I’m a firm believer in me time. Tomorrow morning at 6am I’ll pick up my backpack and walk out the door of my house alone. I’m going to jump on a train and head down to Mombasa by myself. I’ll spend the afternoon exploring Mombasa. I’ll visit the old town and the antiques market. Then on Saturday I’ll head up the coast to meet up with hubby and kids. A time for reflection, exploration and solitude.
I’m excited on many levels.
Backpacker at heart
In my soul I’m a girl with a backpack and no particular destination in mind. I hate to plan. I love to explore. I hate conventional holidays. I love off the beaten track. Travel is in my blood, adventure my beating heart. Fulfilled only slightly by living in Kenya. So to be shouldering a bag again, even if just for a few hours, feels like a breath of fresh air. A gift in a life of routine and schedules and generally mummy-ness.
Happily lonely.
I’m excited because although my family is my whole life, I love to be alone. It took me years to be comfortable with my own company. As a teenager I craved companionship. If I had a Saturday afternoon with no friends around I’d be in bits. Then I went solo backpacking around South America and spent weeks alone. I found the pleasure of my own company. Peace. Time to think. Time to read. The ability to go, eat, do what I want, when I want. Is it too much to say I found myself on that trip? Since then I’ve loved to be alone. Part of my happiness is the idea of 30 glorious hours with no one to think about but myself. I have no idea what I’ll do when I go to Mombasa. I don’t know where I will go or what Ill see. Only that I’m going to get off the train, take a tuk tuk to the old town and start walking around. What glorious freedom. My excitement is palpable.
BLOG: LIVING AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
Exploration, adventure and old things.
I’m excited because I love this gorgeous country. I’m drawn both to the sea and to ancient culture of which Mombasa has both in spades. My happiness intensifies as the buildings become more ancient, the landscape more wild, and the people increasingly unfamiliar. There is something of the earth, a story untold about old buildings. I love antique markets. The discoveries of curving knives, old gourds, Arabic tea kettles, brightly coloured jewellery. I love the feel of wood worn smooth, metal polished to a shine, mirrors with mottled edges. Nostalgia, the past, a piece of history preserved. These places, these ageless objects, they make me think about other people, other times. They knock me out of the every day, the humdrum and remind me to think other people, other lives. Perhaps they remind me of how fortunate I am in my life.
Objects with soul
Shopping at a flea market or antique market is the emotional opposite of the supermarket shop that is my every day life. It is contrary to the blatant consumerism that personifies most of the western world. Old buildings and second hand objects present us with an opportunity to learn about another life, time, culture or person. These are places and things with soul. 
Happy to be me
I suppose, I’m excited that for one day I get to take of my Mummy hat. I take of my wife hat, my friend, daughter, sister, boss, employee hats and I get just to be me. In today’s world, with our busy lives, a day to be yourself is a rare and beautiful thing.