Penny for your thoughts.

'Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.'

Jack Kerouac 

I am two sides of a coin, in that one side of me desperately wants to see the world and the other is a person who aspires to owning dogs, growing vegetables and having a place to call her own. 

This juxtaposition is a constant state of inertia for me and has spearheaded most of my major life decisions. Recently a work colleague described me as a nomad and could imagine that I'll be living out of a suitcase, but then she said that she saw a side of me which seemed to really want to settle. How on earth does a nomad and a homebody become bed fellows? 

My desire to travel dominates most of my waking thoughts and has been the massive white elephant in the room when its come to the deterioration of my relationships (whether that was me wanting to travel or him). What is it about the adventure of the unknown which draws me like a moth to the flame?

Because this is the ironic thing, when I'm travelling all I really think about is setting up shop, having a dog and living a very simplistic kind of life. 

So what of the seeking?? 

2013 has been the year of home, for the first time in a long while I haven't been out of the country for extended periods, this both pleases and unnerves me all at the same time. I see the immediate future as the 'treading water years' both literally (here's hoping for surf) and metaphorically in that all being well I'll be enrolled on a university degree which will require three years of stoicism. Where I decided to do this degree does however offer up some form of travel I could do it in Birmingham or head to the coast. 

I hear you, I hear you!! The coast for a surfer if the most obvious choice but its not as simple as that. Birmingham has got under my skin, there are people here who I deeply care about and for the time being a job that I really enjoy. Imagine getting up to go to work with the same feeling of happiness you feel when you realize you have a day off. That's how much I love my job and that my friends is rare, very rare. 

When I first started working in Handsworth a rough suburb of Birmingham (UK) I'm going to be honest I was shitting it. The place has a reputation and the litter, cat calls off men and feeling very conspicuous made me very nervous. Initially I was working as a refugee youth worker there before I embarked on my current job and bit by bit I started to get more comfortable. Handsworth is a really interesting mix of all different kinds of people, the cultures rub up against each other in a shanty town kind of way and I happen to love it. I love that one minute I can pretend I'm in Jamaica and the next Iran, there are amazing Asian bakeries and not forgetting Polish and African shops. There's something vibrant and gritty about Handsworth which makes me love it despite the crime and the rubbish. 

I feel like I'm rambling so allow me to be succinct, this curiosity about either lifestyle, whether that be travel or staying is a constant question which I hypothesize might take me a lifetime to answer. Here's hoping I can try for a little of both and see where that leads me! 

  

Until next time...Stay strong and surf well 




  



Love 
Sophia

Romance.

I can't believe its taken me 25 years to watch 'When Harry met Sally.' 

RAD! 

On my 3 days off knowing I was unable to go surfing, I decided to allocate one day for meeting up with my best friend, one day for an adventure (more on that later) and one dedicated to slobbing about at home watching movies. 

I recommend if you have the luxury of time off to do things in that order, see a dear friend, travel to somewhere unexpected and relax at home. 

The last three days have been full of romance not because I've being getting lucky (ahem)! But for the spirit of adventure, fascination and stories. Did you know romance has five different meanings? Check out what the Oxford Dictionary has to say on the matter: 

noun

• 1 [mass noun] a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love:I had a thirst for romance
•  love, especially when sentimental or idealized:he asked her for a date and romance blossomed
•  [count noun] a love affair, especially one that is not very serious or long-lasting:a holiday romance
•  [count noun] a book or film dealing with love in a sentimental or idealized way:light historical romances
•  a genre of fiction dealing with love in a sentimental or idealized way:wartime passion from the master of romance

• 2 [mass noun] a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life:the romance of the sea

• 3a medieval tale dealing with a hero of chivalry, of the kind common in the Romance languages:the Arthurian romances

• 4a work of fiction depicting a setting and events remote from everyday life, especially one of a kind popular in the 16th and 17th centuries:Elizabethan pastoral romances

• 5 Music a short informal piece:the romance from The Gadfly became a popular favourite

My favorite is meaning this one:

'a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life:

the romance of the sea' 

As the festive season approaches there will be many reminders of romance and in the dark winter nights it is easy for loneliness to be emphasized. I'm in fact having to work this Christmas but don't feel sorry for me, I won't feel bad, it is what it is. Much like many of the events in my life I'm seeing this period of being single as an opportunity to explore and learn some things. Don't be afraid to be alone, it is through solitude we are able to reflect and discover things about ourselves. 

