way that we CAN say yes to any and every good opportunity that presents itself. It’s the reason that we are trying to not over plan, and over commit to our futures. We are very much living in the moment, and it is paying off in a big way!

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One question you may ask is “What do you know about managing Cabinas?”

The answer is simple: Literally Nothing!

But you know what? We are willing to try. We are willing to give it a go, to learn how to do it along the way. We are willing to make mistakes and learn from them, but most importantly we are willing to take risks, and have new experiences.

This job comes with a lovely Tica (Costa Rican) lady that knows most of the ropes. She has been able to guide us and show us the way. Communication has been interesting, but thankfully I know enough Spanish to get us by, and she has been very patient with us. If it’s clear that I don’t understand what she is saying, she will show us in a different way. Together we are making this work, together we are learning as we go. Not too mention, of course, our owner is only a message away if there is anything that we really need to know.

804963BA-7F98-4D27-B83E-EAAAE7DF490C — Our Tica helper showed us how she makes the beds and cleans the rooms so that we could be prepared for when she had days off. This is the result of our first try!

And the best part of this job is that we get to meet other travellers! Connecting with people from around the world, makes me incredibly happy! This is exactly what I wanted to do while travelling, not only meet the locals of where we visit, but connect with other travellers from around the world, creating a network of like-minded individuals who love to travel.

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And so, here we are! Entering 2018 in a way that we never anticipated or imagined! We don’t know exactly how long we will be here, but we are definitely loving each and every day as it comes!

I will leave this message with these wishes to all of you:

LIVE YOUR DREAMS IN 2018!

FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONS IN 2018!

LIVE THE BEST LIFE POSSIBLE IN 2018!

Because I can assure you, that you, and only you, are responsible for your choices and doing what makes you happy!

Life is short, lets get busy! Take the risks! Go on the trip! Do that thing that you have always wanted to!

I can assure you that you WILL NOT regret it!

I hope that life brings you peace, love and happiness in 2018.

Make this your best year yet!!

With gratitude and love,

xo Jill

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

To head back to the beginning of our journey, and the moment we decided to do this, click here.

To see more photos, and to follow our progress on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page Just Some Wandering.

Please follow my Instagram Page Just Some Wandering by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of this feed.

To learn about where I have previously traveled, visit my Countries Page.

To see all of my blog post headings on one page, head over to my Blog Post Menu.

To email me directly, please do so anytime at jillamatt@me.com.

Yes, Bali has an erupting volcano! But so what??

To those of you who weren’t planning to go to Bali, I must say, NOW IS THE TIME!!

An article came to me today while doing work on my laptop, and it got me thinking about how little it takes to scare most people out of travelling.

The article was put out by the New York Times (click here to read the whole article) and is titled “Bali’s Rumbling Volcano Leaves Tourist Industry Gasping for Air.”

The article was written on December 7th, only 10 days after the rumblings of Mt Agung, caused the mandatory evacuation of 100 000 people who lived within close vicinity of it. The ash spewing from the volcano, caused flight cancellations and delays, stranding thousands of passengers.

The article goes on to say that because of the uncertainty of this erupting beast, it’s said that it could erupt again soon, many future flights and travel plans have been cancelled, and tourism seemingly came to an abrupt halt. One man is quoted as saying that occupancy was at 20%, instead of the 60% that was typical at that time of year.

Despite the fact that none of the tourist facilities are near the volcano, people have been frightened off, once again, from this absolutely incredible island nation. Is it the possible inconvenience of flight disruptions? Is it fear of being in direct line of a piece of lava spewing from the volcano? Is complete and utter unabashed fear? Fear of not even knowing what one is fearful of? Or maybe it is a fear that is ignited by others’ fear? Maybe people get scared because someone else gets scared, and then suddenly it’s all contagious!?

I have to say that I certainly can not relate to this sort of fear.

Bali is a very large island, by island standards, and there are many places to see that will bring you nowhere near the erupting volcano. The people are some of the most caring, thoughtful, friendly and wonderful people that you will ever meet. Experiencing the Balinese culture is like nothing else. Their Hindu values make them extremely warm and inviting, and you can’t help but feel completely at peace when among them.

I first travelled to Bali in 1995 when I was 18 years old. I was a student with Class Afloat, a floating class room, if you will, that took place aboard a 188 foot tall ship, S/V Concordia. There were 52 of us students on board, plus about 16 professional crew. We spent about 10 days on the island of Bali, back in the days of less tourism and less commercialism. We stayed in Ubud for a few nights, many of the streets weren’t paved, there weren’t many people around at all. There were a few smatterings of craft stalls and art markets, but nothing like it was when I returned in 2008. I was aghast at what had become of quaint little Ubud during the 13 years that I had been away. It was in that moment, that I realized how seemingly quickly things can change.

