I have had some quiet times on my own since getting back but my head has still been buzzing with excitement from the trip. Here are some of my thoughts and reflections since being home.
What I have learned about myself:-
Every year at high school we had a Careers Evening. Every year I put my name down to go to "the air hostess talk" although in Standard 6 I was already told that I was too tall (would have been discriminatory these days). Don't know what I was thinking but I loved listening to the guests stories (it was same Old Westerfordian pupil every year who came to talk (she had incredible eyelashes as well) (maybe it was a girl crush?)) and perhaps what I really thought is that they would change the rules for me.
I love everything about airports, getting on and off the aeroplane, I love the take offs and the landings, the cramped seats are fine (except the window seat), the food is great too, I love the packets with the blankets, socks and earphones and I love it most when the lights get put off and the shutters go down and you can just be in your own little world, with your own little light and book (and a movie if you want), your own little bottle of wine and you can take walks down the aisles and check how many people are sleeping or what movies they are watching. I even had my own little time of listening to an old Ryan Adams playlist on full blast.
I did notice that the air hostesses on United Airlines are definitely senior ladies (maybe even older than me) and perhaps there could still be a chance for me.
2. I have a good sense of direction (but cannot read a map)
In all our travels on planes, on foot, on trains, buses, tubes and subways I only made 2 mistakes. Once getting on the wrong train at Earls Court to get to Putney and another time getting out of the subway in Brooklyn on the wrong side of the road and walking "home" in the opposite direction (took two blocks before we realised what we had done).
Maps do not work for me. We spent about an hour trying to find Covent Garden before we went to our show in Soho. It still surprises me as I have been there before but this time, even with Michael and his ability with a map, we could not find it and then we had to rush to get to the show. Bad map.
3. Small things can thrill me and make me happy
Travelling gives me a great sense of freedom and delight. Often I would surprise myself and feel a bit silly after catching myself skipping (on Brooklyn Bridge and in Central Park) or playing hopscotch on the New York pavements (Jack Nicholson style).
Those flat escalators or moving walkways at airports are my favourites. I would walk quickly ahead of Michael and then try and make my way back to him (Michael Jackson style). They are so awesome, so clever and such fun (maybe I just need a job at an airport).
Travelling makes me appreciate the gift I have been given with my ability to be happy almost all of the time.
4. Nothing changes at home
This is what I have always told my boys when they are away and have been homesick. You come home after missing everyone and everything is the same. This I now realise is actually what you miss most about home. You get home and see everyone and then wish you were back on your travels but this is really what makes your home, family and friends so special and the stable constant in your life.
Nowhere is perfect and there is nowhere else I would like to live but whilst travelling it is hard not to feel despondent about how our beautiful country is being run (everyone asks about our president and the corruption) and, in particular, feeling totally despondent about the value of our rand. We are by no means wealthy but we live a certain lifestyle in Cape Town which is impossible to be able to do overseas. What we would have liked to be able to do would have been to have taken our hosts out for meal to thank them. However, when one round of 4 pints of beer and 1 cider in a quaint street pub in New York puts you back R900, it is impossible to be able to buy a table of friends or family a meal. You have to stop converting but often it would be a matter of sharing a Coke ($3.20 in Central Park) instead of having one each (which is what you wanted and needed). We would never have been able to have made the trip if we had to pay for accommodation and of the whole month away we only had to pay for five nights in total. All we can do (and we do, do) is reciprocate when we are visited in Cape Town.
5. People are people are people
Wherever you are people are basically really friendly and nice. We are not so different and all have the same wants, needs and desires. We want the best for our family, we want to be happy and a smile goes a long way to break the ice (except when you are in Frankfort airport and have the security staff to contend with).
2. I have a good sense of direction (but cannot read a map)
In all our travels on planes, on foot, on trains, buses, tubes and subways I only made 2 mistakes. Once getting on the wrong train at Earls Court to get to Putney and another time getting out of the subway in Brooklyn on the wrong side of the road and walking "home" in the opposite direction (took two blocks before we realised what we had done).
Maps do not work for me. We spent about an hour trying to find Covent Garden before we went to our show in Soho. It still surprises me as I have been there before but this time, even with Michael and his ability with a map, we could not find it and then we had to rush to get to the show. Bad map.
3. Small things can thrill me and make me happy
Travelling gives me a great sense of freedom and delight. Often I would surprise myself and feel a bit silly after catching myself skipping (on Brooklyn Bridge and in Central Park) or playing hopscotch on the New York pavements (Jack Nicholson style).
Those flat escalators or moving walkways at airports are my favourites. I would walk quickly ahead of Michael and then try and make my way back to him (Michael Jackson style). They are so awesome, so clever and such fun (maybe I just need a job at an airport).