So enough rambling, let me tell you about my adventure. 

I was supposed to go surfing back up to my beloved Saltburn but a less than favorable surf report illicted an almost petulant response in me. I was so geared up for a journey that I impulsively dared a friend to chance a coach journey to anywhere in Britain. And so to Bristol City! Here's pictures from our adventure! 

The customary 'we're on a coach' selfie. 

 Bristol is an insanely beautiful city on account of all its graffiti artwork, I was literally stopping every five minutes to take pictures or selfies!

My beautiful travel companion/intrepid explorer/land locked surfer Adelle!

 

 

 So Adelle and I decided to go to Bristol Zoo which was AMAZING! As a vegan zoos can sometimes be a contentious issue but as a wildlife conservationist I see their benefit. Whilst zoos were established for unscrupulous reasons zoos such as the one in Bristol nowadays are beacons for conservation and are safeguarding vulnerable species for the future. Until we maintain habitats and protect wild areas zoos are unfortunately a necessary evil. 

 

I can't tell you how magical it was seeing Lowland Gorillas up close, I've always had such a soft spot for the great apes so I literally was getting misty eyes seeing them in such a unique way. 

 

  

   




































I had a 'moment' with this variegated spider monkey, he looked me directly in the eyes which was magical until his mate swung down and flashed his testicles at me!

Well that's enough photos for one day! 

Wishing you much romance in your life, until next time

Stay strong and surf well 

X 

To care.

'Don't put plasters over people's inadequacies,'  
 Graham Hobbs also known as my Dad.







































Interestingly I've met several surfers who work in the care industry. Nearly all that I've met are in professions which seem to have strong moralistic values, whether it be nurses, environmentalists, film makers or artists the majority seem to have a compassionate streak. 

So I wonder is this a quality inherent to all surfers? Do people who become wave walkers have DNA which makes them opt to pursue this lifestyle and work in sectors which encourage their compassion?

There is no direct correlation between my university degree (Wildlife Conservation Science) and the job I have now. Only to say that whilst out in Africa studying primates, I began to get to know communities around me and it was my interactions with them which made me ponder as the whether I was actually more a people person than I realized. 

Everything thats happened in the last few years has been in my peripheral and slowly crept into my consciousness unexpectadly to become tangible dreams and career moves. I'm currently working as a support worker as well as being a part time surfer, both of which appear to suit me. I didn't plan on working in the care industry but now that I'm here I don't regret the steps which led me to this place. Everyday I have the honour of participating in someone's day, enabling them to lead full and active lifestyles whilst maintaining their dignity and promoting their rights. Obviously I cannot talk openly about the people I work with for breech of privacy but I can say that I love my job and never feel like I don't want to go in, even if I am there for fourteen hours at a time. 

The only downside of being a carer is that it is almost impossible to switch that aspect of yourself 'off' so to speak. If one of the service users has a difficult day I take their problems home with me and worry until things are resolved. This goes for my friends also and for the men I'm with. 

I'm a mother without children and my desire to fix the world can sometimes cause me to burn out. I'm lucky in the sense that I have a support network in the form of family and friends who can stop me doing this. To be honest though the most steadfast method of bringing me back to myself is a bit of boardtime whether that be skateboarding or surfing.

That and travel. Travel is my solace and my cure. 

Even though I feel that I've sought and found great contentment in my everyday life there are moments when I miss doing the wildlife conservation stuff. Primates were always 'my thing' which is ironic because studying or working with them would mean being as far away from the ocean as humanly possible. 

Funny that. 

Today I'm going to Bristol City with my friend, hopefully I'll get to see some gorillas and other wonderful creatures at Bristol Zoo. 

I am constantly awed and rejuvenated by nature and the incredible creatures we share the planet with. Aren't we lucky. 

Until next time...

Stay strong, Surf well and love your world! 

x