Pages

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Shop
Powered by Blogger.

An Adventurer's World

Lifestyle Blog

    • Adventures
    • Alternative Living
    • Australia
    • Costa Rica

    I live in a summer house at the bottom of my garden. Yes, you heard that correctly. Okay so I still have to go into the house to make food, use the toilet and see the family but its a work in progress.

    It all started when I came back from Costa Rica, I wasn't well anyway from the tropical disease (which is a post for another time) but I was so used to being more independent and going with the flow of life that coming back to a small house filled with loads of stuff, 3 other family members, 5 dogs and many other pets stressed me right out, I just didn't know what to do with myself. I got so worked up when people come over and coming home at night was also a nightmare trying not to wake up the family. But I carried on til only a few weeks ago. 


    Me and my mum were sat in the garden and I just broke down, I was so unhappy with my life, I was depressed, stressed and just wanted to have my own space or be the other side of the world. I just want to add that it wasn't my family or pets that made me feel like this, I love them all so much and they are so supportive but if you suffer from mental health issues yourself then you will know that sometimes it just comes. My mum didn't like seeing me like this and then she mentioned me moving into the summer house, which my sister had. She used it as a art studio in the summer for her paintings as well as storage. My sister was happy to let me move in, she had my room upstairs and her old room is now her art studios. 

    So that's what we did, with help from the family within a few days we had moved all the stuff out, painted it and then moved my stuff in. 

    It has honestly made me so happy, I have my own space which is a stress free zone, its minimalistic and orgainsed but I'm only a few steps away from the house for the important things.
    I am a lover of coffee so have a travel kettle with my enamel  mugs on the wall for quick access, I have electric and lighting. Everything I need and more!


    Its perfect for me because I have more space then I need, the dogs can come up and see me when they are in the garden. My cat Kevin thinks he owns the place and meets me every day at the door or on the bed when I come home. I can wake up in the mornings, wake the sunrise if I'm up early enough with a cup of coffee and a good book. It really has helped my mental health. Now I can enjoy my time before Australia a bit more stressful. 
    Even within the month or so that I've been up there, I have moved my stuff around, become minimalistic and there are still a few things that I would like to do to it but its all part of the fun. 



    Summerhouse tour coming soon!


    I shared the journey from art studio to bedroom on my instragram story, sophi3_xox

    Just a quick note - we looked into planning permission etc for the summer house when the family built if for my sister to use as an art studio so yes i am allowed to "live" in it. Its also 100% safe, its not going to fall down on me. Its a proper building. 
    Continue Reading
    Following on from Journey to the jungle, this post is all about the first night I spend in the hostel after my whole day of travelling.

    Looking back on the 2 days I spend in Puerto Jimenez by myself does make me laugh. The first night I was completely out of my comforts zone and the 2 days solo were stressful, emotinal but honestly amazing at the same time, as well as strangely eventful which you will find out later (on this post and others to come)

    So I am finally in my hostel room, and it was better then I thought, it was clean and tidy. there was a bed and a  warm shower which was honestly all that I cared about. It was all well and good but as you all know from the last post I didn't have my bag with me so I wasn't able to have a shower, change my clothes into something a bit more weather suited (why I thought it was a good idea to wear fleece joggers, I don't know) or anything. If you know me then you have properly already pictured what I was like, stood in my room, still in shock that I'm finally here in Costa Rica, still amazed that I even got here, sweating my tits off, my make up half way down my face due to this and not having a clue what to do next, so I got myself together and went for an amazing adventure... no, I sat on my bed and cried because as you have properly already guessed, I had no idea what the f*** I was doing!

    After about 10 minutes and a few more messages to the family, I got up and went into the town to try and get a few things (because you know, its all still at the airport!). One thing I have learnt in the time I was crying was that I really needed more than a pair of underwear. I found a shop about 2 minutes walk from the hotel and got a few basic things, toothbrush, hair ties and some water. I didn't realise how much you could communicate with body language and hand gestures. 
    I was so scared, what if someone tried to take my money or what if they couldn't understand me but I got back to the hostel.
     (I can tell you know the longer I was in Costa Rica the more I fell in love with Puerto Jimenez and by the end of my stay I was walking around that town like I had lived there for years)