F38CCD41-2E9F-42B9-895C-54D941819963 — This is S/V Concordia. 188 feet long, and the main mast stood at 150 feet high. Yes, that is me at the very top and center, perched on the royal yard, as we navigated into port in Boston, Massachusetts in 1995. Sadly, this vessel sunk many miles off the coast of Brazil in 2010. All students and crew survived.

Although Bali has always been a tourist destination, mostly servicing Australians back in the early days, its popularity now, has put it firmly on many peoples’ bucket lists. And for good reason! However, this has unfortunately created a false economy for this island nation, as the slightest little things that go wrong, send it reeling into the pits of despair as tourists decide to go elsewhere, somewhere safer.

Well, I can tell you right now, that there is nowhere ‘safer’. The world is changing at an incredible rate. There are rumblings going on all over the place. As I type this, I am sitting in Costa Rica, and my partner and I experienced our first official 6.8 Earthquake about a month ago. Of course, it didn’t stop flights from flying, and it didn’t cause massive devastation, but it could have. If the epicentre was in San Jose, it very easily could have created a scenario that might have stranded passengers and caused many fatalities. But it didn’t.

Around the world there are hurricanes and floods, mud slides and typhoons. They happen ALL THE TIME. In fact, there are also volcanoes erupting here in Costa Rica. At any moment one of them could really start spewing, and then what? Do we all flee out of here, afraid of the entire country being carried away in a stream of lava? Of course not!

It is time that people started thinking clearly about these things. By cancelling a trip of a life time, or maybe one that you do every year, because of the teeny tiny rumblings of a volcano, is utterly ridiculous. You are in more danger of being hit by a car outside your house, then you are of being harmed by an erupting volcano. Let’s not forget that people have lived amongst volcanos for centuries! Besides, how cool would it be to actually see an erupting volcano!?

One of my all time favourite travel moments, actually was right here in Costa Rica back in 2004. I was near the town of Fortuna, made famous for it’s proximity to Arenal Volcano. The volcano was erupting at the time we were visiting, not a lot, just a bit of smoke through the day, but the real show was at night. I will never forget the experience of sitting in a RIVER of hot water, coming straight from the innards of that very volcano, while watching red rocks rumble and tumble from the top of it, splitting into thousands of red embers as they crashed down the slopes.

62D99971-97D3-46F5-BCE7-13369B645348 — Photo Credit: Aaron White. This is a recent shot of Volcan Fuego, which is currently erupting in Antigua, Guatemala.

4FE049CA-03CF-4498-AF8F-0E6822DB0D16 — Photo Credit: Aaron White. This is a recent shot of Volcan Fuego, which is currently erupting in Antigua, Guatemala. You can imagine what a cool experience it was for them to witness this!

Of course, we were well enough away to not be in harms way, but seriously, can you imagine bearing witness to such a sight? I really felt like I had to pinch myself. I absolutely felt like I was in a dream world, like this only happened in books and in movies. But no, here I was, ACTUALLY there, ACTUALLY experiencing this awesome sight! Wouldn’t you like to experience that? Are you willing to set aside your fears of the unknown to really get out there and see things that you only dreamed of? That you too only thought happened in movies.

EC9E83AB-A9E0-420D-AA87-3CA6032FE79B — This is me looking up to the summit of Volcan Arenal in Costa Rica, 2004.

Please for the sake of all that is holy (I am not a religious person), re-consider your decisions when you make them based solely on ridiculous insights. Think, for once, about the lives of the people that depend on you. About those who survive solely because you have enough money to go wherever you want in the world. Don’t punish those that rely on you, just because you have an inkling of a fear! And really, don’t punish YOURSELF by taking away what could be one of the most incredible experiences of your life!

To those of you who weren’t planning to go to Bali, I must say, NOW IS THE TIME! Less tourists means a better experience after all! Go check Bali out, check it off your bucket list, and do it as SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!

The Balinese people will be thankful for it, your soul will be thankful for it, and in turn, you will help to heal the world!

This will be a decision that you will NOT regret! And while I can’t promise you everything, I can certainly promise you that much!

Xoxoxo Happy Travels!

Current Location: We are housesitting until December 30th at Playa Matapalo, between Quepos and Dominical, in Costa Rica. If you are travelling in the area, please get in touch! We would love to connect with you.

To learn about how YOU can be housesitting as well, click here.

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