Why Life is More Exciting When You Travel

Why Life Is More Exciting When You Travel

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What is it that makes life memorable? What is it that you think back and go... yes that is what life is about? When you look at your past selves and your future self what is it that made you who you are? Yes these are big questions and we all have different answers; yet, in my previous blog I discussed the fact that I am about to commit the ultimate in career suicide.

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Why? Well this year I had some rather peculiar incidents that can only be likened to residing in the Trueman show. The end result was that I volunteered to take redundancy from a company that I assumed I was going to work with until retirement. You may have noticed that I might have lived a life where I could play it safe, well for a while at least... Admittedly, I enjoyed my job working with financial incidents, doing analysis and running a social media team. In my spare time I wrote books, taught creative writing and still continued my old profession (as a photographer) as a hobby.  It was a nice safe lifestyle that involved competitive rowing because I still needed some kind of thrill or limit pusher.

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Yep... So I don't know about you but the people surrounding me, my great friends, all seem to be experiencing 'wake-up calls' and re-directions at the moment. It is during this time that we have been in numerous discussions about life, the universe and the freedom to experience. The thing is everything in my life has now freed me up to travel again. So when I talk to my married, child-filled friends they look at me with eyes that desire the freedom to travel; yet, at the same time they love their chosen lives with family. In comparison I have no attachments and my life before the financial institution was one that circumnavigated the world, photographed and experienced. I always had a story and always a sense of novelty. It was a life that many would not like because it was rather nomadic. In fact I could be found with a nomad tribe, in a random desert, eating dates with coconut or goat milk. It is these memories that made me consider how life can be so exciting. That every day can be lived to the full. As wonderful as it was to watch a large screen fill up with financial system destructions to be fixed, it wasn't the same a photographing aerial photographs over Bora Bora.

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When I show people pictures like the whale leaping by the expedition boat they look at me and say 'Wow!' They wished they could go there and see that. This photo was taken at Cabo St. Lucas in Mexico. It is a great place for a holiday and has a beautiful place called Lover's island nearby. It is when I look at imagery like this I realise how extraordinary life has been and will be again. As much as I would have liked to have followed the family route, I think the adventurer in me has other plans. I received a phone call today that confirms that I definitely have the opportunity for adventure. Of course with that there is a cut in income. Strangely two hours later a large financial institution asked to interview me for a well paid role sitting at a desk doing analysis. I might go along and see what they have to offer. As I said before, I do enjoy doing that, but what would you choose? The way I see it is that this is life... Life is for living... I can always go back to desks and problem solving yet don't you think that life is more exciting when you travel? What would you do?

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LINK TO AUDIO BOOKS:

http://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=Ruby Allure

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The Joy of Witnessing the World from Above

The Joy of  Witnessing the World from Above

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There is no doubt that the world has beautiful places; however, when I worked as a photographer I used to imagine all the places I travelled to from above.

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I know that might seem strange; however, I often feel that I am simply an ant who was born in an era filled with the opportunity to navigate the world. I don't know about you, but I have ended up in some seriously odd situations and have wondered whether there is a divine observer having a bit of a laugh.

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The other day when I was quite far out to sea on my paddleboard when I wasp turned up and wanted to play chase. Honestly... A wasp. There was no reason for it to be there but no it turned up and thought is would hover at face height appearing rather aggressive. Admittedly I out-witted the blighter; however, such incidents make me feel as though I am in the Trueman show. With that in mind, I have enjoyed removing doors from planes and helicopters (DO NOT DO THIS!) and relying on a parachute harness to save me from general death, I photographed some rather beautiful sights.

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The above images are taken over Bora Bora, the Namibian desert and Swakupmund Salt flats in Namibia. I guess I am having a bit of look through my travel photos to remind me of the insane things I used to do in the name of art!

LINKS TO MY AUDIOBOOKS CAN BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:

http://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=Ruby Allure

Why I love Antarctica

 Why I love Antarctica

In all honesty Antarctica is one of those places that touches your soul. When people ask me where my favourite places are in the world I can't help but answer Antarctica. The expression of bewilderment crosses their faces as if to say what! Why?