Travelling makes me appreciate the gift I have been given with my ability to be happy almost all of the time.
4. Nothing changes at home
This is what I have always told my boys when they are away and have been homesick. You come home after missing everyone and everything is the same. This I now realise is actually what you miss most about home. You get home and see everyone and then wish you were back on your travels but this is really what makes your home, family and friends so special and the stable constant in your life.
Nowhere is perfect and there is nowhere else I would like to live but whilst travelling it is hard not to feel despondent about how our beautiful country is being run (everyone asks about our president and the corruption) and, in particular, feeling totally despondent about the value of our rand. We are by no means wealthy but we live a certain lifestyle in Cape Town which is impossible to be able to do overseas. What we would have liked to be able to do would have been to have taken our hosts out for meal to thank them. However, when one round of 4 pints of beer and 1 cider in a quaint street pub in New York puts you back R900, it is impossible to be able to buy a table of friends or family a meal. You have to stop converting but often it would be a matter of sharing a Coke ($3.20 in Central Park) instead of having one each (which is what you wanted and needed). We would never have been able to have made the trip if we had to pay for accommodation and of the whole month away we only had to pay for five nights in total. All we can do (and we do, do) is reciprocate when we are visited in Cape Town.
5. People are people are people
Wherever you are people are basically really friendly and nice. We are not so different and all have the same wants, needs and desires. We want the best for our family, we want to be happy and a smile goes a long way to break the ice (except when you are in Frankfort airport and have the security staff to contend with).
6. Travel has made me appreciate
- my family and friends (and Alfie), my home and garden, my own bed and especially my shower
- the mountain and Joko tea
- our wonderful wines
- the cost of a bag of groceries (even Woolworths seems so cheap)
- my husband - We have never spent such a concentrated time together. After never being apart all day and night for 31 days, whether being on our own travelling or with family and friends, we were totally together 99.9% of the time (I did go shopping at Tesco's with Andrea for an hour in Yorkshire and for 2 hours with Judy and Caroline in Boston) and not once did it feel like too much (for me anyway). Not once did we argue or get irritated with each other and he is the best, most loving, most patient (waiting with bags outside Duty Free cosmetic stands for me) and most entertaining travelling partner (he carries the backpack and he knows where North is (although he too could not find Covent Garden - Next time!)). I am in awe (and sometimes very jealous) of his ability to be able to sleep at a moments notice but even that does not make me forget how lucky I am to be married to this wonderful man who took me on this wonderful trip.
7. Lynfrae is not the centre of the universe
It is good to get out of your comfort zone. Good to go where no one knows you and where you don't care about testing all the make-ups and creams that say "please try me" or skipping like a crazy woman on a bridge.
The world is big and I will never see it all. I would like to visit new places but is it wrong to want to go back to the same places time and time again? Is it wrong to have now been to New York twice and spent over two weeks there and never been to the Museum of Modern Art but to have been to Bryant Park and Central Park at least seven times? I don't think so.
8. A few of my favourite things
Sipping wine at an Italian restaurant on the banks of the Thames; a walk in bright, hot sunshine along the South Bank; a drink at a pub covered in flower boxes then lunch and watching Wimbledon in a pub near Nottinghill with young friends; a wonderful evening with family in the garden of their beautiful home in Dulwich, sharing stories and a few tears; a train trip to Scotland; photographing flower boxes and tasting whisky at a distillery at 10 in morning; having a jolly meal (and lots of wine) with jolly people with broad accents around a huge square farmhouse table; getting soaked in the rain, cold in the wind and then even sunburned at St Andrews but enjoying every moment while soaking up the atmosphere of the "Old Course"; enjoying my first "deep fried haggis" (my best meal of the trip); visiting family in their homes in Scotland and now knowing where they live; walking through quaint English villages and watching canal boats in action; more pictures of flower boxes; the wonderfully picturesque Yorkshire Moors and Dales; more walks and a picnic in the rain; sipping cider on a pavement in Leicester with Richard III's bones close by; seeing your son's eyes light up when seeing you on Trafalgar Square (and getting the best hugs); drinks in Soho with three special boys (and me) on our last night in London; Brooklyn brownstone apartments with creaky floors, steep staircases, high ceilings and bay windows with views of trees and blaring music from passing cars; pizza in a typical Brooklyn restaurant with chalk boards, brick walls, wooden tables, candles, laughter, beer and noise; steamy weather and people watching on Washington Square until midnight; Central Park from the north side - a lovely long walk on a very warm day; returning time and time again to Bryant Park for lunch or water (or to share a Coke) or use the bathroom; the High Line for the first time with a special tour guide; a ferry trip to Governors Island; a tour of the magnificent Grand Central Station; Central Park and iced coffee and watching hip-hop dancers and the Bubble Man and having my first ride on a carousel; getting so caught up in a Broadway show that tears splashed onto my programme; watching the Red Sox at Fenway Park; spending time at the Kennedy Museum which is just what a museum should be; eating enormous quantities of Kimballs ice-cream; swimming in Littleton Lake in Boston on a muggy day in the rain; clam chowder and lobster rolls; driving from Boston to Canada through Vermont and crossing the bridges on the Champlain Islands on our way to the border; family celebrations and music; onto Ottawa and the family reunion with 30 of the Kotze family together again (aged from 6 to 73), (many meeting for the first time), sharing, noisy times and quiet times at a beautiful retreat, lovely meals, long walks and great swims in the lake, a time of togetherness and fun; a birthday, an engagement of two special people and celebrations with more music; sad goodbyes...
