Back in London Town Where it All Began
| February 1, 2013 | Filed under UK |
It’s been interesting being back in London, where Tyrhone and I met six and a half years ago. In 2005 I accepted a basing in London with the airline I worked for. Tyrhone, originally from South Africa, had been living and working in London for about eight years by the time we met at the Reading Music festival in 2006.
Us at 25, young, naive and skinny….
Being here has brought back a lot of memories, mostly good, though I cringe at some of them; me at 25, set loose in a world of travel, parties, festivals and horrific hangovers, squeezing in an almost full-time job as a flight attendant and the requisite jet-lag inducing, long-haul flights to Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.
My group of friends were predominantly Australian, mostly transplants from my hometown, and all living the right-of-passage, working holiday (a case of work-not-very-hard and play harder). We travelled fast – weekends in Paris and Prague; snowboarding in Austria and Switzerland; jaunts to Spain and Italy – and we partied hard, especially at the various festivals and concerts we saved our meager wages to attend.
Tyrhone hadn’t done a lot of travelling for fun; at seventeen he moved to Scotland to work in a fish factory, attempting to save enough money to help his Mum and sister emigrate to the UK. Afterwards he moved to London to make his millions as a personal trainer, then a movie props maker (his artistic creations appear in the Mummy Returns!), then as a night-security guard at the London Stock Exchange.
Our first trip abroad together was to Hungary, of all places. Our friend Marty was there exploring his heritage and we thought we’d crash the free accommodation he had at a relative’s vacant home (the great friends that we were).
After Tyrhone received his British passport we were off and running, adding Morocco, Egypt, Greece and Turkey to our repertoire of countries visited.
Delphi, Greece, 2007. Don’t ask…
Two years after we met, my contract in London was up. He boarded a plane to Australia with me to live in a country he’d never visited before.
In Perth we acquired a second mortgage in addition to the one I already had. Tyrhone earned his stripes at his first graphic design job (he taught himself Photoshop during the long night shifts at the Stock Exchange), and I settled into domestic flights with the same airline I had worked for since I was 20 years old. We put our energy into planning a few great holidays to Nepal and India, in between work and weekend trips to Ikea.
It wasn’t contentment that led us to travel the world, homeless and essentially jobless whilst attempting to eke out a living from our creative pursuits. We reached a point where we knew the house(s), cars, jobs and flat-pack furniture just weren’t going to cut it. They weren’t making us happy and we knew they never would. We wanted to create a life that was uniquely ours.
When we announced our plan to sell everything and travel the world indefinitely, well-meaning friends told us it would “make us or break us.”
And they were right, but they didn’t know a little secret, we were already broken. We were a pair of misfits who met in a foreign land, each with more baggage than a luggage carousel at LAX and we weren’t going to make it living the life we thought we should.
It’s been 360 days since we boarded a plane to Phnom Penh with the excitement of starting our journey to the unknown. We’re back in London where it all began, visiting Tyrhone’s Mum and sister. It’s the first time they’ve been together in three years, and it’s been great seeing them again.
London is the same, but we are different. We’re better than we were on so many levels, individually and as a couple, enjoying our work and the small amount of income it brings in because it’s from something we created; its value measured in ‘months on the road’ rather than bills that need paying.
It’s been the most amazing year.
Challenging, confronting, scary, joyful, exhilarating, creative and fulfilling. The way life is meant to be, for us, and I’m so excited to embark on year number two.
If you would like to receive updates on our next year of adventures, please subscribe to Sarah Somewhere or like me on Facebook!
And if you would like a website designed for a blog or business (that’s almost as pretty as mine!), take a look at Tyrhone’s graphic design site, Eye Pudding.
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What a great post Sarah! There is so much feeling and happiness in it, I smiled while reading it. Good for you guys! I hope the next 360 days will be even better! Keep writing, I really enjoy reading about your adventures! What’s next, by the way?
Maria
OurLifeExperiments recently posted..Balcones Canyonlands NWR, TX
Thank you so much guys (Maria, I take it?)! Looking forward to a change of pace – we’re setting up a base in our favourite country so far… And that was a terribly obvious clue!
I can’t believe you’ve been gone for a year. I feel like, out of the little “group” I’ve somehow formed in this travel blogging business, you led the pack. First you, then Kim, then Hannah. Next: me! Now I just need a blog. But seriously, you and Tyrhone are such huge inspirations to me. I can’t wait to see what year #2 holds for you!
Yay! I’m so excited for you Carmel, you ARE going to write a blog aren’t you?! Is it, like, 193 days to go by now??
Yes, we are. Just need to decide on a name finally. We’ll start it soon, but you know, gotta get that name, do all the techy stuff I don’t know how to do, make it look good…oh yeah, and write about stuff.
190 days until we quit.
227(ish) days until we leave.