So Antarctica to me symbolises pure wilderness and adventure. If something goes wrong down here then you don't have a huge amount of chance of survival. I have been to Antarctica twice. The first time I was lucky enough to spend two months on an expedition ship, as an exedition leader and logistical excursion leader. Unfortunately that ship almost sunk close to half moon island. We had a collision with a submerged rock which cut through the first hull of the double-hulled icebreaker and punctured a hole in the second hull layer. Water leaked in and we had to go to action stations. That little incident was cleverly kept out of the news.

The fact that we had to close off the front section of the ship was testemony to the severity of the collision. What's more, the crew were on action alert for the two days we spent crossing The Drake Passage in a huge storm. You might wonder why I love Antarctica after such an experience. Well, the evenings I spent with the Ice Captain searching for whales while the passengers dined is something I will never forget. It was so much fun using the radar to scan the area for whales and go and photograph them.  Then there were the penguins and the fact they were so amusing.

Sometimes they would all line up to dive in the water. The leader would glance over its shoulder as if saying 'hang on I don't want to go first'. It would then secretly walk backwards hoping that none of the other penguins would notice.

The second time I went to Antarctica we had a similar incident where a huge wave hit our cruise ship and wiped out some of the cabins near the bow. One lady was almost sucked through the window when a wave entered and then retracted from her cabin in the middle of the night. What actually saved her life was the duck-down duvet. It swelled with sea water and blocked the window so she was not sucked out. I saw her after the incident, she was still in a state of shock with numerous bruises to evidence her trauma. We still had a couple of days at sea until we reached Ushuia in Argentina. There was nowhere else for her to go, so she simply strolled around the ship sharing her shocking story.

You may wonder why on earth I would like the ice-ridden place after relating these stories . As I said before: Antarctica provides a true sense of adventure. The air is crisp, the wilderness is vast, the visibility is astounding and life takes on a whole new sense of priviledge. I do wonder whether life will deliver me there for a third time. We will see, in the meantime I have to decide whether I make the leap from the 'normal' world back into a life of adventure. I am just waiting to hear the outcome of the final interview. The thing is with long periods of travel there are sacrifices to make and acceptances to be had. The question then becomes do you live a life by the day and never know what the future holds? You have no financial securities or stability. Or do you play it safe, accumulate wealth and live knowing that you could have lived a life completely filled with adventure with no actual security? Does one play it safe until death? Safety is an illusion and so is money. That is why such choices are always a conundrum. The ice is always bluer on the other side of the planet!

In the meantime, I am finalising two more books. The thing that I do like about the travel is there is so much that is inspirational to write about... This week will be interesting. Let's see what happens!

Enjoy my audio books at the following link:

http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_hp_tseft?advsearchKeywords=Ruby+allure&filterby=field-keywords&x=0&y=0

AUDIO LINK: http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/The-Hairy-Legged-Mystery-Audiobook/B01H2HF0XU/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srTtl?qid=1471619538&sr=1-2

A fantasy fairy fiction novel for girls aged 8 and older...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elora-One-Winged-Fairy-Last-Giggle-ebook/dp/B01KYHM1G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472123774&sr=8-1&keywords=Elora+the+one+winged+fairy

The Call To Adventure

We all have days when we sit at the desk and look out of the window and think... Is this it? Is this what life is about? Many of us then have a little scout around the web imagining great adventures and luxury hotels. This usually results in an unexpected spend and the realisation that in three months we could in fact be in a foreign land or, in some cases, in a crappy bed and breakfast thirty miles away. The days where I get a little 'Is that-ish' have resulted in adventures to Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand... I call it the 'Woops' affect which is based on the 'Oh shit I am bored let's go on a random adventure that I can't necessarily afford - but who cares we are all going to die anyway!' I have to admit Antarctica was a serious 'woops affect!'