    When I got back I thought I would face time the family to show them the amazing place that I was staying at. Of course, I tidied myself up first though, they couldn't see me like that, especially my mum. She has always been so supportive of my crazy dreams. (I don't think anything I come out with any more surprises her) I just didn't want to let her down and for her to worry about me when I was 16 hours on a plane away!
    I was stood by the gate which overlooked the beach when I heard some movement in the tree above, OMG this is it, this is the moment I see my first primate or exotic bird, that will make this whole day of stress worth it and my family would be here to see this beautiful animal with me!
    A squirrel ran along the branch....
    Yes, you read that right, a squirrel, just like what we get here in the UK, no bizarre markings or extra long tail, it just looked like a normal squirrel! You should have seen the disappointment on my face. Of course, the family just laughed and we said our goodbyes. I honestly did miss them but more because I wished they could have spent this amazing experience with me. By this time it was only 7pm but I was physically and mentally drained so I went to sleep.


    Oh, and i thought it couldnt of got any worse...


    Continue Reading
    Most people when they start off travelling go to an english speaking country, or somewhere not too far away, slightly outside of their comfort zones but still with a slight safety net. Not me, back in December I flew to Costa Rica, solo, 10 hours on the plane (16 hours due to time differences) to a country that spoke little English. the funny thing is that I have no memory of flying before, I've only been out of the country once before (to Disneyland Paris when I was younger, once by plane when I was 8 and I have no memory of it), I don't speak any Spanish and honestly had no idea what I was doing.

    So on 1st December, I set off with my mum and uncle up to London where we stayed overnight in a hotel before I got the plane the next morning. My friends and family were all there for the send-off, and god wasn't it an emotional, to think how much all those people had impacted my life, I couldn't think of spending 14 months without them but I needed to do it, travelling is my dream.


    The following morning we got up and headed to the airport, my uncle wouldn't let me carry my bag, even though I told him I needed to get used to it. They checked me into my flight and we said our final goodbyes, of which all were said through tears. I can still remember that moment like it was yesterday. I think this was the moment when I realised what I was doing, today was the day I would be following my dreams, what I had spent the last 3 years saving for (I also didn't realise only 2 months later, this 14-month dream would come to an end)

    I'm not going to bore you with the details about the flights etc but it wasn't an easy journey.

    You can imagine how stressed I was, I had no idea what I was doing! I had a breakdown in the line for my connection flight because I had no idea where I was going and I couldnt communication with anyone, so I cried and texted my family (note to readers - that really didn't help, crying does nothing and you just make your family 1000000% more worried) but I did it. A lovely Costa Rican helped me to the right terminal, he spoke good English so we had a nice conversation about the amazing place he got to call his home. That was one of the moments when I realised this is what I was meant to do, I was meant to travel the world and meet amazing people that I would learn so much from. I didn't realise that this was only the start and that along this journey I would meet so many human beings like him.

    When I finally got to the check-in desk, I got told to move any important item into my hand luggage because the flight was fully booked and they would have to bring our bags over on the next flight in the morning - great. This is all I needed. so I quickly stuffed a pair of underwear into my bag and was good to go. oh, I was wrong (but that's for another post)

    Next came a 50-minute flight in the smallest plane I've seen. That small that I had to sit next to the pilot. I'm not making this up I promise you! All 8 of us was stood next to the plane when the pilot pointed at me and told me to get into the front, so I sat in the front seat behind the pilot's chair, that's when he shook his head and pointed to the very front. I didn't know what to do, so I just sat there, too scared to do anything but move my head to the right and look out the window, however, the view was beautiful! The ocean was so blue, it was like something you only see on Instagram.

    When we landed I got a taxi to the hostel I was staying at for the next 2 nights before going into the jungle. The peoples there were lovely and English, which did make me laugh, they made me feel so welcome. They showed me to my room which was right next to the beach. I had found paradise. I started to relax a bit more at this time, yes I was still worried because I didn't know what to expect and it wasn't like anything I like back at home. I also completely forgot how hot was is in Costa Rica.


    But this was only the start.
    Continue Reading
    Newer
    Stories
    Older
    Stories

    About me

    Sophie Parr
    Adventurer at heart, free spirit and minimalist
    This blog is all about my world; the way I view and deal with everyday life and of course, my travels!

    recent posts

    Tell Me All About Your Adventures ↘️ ↙️

    Name

    Email *

    Message *


    Blog Archive

    • December 2018 (3)
    • October 2018 (5)
    • August 2018 (1)
    • July 2018 (2)
    • June 2018 (3)
    • May 2018 (1)

    Report Abuse

    Created with by BeautyTemplates | Distributed By Gooyaabi Templates

    Back to top