But who’s counting??
Nice to reflect Jane, we sure have come a long way since your pink velour pants at Reading… I miss those pants
tyrhone recently posted..Blogging Success and the Green Eyed Monster
They were hideous! Your six pack wasn’t too bad however… I miss your six pack!!
6 pack abs? Pink velour pants? You two could’ve been on Jersey Shore!
Very entertaining ‘blast-from-the-past-up-until-the-present’ read! I look forward to reading your next adventure. Don’t tell though. I want to be surprised.
Mike recently posted..A Taste of Thailand
Okay Mike!! I’ll try and keep it to myself, though I’m not doing a very good job…
Gave me goosebumps! Looking forward to reading about your next year of adventures
Aw thank you Dani! It was funny going through the Reading photos and seeing you two and thinking, “They are parents now!!”
What a beautiful life you two have together!!!
Andi of My Beautiful Adventures recently posted..A Photographic Look At My Thanksgiving In 2012 + Giveaway
Sure is Andi! Ditto
what a great adventure so far! look forward to hearing about the ones to come!
Ash Clark recently posted..Backpacking Syria: Krak des Chevaliers
Cheers Ash! Happy travels to you too
Wow. It’s been a year!
Yes. reflection is so magicificent. I recently wrote a post about London and reflection since it was where the travel bug bit me and is where it all began!
Ah London…
Lauren recently posted..Why I “chose” Vitoria- Gasteiz or How Vitoria- Gasteiz chose me!
Hi Lauren, yes the weather is so bad it makes you want to leave! Nah, I still love London, it’ll always have a place in my heart
I was there to share the start, and now you’re here sharing with me the unique closeness you and Tykes have, the writing and ‘inside’ stories of your adventures, it’s been a wonderful time to have before your next adventures start, they’re going to be quite something to wait for, love you lots, Heather xx
That’s so sweet Heather, it’s been SO great spending time with you guys again, thank you for all the fun times, and here’s to many more! xxx
Congrats on a year, Sarah, and here’s to many, many more!
Kim recently posted..A Night in the Desert: A Jaisalmer Camel Tour
Thank you Kim, I’ll cheers to that!!!
Amazing way of life Sarah!
Next time that you’ll visit Greece, contact me…
Absolutely Manos! I love Greece
I wanted to write a comment about how much you kill it when you go all introspective and retrospective in your posts, but I’m still in a daze from that last photo. Seriously, you too look so hale & glowing, it’s like it was ripped from a catalogue. Gorgeous!
Steph (@ 20 Years Hence) recently posted..Reaching Thirty
Ha! You’re too kind Steph!! Maybe it had something to do with being apart for five weeks!!
Wow!
How refreshing to read about two like minded people! We feel exactly the same, especially about the flat pack furniture!
We travelled for 18 months, went back to London refused to get jobs and started our websites. Now we live in London in summer (well when its there!) and anywhere warm in winter. We have a lot less money but live a much better lifestyle. Like you guys we were fed up of paying for stuff that we did not need.
Anyhow, good luck and if we are ever in the same city, lets hook up for a beer!
Take care,
Paul (globalhelpswap)
Hey Paul, thanks very much, and good on you for taking the plunge! Your website looks great, all the best
Congrats on a whole year of travel! I’m almost at the point you were a year ago, about to leave London and set out on my adventure – I really hope my first year on the road is amazing and illuminating as yours has been.
Amy recently posted..Visiting Wales
Hey Amy, how exciting, I’m SURE you will have the most amazing time and I wish you all the very best
What a lovely story! What are your plans for year two of travelling then?
TammyOnTheMove recently posted..Flashback Friday: That time I knocked back coke with a Brazilian druglord
Thank you Tammy!! I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you
Just kidding, I just need something to write about!!
Awwe…congratulations for having the most amazing year! I hope this year is just as amazing if not more. It’s good to read about how you two met. Wishing the two of you a more wonderful years ahead.
Marisol recently posted..Vietnam: The Colorful Hilltribe Market of Bac Ha
And to you dear Marisol!
Hey Sez! That photo of you guys in the snow is absolutely the most beautiful thing. Love you lots, god bless and 1DAAT xxxxx karen r
Thank you darling I have been meaning to email you a huge thankyou for your HUGE donation to Frank water so Im sorry you beat me to it!!! Lots of love Kaz, all good this end thank you so much for your message it made my day
This is great, there’s clearly no question as to whether this was right for you. Amy and I are in the same situation, having all the furniture and flat means nothing really to us. We’ve sold it all and are off in just over a week! Can’t wait! Best if luck for year No. 2.
Andrew recently posted..Liebster Blogging Awards
Hi Andrew, totally the best thing we EVER did. Life is so exciting and I have become used to the unknown now. I’m HAPPY for you guys
!!!!!!