Tara

Merry 2023 Christmas Season

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Dec 282023
 

Sometimes unexpected changes in plans brings about an even better experience than the one anticipated.

Although we would have had a lovely time spending the holidays with my parents in the Bahamas, we would have missed out on family time with my brother, catching up with a few family and friends, and enjoying just a quiet chilled time.

The past ten days have really flown by without any tension or stress that can often be felt when five people, who are all rather different and rarely see each other, spend time in close quarters together. Yet, it felt pretty easy peasy to me.

Since it was not so much a time to visit and catch up with everyone possible, we kept a pretty low profile. The main purpose was to hang with my parents and brother, which we achieved. ✅

Christmas 🎄 was quiet, but ever so lovely. Plus, Santa 🎅 was very very good to me. I mean, I was a rather good girl this year. 😜😂

Now, we are awaiting our flight back to the sun and sand to ring in the near year beachside. 🏝️ More on that once we get settled in.

Reminders to Appreciate Life…

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Dec 152023
 

I’m still coughing…😩 fits of it make me feel as if my entire body is shaking to pieces like an earthquake. Luckily, the body is well put together that, so far, everything seems to be staying in place. Still, my head hurts 😵‍💫 on occasion and the inability to laugh or sometimes move too much without an outburst of spittle flying through the air (TMI?) is frustrating at times.

Still, I’m writing this from a soft top king-size mattress bed looking out the window as the 60+km per hour gusts of wind blow the palm trees 🏝️ and creates white tops on the crest of the waves in the sea. Our room is warm and cozy. It’s big enough for us to have separate spaces for working and a luxurious style bathroom for trying to steam out the mucus in my chest. So, there are worse places to be a little under the weather.

Also, our holiday (part 1) has not seen much sun in the sky. However, as you may have noted, I did say “Holiday Part 1” and so we know we will be back soon when the weather is meant to return to the island paradise style. By then, I hope to also be in full health again! Besides that, we are looking forward to a family visit home for the holidays 🎄 where we/I can appreciate the health and presence of my loved ones.

So, lest we forget and get caught up in the spoils of our richness – monetarily and figuratively – we remind ourselves to appreciate everything we have in this life fully. We have worked hard for it, we have manifested it, we have embraced it, and we now appreciate it. 🙏🏽😎

Poolside on a cloudy day that was the calm before the storm

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Hello from Paradise

 Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Dec 132023
 

My happy place has always been by the ocean. When I started to travel, I learned that there were warm beaches unlike the chillier one of the Oregon Coast, which I still love in many ways.

Still, when given a choice, I would prefer a warm beach, blue sea, and golden sand.

I’ve seen a number of beaches over the years that have come close to this ideal. But, this…this is something else.

We are spending 8 nights in the Bahamas on Paradise Island. Although the island is man-made, the name is appropriate for the water and sand that is all natural.

Although I am still sick, we are slightly jet lagged and the weather is as temperamental as my partner’s moods sometimes 😅, it is rather amazing to see the blue of the water and the glow of the sand when the sun ☀️ shines.

With that, time to get back to enjoying paradise. More to come.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Traveling….

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Dec 062023
 

I’m still alive – a cough lingers in the chest even after almost two weeks, but not suffering. Nothing that a bit of time in the sun can’t cure in a few days.

In the meantime, we are in London for a few days. Will try to update on this part of our winter travels in a few days.

Until then, stay warm and healthy!

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Seasonal/Annual Illness

 Going Mental  1 Response »
Nov 272023
 

Well, it has happened despite my best efforts to Jedi mind-trick or deny its existence. I am sick.

I tried my best to positive energy it away and perhaps it is not as bad as past illnesses have been because of this, but there’s no denying it. I. am. sick.

I hate being sick.

I hate feeling less than 100 percent.

I hate having limitations on my energy, activities, capacities.

I hate being sick.

Yet, I am sick.

So, nothing to do but to acknowledge and roll with it. I went to Florence anyway with hubby and friends. I walked around the beautiful city as my fever raged helping me to endure the falling winter temperatures.

The plus is that I didn’t drink much to create a different kind of reason for feeling less than 100 percent or having limitations on my energy, activities, capacities.

Still. I hate being sick.

Today, I had things planned. A yoga class. A dinner out with friends.

Nope, I am sick. I am tired. I am still busy working on my lesson planning for the final two online yoga lessons I have left in a course I have done for the past three months. I am still busy having just sent off my second book manuscript for my Umbria on a Whim series. I am still busy taking care of admin and preparations before we head to sunny skies and warm temperatures for a while.

With the help of my chef’s chicken noodle soup, lots of warm tea, and pet snuggles, I’ll soon not be sick.

Until then…

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Japan 2023: Days 8.5/13

 Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Nov 172023
 

We are back in Japan for a visit. It’s been just over three years since we left during the early pandemic/shutdown days.