Tonga

Well I had one of these days - again. I was working with spreadsheets, financial incidents and listening to the general politics of grey people with labels such as executive director and managing director (notice I use small letters -oooh rebel) and I thought BOREDOOOOOOOM! I wondered off into daydream and had a very odd moment where I imagined the men in their 'Budgie Smugglers' (swimming attire) and the women in some Carribean waters splashing around actually having fun. It wasn't a nice sight in terms of how they looked after themselves. Yet it was a lovely sight to imagine them happy. The thing is I wondered what would actually make them happy because most looked like they carried a stagnant smell under their noses. It was in that moment I had a bit of an epiphany. I was missing fun and adventure in my life. Really missing it. So I had one of those 'be careful what you wish for moments...' This is a serious woops moment: I thought to myself... 'What I really need is to be made redundant.' Well strangely a -restructure took place a few weeks later and I said to my boss, 'erm... if a redundancy option comes up please can you suggest me...' Oh dear! Wooooooops! His response was laughter. 'You are far too useful. You will never get it.'

Pi Pi islands dive

Admittedly I was a bit gutted and sat considering which holiday I should book that might result in being stranded in a luxury location and having to work remotely for at least the year. How could I take the laptop on the paddleboard? Luckily a friend of mine had invited me to her wedding in Italy. So this became the next holiday to dream about.
A month of so later I went on holiday and returned to discover that my boss, of close to seven years, was going to move jobs the following week. This was rather out of the blue and then... imagine this: a woman who resembled Shrek was drafted in. While we were in a meeting I looked at her and thought 'this lady is going to be my ticket out of here.' I had such a strong feeling about it...

Aerial of Namibian desert with door removed from plane. Do not recommend no door!!!

That week a few odd things took place: my manager moved role, the new boss did not ask me anything about my job and there were rumours around the office about a restructure and jobs being slashed. That night I met up with a friend and said to her 'you know what I have had enough. I am going to look for a new job....' The following morning I was called into an office and advised that my role had been put forwards for redundancy. Now Poker is not my strong point, but that day all I could do was try and imagine a giant tortoise eating porridge and bananas. The look of horrification (I invented this word) did just the job. The manager studied me as I imagined a large tendril of tortoise spit filled with porridge and banana oozing from the giant tortoise's mouth. Inside I was jubilant and externally it appeared as though I had entered a room full of flatulent orangutans after they had eaten sprouts. The Shrek lookalike asked me how I felt. I could hardly say queasy because an organutan farted or I am imagining tortoise drool. So instead I said, 'I don't know whether anyone told you that when I need to process something I go to the gym. The repetition enables me to work things out.' She was kind in her expression and realised making people redundant can't be a pleasant experience. So I took myself off to the gym and shimmyed all the way there...

Cambodia - smell under nose expression has been around for centuries!

When I returned to work on Monday I was escorted into an office and advised that I would have to go on garden leave for three months. My response: Giant Tortoise + pea soup with sweet potato drool to hide general jubilation. For three months I could not go and work for another financial institution. Instead I had to be available and on call. You know what I did during that time, other than stand up paddleboard? I completed three children's books: The Hairy-Legged Mystery, Tingle Dingle and The Little Mischiefs and Elora, The One Winged Fairy and The Last Baby Giggle. At the same time the audio productions were made too. In fact I worked 9-5 as an author but was most definitely available (even if it involved taking my phone paddleboarding with me). I also spent time with a marketing genius who taught me the details of SEO and how Amazon advertising works. That way I could set up my books to sell while I travelled. Amazing... So why do I tell you this? Well the call for adventure came and over the next months I will be posting some travel blogs. I can't say too much at the moment on what type of content. Instead I intend to travel and continue editing the books I am working on... Hopefully some of the locations will be a real inspiration. I will also post some of my previous adventures... That way if anyone is having one of those 'office gloom' moments then at least you will have something to help you make a 'woops affect travel decision!'

Cambodia - Trees and temples...

Enjoy my audio books at the following link:

http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_hp_tseft?advsearchKeywords=Ruby+allure&filterby=field-keywords&x=0&y=0

AUDIO LINK: http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/The-Hairy-Legged-Mystery-Audiobook/B01H2HF0XU/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srTtl?qid=1471619538&sr=1-2

ELORA, THE ONE WINGED FAIRY AND THE LAST BABY GIGGLE LINK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elora-One-Winged-Fairy-Last-Giggle-ebook/dp/B01KYHM1G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472123774&sr=8-1&keywords=Elora+the+one+winged+fairy

A fantasy fairy fiction novel for girls aged 8 and older...