followed by more exciting travel to make the long trip home; 2 out of 3 boys (and a dog) at the airport to meet us; family and friends for a special lunch; having Nic home for week; a sad goodbye this morning....
and the wheel keeps turning
Some new pictures (in no particular order) downloaded from my camera (at last):-
It is good to get out of your comfort zone. Good to go where no one knows you and where you don't care about testing all the make-ups and creams that say "please try me" or skipping like a crazy woman on a bridge.
The world is big and I will never see it all. I would like to visit new places but is it wrong to want to go back to the same places time and time again? Is it wrong to have now been to New York twice and spent over two weeks there and never been to the Museum of Modern Art but to have been to Bryant Park and Central Park at least seven times? I don't think so.
8. A few of my favourite things
Sipping wine at an Italian restaurant on the banks of the Thames; a walk in bright, hot sunshine along the South Bank; a drink at a pub covered in flower boxes then lunch and watching Wimbledon in a pub near Nottinghill with young friends; a wonderful evening with family in the garden of their beautiful home in Dulwich, sharing stories and a few tears; a train trip to Scotland; photographing flower boxes and tasting whisky at a distillery at 10 in morning; having a jolly meal (and lots of wine) with jolly people with broad accents around a huge square farmhouse table; getting soaked in the rain, cold in the wind and then even sunburned at St Andrews but enjoying every moment while soaking up the atmosphere of the "Old Course"; enjoying my first "deep fried haggis" (my best meal of the trip); visiting family in their homes in Scotland and now knowing where they live; walking through quaint English villages and watching canal boats in action; more pictures of flower boxes; the wonderfully picturesque Yorkshire Moors and Dales; more walks and a picnic in the rain; sipping cider on a pavement in Leicester with Richard III's bones close by; seeing your son's eyes light up when seeing you on Trafalgar Square (and getting the best hugs); drinks in Soho with three special boys (and me) on our last night in London; Brooklyn brownstone apartments with creaky floors, steep staircases, high ceilings and bay windows with views of trees and blaring music from passing cars; pizza in a typical Brooklyn restaurant with chalk boards, brick walls, wooden tables, candles, laughter, beer and noise; steamy weather and people watching on Washington Square until midnight; Central Park from the north side - a lovely long walk on a very warm day; returning time and time again to Bryant Park for lunch or water (or to share a Coke) or use the bathroom; the High Line for the first time with a special tour guide; a ferry trip to Governors Island; a tour of the magnificent Grand Central Station; Central Park and iced coffee and watching hip-hop dancers and the Bubble Man and having my first ride on a carousel; getting so caught up in a Broadway show that tears splashed onto my programme; watching the Red Sox at Fenway Park; spending time at the Kennedy Museum which is just what a museum should be; eating enormous quantities of Kimballs ice-cream; swimming in Littleton Lake in Boston on a muggy day in the rain; clam chowder and lobster rolls; driving from Boston to Canada through Vermont and crossing the bridges on the Champlain Islands on our way to the border; family celebrations and music; onto Ottawa and the family reunion with 30 of the Kotze family together again (aged from 6 to 73), (many meeting for the first time), sharing, noisy times and quiet times at a beautiful retreat, lovely meals, long walks and great swims in the lake, a time of togetherness and fun; a birthday, an engagement of two special people and celebrations with more music; sad goodbyes...
followed by more exciting travel to make the long trip home; 2 out of 3 boys (and a dog) at the airport to meet us; family and friends for a special lunch; having Nic home for week; a sad goodbye this morning....
and the wheel keeps turning
Some new pictures (in no particular order) downloaded from my camera (at last):-
flower boxes in Glasgow
home of the Bronte's
taxi advertising the show we saw - An American in Paris
view from Governor's Island to New York
birthday presents in Canada
the converted mill home where we spent the night before our day at St Andrews
