I can remember a time when I could not be alone. I mean, could NOT. I rotated between having a boyfriend, or living out of my car and staying at different friends houses (those that know me well will remember those days ) I found it hard. It made me feel sad. I didn't like having to sit with my thoughts, and not be distracted... I needed to be around people, all the time.
While I am working on the farm, I do spend quite a but of time alone. The guys are usually out the door when I get up, but I do see them throughout the day. When I bring them their lunches, or when they call me out to move something for them. (yesterday I spent most of the morning learning to drive the tractors better and moving bins around the paddocks). On Friday Rebekah and the kids come up after school and stay for the weekend. So really..I still have human contact.
This weekend I decided to go on a "Solo Emily Road Trip" in the van. I folded the seats down, grabbed my sleeping bag and some clothes, and off I went. The radio in the van doesn't work so I do a LOT of thinking while I drive. (see two posts ago..) I also don't have a/c, so I get very sweaty when I am driving, haha. My destination was obviously the ocean, as I just love being near water. I had been told that there was a cool spot called GreenHead, so that's where I was headed. The drive sun was shining bright and it was an amazing day for driving.
I thought a lot about how nice it would be to have someone with me driving To be able to chat, and talk about all of the cool things along the way, and pretty sights. I stopped to watch a TON of sheep being hearded...honestly I think there were a million...maybe even a billion! (not really, but seriously there were so many sheep I couldn't even believe it.) Then I started thinking how lucky I am, especially in this very moment-alone or not.
I thought about how many times I had been "with people", not alone- but felt very alone. I thought about how many nights I went to sleep beside someone, but felt very sad and alone. I thought about how lucky I was, to be in Australia- to have a vehicle, to be driving in the beautiful sunshine down to the ocean. At that point I didn't feel alone anymore. I felt happy. :)
When I got to GreenHead I just started following little "tourist" roads, most that lead me to the beach. The sand was so white and beautiful. There were a bunch of guys on dirt bikes driving through the sand dunes (that were so white it looked like snow) I stopped whenever I felt like it and took some photos. I had some water in the back so I kept filling up my water bottle with that. (p.s a bottle of water is like 4$ here!! insane!)
I decided to head to Leeman which was about 10K from GreenHead and find some food. I went into this little hole in the wall restaurant (from the outside) but on the inside it was awesome! I was instantly greeted loudly with a "Good Evening Love!" from an Australian woman. She was very kind and I ordered a burger and sat down to wait. The restaurant was full of personality. There were plants everywhere, ad lots of flowers (real and fake). It felt nice and had a lot of personality. She brought over my burger and then gave me the confused look that everyone gives me when I ask for Ketchup (they call it tomato sauce here). I ate my burger and people watched as a group of about 15 people came in. I started to chat with one of the girls (she was from Chilli) and she told me that they were driving back to Perth from a day of working. They were all Stock Tagers, and with her thick accent I couldn't really make sense of what that was but either was she was very sweet to chat with :)
I packaged up the rest of my dinner to eat for breakfast (backpacker problems). The girls told me that I could park my van down by the ocean and that if a Ranger came up at any point (you aren't allowed to just park anywhere- you can get a $200 fine) just to tell them that I was to tired to drive and scared of kangaroos. You are legally allowed to pull over for 24 hours and rest if you feel tired when you are driving. That was some good info that they gave me :)
I saw that the sun was starting to set, so I drive down to the beach to a lookout point to snap some pics. I grabbed a blanket I had in the car as it was a bit chilly and walked up to the lookout. The Sunset was A-MA-ZING! (I will post pics...don't worry) It was a weird feeling to be there alone. It was actually very tranquil. I just thought about how I was grateful for this experience. How lucky I was to be getting to sit and watch this sunset in perfect silence.
Then..I realized that the sun was pretty much down, and I started to get scared of outback wildlife..haha. So I booked it to the van.
At this point it was only 7:30, but I didn't care. I went and parked my van by the ocean. I sent a few pics to mom and people at home of what I had just gotten to see. I made sure all the doors were locked, and I fell asleep :) I actually didn't sleep too bad, considering I was in the back of a van with the seats folded down ;)
The next morning I woke up around 7:00 am. When I looked outside it was Ocean. Beautiful :) Now that's something I love waking up to :)
I also noticed that there were about 5 other vans that had congregated in the parking lot. haha. Great minds think alike :)
I went and got a coffee from the restaurant and then sat down on the beach and drank my coffee. What a way to start a day :)
I decided to drive back to the farm around 1:00pm. I had some stuff I needed to do there, and I am not a huge fan of driving at night. There are a TON of accidents caused my kangaroos out here. Id rather be safe.
On my drive back I was a bit hungry so I decided to turn off in this small town called Eneabba and go to a small spot called Sands Tavern. If my dad has taught me anything it's that some of the best spots are hidden gems :) I was the only one in there when I went in, but it was a very cute spot. The walls were covered in neat stuff like Harley Davidson signs and deer antlers. I ordered a chicken, cheese and pinapple sandwich from Sam, one of the owners. She was very sweet and told me that her husband Jay and her had just taken over the restaurant 9 months ago. They had done a TON of work on it. He told me that there were only 33 people that lived in the town of Eneabba...how crazy is that?!
I had my sandwich and chatted life with them for a bit. He showed me his Harley, and then they invited me back up November 29th for a big party that they are having :) Could be fun, and how convenient that I can just sleep in my van!(best purchase ever!)
They were really cool to talk to and I was so happy I had made the turn to stop in. :)
Basically my "Solo Em Weekend" was a success. As much as I had moments of feeling a bit lonely- I was able to change my thoughts about it so I didn't feel lonely anymore. When you express gratitude, and focus on the good stuff/positive stuff, it doesn't matter if you are alone- you feel GOOD :)
I got back to the farm feeling recharged and ready to take on the week of cooking and tractor driving.