When we left, we didn’t quite know what we were doing but the timing seemed right to try to move with the freedom of online work. Turns out we rode the wave well – thank you Universe. 🙏🏽

Since it was a somewhat unplanned decision and M was still working in his job, he didn’t get to say a proper “cya later” to people. Also, I have never gone longer than a year or two between visits, so it was time to come back.

This time, we stayed in Ginza for the first part. I took a girls’ trip to Kyoto with my BFF and are going to spend the rest of our time with her and family.

It’s been fun to refresh our tastebuds with Japanese cuisine and revisit old haunts for nostalgic purposes. Also, we have done some shopping given the euro-friendly exchange rate.

So, more on everything next week when we are back in Italy for a bit before we continue our winter travels. ❤️

In the meantime, here are a few pics.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Autumn Bash 2023

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Nov 102023
 

We love a party – yes, even me, the introvert!

Although I tend to prefer smaller group gatherings for catching up with people, I do enjoy bringing people together and seeing what sort of social interactions will arise to give me food for thought. M loves a large party to play host and to flit to and fro. So, it’s a good combined activity for us to organize and put on. Luckily, it seems we aren’t bad at it as everyone seemed to have had a great time.

Our last big gathering was a sit-down potluck-style meal of 35 around our big tables for Easter. So, this time, we did a stand-up event with catering and a live reggae (Bob Marley cover) band. It was mostly inside, which drove some people outside when the music was playing. If we could have trusted the weather, we would have set up the band outside instead, but it was our first go at it and now we know.

The event was without a specific purpose, but we combined a bit of Halloween fun with a pumpkin design contest, celebrated a birthday, and mixed lamentations and relief at the changing season. Overall, it was a great night that took a couple of days to recover from the late night (for me) and the alcohol consumption (for M). 😅

Here are a few pics that highlight the night!

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Palma Majorca (Oct 28-31, 2023)

 General, Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Nov 062023
 

Ladies’ trip with the fabulous A.N. in Palma Majorca (Mallorca) is a wrap with wonderful memories, lots of laughs, much chit-chat, and as an overall amazing experience.

First, about Palma – the Spanish capital of the Balearic island of Mallorca (Majorca in English spelling). It’s an interesting city with a mix of flavors in architect and dishes that come from European and Moorish influences. Even good ol’ Gaudi has had his hand on some of the sights. It’s a smallish town that can be walked around in about an hour, but there’s enough to entertain for a short holiday whether a sightseeing history buff or one in need of some retail therapy.

A and I were keen to catch up and decided a little trip might be just the ideal opportunity to do just that with a bit of travel as well. The four days flew by really and we had a great time seeing Palma, taking the train and tram through the mountains to the northwest side where Soller (soyer) and the port are located, doing a bit of pampering at the Hammam and eating some delicious food – some local and some not.

Overall, I would go back again as we did skip going into some of the attractions as we weren’t so into hopping on or off, but if I never went back I wouldn’t feel as if I missed anything major either. It might be a nice little Spanish getaway for a long weekend and worth exploring the other side of the island another time, but … I’m glad I went and I enjoyed it fully, but don’t necessarily need to go again. 🤪

Here’s a link to all the photos and videos, if you’re interested: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cUtNU7iSA7382PTM6

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Mixed Emotions in Travel

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Nov 012023
 

There is a mixed feeling of awe and sadness when I look out the window of a plane as it takes off into the air leaving behind the ground below. 

The awe is amazement for the technology that makes flight possible in a big chunk of metal and a mass weighing hundreds of pounds somehow soaring in the atmosphere above. 

Thanks to this technological advancement that we often take for granted in today’s world, we are able to see different lands, experience new cultures and share in humanity with those we may never have known existed before. The expansion of our world views is awe-spiring. 

Then, there is the sadness. The land and constant world below continues to move and function even after I am no longer in amongst it. It is a reminder of my insignificance in the grand scheme of the universe. It is a realization that the connection of the moments and experiences in the space below is either cut or temporarily suspended. 

Somewhere deep inside is a well of sadness and confusion in this mix of emotions. 

Many years ago a similar chunk of metal lifted me into the skies and severed the unknown ties I had in an eventually forgotten world below. It would be twenty or more years before I would touch upon my native soil again. Yet, I will have taken many more flights that transported me from one place to another in those years increasing my awe and further burying the sadness within. 

It is the understanding that I am able to return someday and a willful naivety that allows me to say that I will be back again – but probably won’t. 

Emotions swirl between excitement for a possible return and a sad knowledge that the likelihood is slim. 

Yet, there are some places that do draw me back. 

Despite having seen a significant amount of Japan, I keep returning. Even with a mixed relationship with my birth country, I go back as a visitor but never as a countrywoman. Obviously, I see my loved ones in the country that I identify most with although I have no intention of ever returning to it full time.

In these cases, familiarity does not breed complacency, but complexity. 

Perhaps this is the way of life – finding acceptance in the in-between of these conflicting emotions that remind us of our insignificant humanity in an amazing world. 

~T 🔥🐉♋️

PS – pics and updates on my trip to come…

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