My Resume really expanding....;)
XX
While I am working on the farm, I do spend quite a but of time alone. The guys are usually out the door when I get up, but I do see them throughout the day. When I bring them their lunches, or when they call me out to move something for them. (yesterday I spent most of the morning learning to drive the tractors better and moving bins around the paddocks). On Friday Rebekah and the kids come up after school and stay for the weekend. So really..I still have human contact.
This weekend I decided to go on a "Solo Emily Road Trip" in the van. I folded the seats down, grabbed my sleeping bag and some clothes, and off I went. The radio in the van doesn't work so I do a LOT of thinking while I drive. (see two posts ago..) I also don't have a/c, so I get very sweaty when I am driving, haha. My destination was obviously the ocean, as I just love being near water. I had been told that there was a cool spot called GreenHead, so that's where I was headed. The drive sun was shining bright and it was an amazing day for driving.
I thought a lot about how nice it would be to have someone with me driving To be able to chat, and talk about all of the cool things along the way, and pretty sights. I stopped to watch a TON of sheep being hearded...honestly I think there were a million...maybe even a billion! (not really, but seriously there were so many sheep I couldn't even believe it.) Then I started thinking how lucky I am, especially in this very moment-alone or not.
I thought about how many times I had been "with people", not alone- but felt very alone. I thought about how many nights I went to sleep beside someone, but felt very sad and alone. I thought about how lucky I was, to be in Australia- to have a vehicle, to be driving in the beautiful sunshine down to the ocean. At that point I didn't feel alone anymore. I felt happy. :)
When I got to GreenHead I just started following little "tourist" roads, most that lead me to the beach. The sand was so white and beautiful. There were a bunch of guys on dirt bikes driving through the sand dunes (that were so white it looked like snow) I stopped whenever I felt like it and took some photos. I had some water in the back so I kept filling up my water bottle with that. (p.s a bottle of water is like 4$ here!! insane!)
I decided to head to Leeman which was about 10K from GreenHead and find some food. I went into this little hole in the wall restaurant (from the outside) but on the inside it was awesome! I was instantly greeted loudly with a "Good Evening Love!" from an Australian woman. She was very kind and I ordered a burger and sat down to wait. The restaurant was full of personality. There were plants everywhere, ad lots of flowers (real and fake). It felt nice and had a lot of personality. She brought over my burger and then gave me the confused look that everyone gives me when I ask for Ketchup (they call it tomato sauce here). I ate my burger and people watched as a group of about 15 people came in. I started to chat with one of the girls (she was from Chilli) and she told me that they were driving back to Perth from a day of working. They were all Stock Tagers, and with her thick accent I couldn't really make sense of what that was but either was she was very sweet to chat with :)
I packaged up the rest of my dinner to eat for breakfast (backpacker problems). The girls told me that I could park my van down by the ocean and that if a Ranger came up at any point (you aren't allowed to just park anywhere- you can get a $200 fine) just to tell them that I was to tired to drive and scared of kangaroos. You are legally allowed to pull over for 24 hours and rest if you feel tired when you are driving. That was some good info that they gave me :)
I saw that the sun was starting to set, so I drive down to the beach to a lookout point to snap some pics. I grabbed a blanket I had in the car as it was a bit chilly and walked up to the lookout. The Sunset was A-MA-ZING! (I will post pics...don't worry) It was a weird feeling to be there alone. It was actually very tranquil. I just thought about how I was grateful for this experience. How lucky I was to be getting to sit and watch this sunset in perfect silence.
Then..I realized that the sun was pretty much down, and I started to get scared of outback wildlife..haha. So I booked it to the van.
At this point it was only 7:30, but I didn't care. I went and parked my van by the ocean. I sent a few pics to mom and people at home of what I had just gotten to see. I made sure all the doors were locked, and I fell asleep :) I actually didn't sleep too bad, considering I was in the back of a van with the seats folded down ;)
The next morning I woke up around 7:00 am. When I looked outside it was Ocean. Beautiful :) Now that's something I love waking up to :)
I also noticed that there were about 5 other vans that had congregated in the parking lot. haha. Great minds think alike :)
I went and got a coffee from the restaurant and then sat down on the beach and drank my coffee. What a way to start a day :)
I decided to drive back to the farm around 1:00pm. I had some stuff I needed to do there, and I am not a huge fan of driving at night. There are a TON of accidents caused my kangaroos out here. Id rather be safe.
On my drive back I was a bit hungry so I decided to turn off in this small town called Eneabba and go to a small spot called Sands Tavern. If my dad has taught me anything it's that some of the best spots are hidden gems :) I was the only one in there when I went in, but it was a very cute spot. The walls were covered in neat stuff like Harley Davidson signs and deer antlers. I ordered a chicken, cheese and pinapple sandwich from Sam, one of the owners. She was very sweet and told me that her husband Jay and her had just taken over the restaurant 9 months ago. They had done a TON of work on it. He told me that there were only 33 people that lived in the town of Eneabba...how crazy is that?!
I had my sandwich and chatted life with them for a bit. He showed me his Harley, and then they invited me back up November 29th for a big party that they are having :) Could be fun, and how convenient that I can just sleep in my van!(best purchase ever!)
They were really cool to talk to and I was so happy I had made the turn to stop in. :)
Basically my "Solo Em Weekend" was a success. As much as I had moments of feeling a bit lonely- I was able to change my thoughts about it so I didn't feel lonely anymore. When you express gratitude, and focus on the good stuff/positive stuff, it doesn't matter if you are alone- you feel GOOD :)
I got back to the farm feeling recharged and ready to take on the week of cooking and tractor driving.
My Resume really expanding....;)
XX
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