#GodsPromise and Cliffs of Moher

Please play this song while reading this entry

Another quote from the fabulous book, The Circle Maker, ties in PERFECTLY with today.

"The older you get, the more faith you should have because you've experienced more of God's faithfulness. And it is God's faithfulness that increases our faith and enlarges our dreams." 

I have never in all of my life seen so many rainbows. Literally saw 6 or 7 rainbows in between light sprinkles of rain (all while we were driving, thankfully!) and absolutely beautiful sunshine while we were out and about.

Anyway... I maybe got 7 or 8 hours of sleep after having been up for close to 40 hours the day before and woke up at 5:50 (YIKES!) to get ready for the tour today through Irish Day Tours. (HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY!)

I made sure to leave the hotel earlier than normal because you know how bad I am with directions... The tour started at 6:50 and people were supposed to be there by 6:40.  I probably made it by 6:56.  I got lost.  :(

I was 90% sure I wasn't going to make the tour, but thankfully the bus was sitting there when I got there so I made it!  Not only that, but we had overabudance of people so the driver needed someone to sit in the very front with him so guess who sat in the almost-drivers seat?! ME!!! Talk about BEST VIEW ON THE BUS! (Flashback to Australia when the Aussie guide invited me to the front and we became best friends LOL) I don't know what it is with me and sitting up front with the guides, but it's kind of my favorite thing ever. So we ended up chatting quite a bit as well. 

Here are some pictures from the CLIFFS OF MOHER:
(I took so many photos, but it was so amazingly beautiful. More will be posted on facebook!)

No filters were added to the pictures!  The grass is so green and the sky is so blue! I'm in awe.

We went some other places too, but the abbey was probably my second favorite :

Again, no filters! It is THAT absolutely stunning!!

35 hours and counting. first stop: Ireland

I haven't slept in 35 hours. Which also means I haven't showered. Which also means I smell bad.

As I was waiting in the airport, I came across these quotes from THE CIRCLE MAKER,
"...the day we stop dreaming is the day we start dying. 

I learned that if you aren't willing to put yourself in "this is crazy" situations, you'll never experience "this is awesome" moments. If you aren't willing to run off the cliff, you'll never fly."

Love it ^^

So I arrived in Dublin at 6:50am and I was too lazy/tired to figure out what to do so I snagged a taxi. SWEETEST old Irish guy EVER!!! I hopped in the backseat and about 2 minutes into the trip he pulled over and made me sit up front with him. We had a lovely chat ANDDD!! DON/BILL, I already told someone (him!) about EnterTRAINment Junction. I should get paid to do this. Ahem.  :)

Anywho, so I got dropped off at the place I'm staying and of course the room wasn't ready... so I decided to walk around the city and try to find some of the sites. Long story short, I'm horrible with directions so that wasn't working out so well for me. Not only that, but once I saw a landmark, I had no idea about the significance so I decided to join a Hop On/Hop Off bus which had added commentary. (I was originally thinking about doing that anyway on my first day so it actually worked out well as I stumbled upon them)

 St. Patrick's Cathedral

Dublin Castle

Anyway, I'm exhausted. I haven't slept in 35 hours (did I mention that already?!) and tomorrow I have to wake up at 5:45 AM for a day tour of Ciffs of Moher!

The Night Before (europe edition)

 

                                             ^^ My current obsession


I leave tomorrow for Europe.  16 days. On my own.

Someone said to me, "Sometimes I look at your life and think, wow, you're either really brave or really stupid." 

Right now, I definitely feel like the latter... Nerves are getting to me, feeling a lot of stress and anxiety, but I'm thinking that once I get to the airport tomorrow I'll be okay. I've been planning this since last year and I can't believe it's already here!

I'll be arriving in Dublin on Sunday and staying there for a few days...then I'll head to London for a few days... a day in Paris... and then a few days in Spain.

I'll try to update with pictures and stories. (kind of like I did for my NZ trip) Sadly, this one isn't going to be 2 months worth of blogging - just 2 weeks.


"This is why once you’ve traveled for the first time all you want to do is leave again. They call it the travel bug, but really it’s the effort to return to a place where you are surrounded by people who speak the same language as you. Not English or Spanish or Mandarin or Portuguese, but that language where others know what it’s like to leave, change, grow, experience, learn, then go home again and feel more lost in your hometown then you did in the most foreign place you 
visited.

This is the hardest part about traveling, and it’s the very reason why we all run away again." -kellie donnelly

Planning for Europe!

I am STOKED to say that I have my plane tickets for EUROPA! My next adventure is in August, and while I'll only be gone for a little over 2 weeks, I'm still nervous about this one!

Unlike NZ, I'll be traveling most of the way by myself.  I'll be traveling around Ireland, London, Paris, and Spain.  I've planned out a good portion of my travels already and it's going to be quite packed... which is good! I haven't been to any of these places before, so I'm really excited to see more of the world. :)  

And ... I'll be reuniting with my GERMAN SISTER in España! 

Here is a tiny sample of some of the things I'm planning on doing: 

Ireland-

Giant's Causeway, Cliffs of Moher, and Cork/Blarney

London-

Bike tour of London, Tower Bridge Exhibition, London Eye, Shakespeare Globe Theatre, Buckingham Palace, Hillsong (!) 

Paris-

Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Seine River Cruise (and hopefully I'll be able to see Notre Dame Cathedral and Arc de triomphe) ... am part of a guided tour for Paris since the city terrifies me.

Spain -

Madrid- Valencia- Barcelona  TBD 

Travel Challenge

By the age of 30, I want to hit all 7 continents.

What's your round tuit?

“Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life”
― Michael Palin

Falling out of love

So... I'm finishing up my few days in Nashville. Being in Nashville always causes a great deal of reflecting.

It's weird how something that had once driven my life now means nothing to me. I have so many music industry friends... and I honestly don't want anything to do with the industry anymore. I still love the people... so much. And I love all that I learned, but I'm over it.

Tourism/travel industry has become my new love.

And to celebrate... here's a quote that makes me happy:

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

... working on plans for 2014! SO STOKED.

the end is the beginning

Hands down this trip was probably the best thing I could have done for myself.  It was amazing. Challenging and difficult at times, but so worth it. 

I’m trying to prepare myself for answering questions when I get back. I’ve also been trying to reflect these past couple weeks on the trip as a whole. How have I changed? What have I learned? So many questions… and I don’t have a single answer. I don’t think I’ll even fully grasp this trip or wrap my mind around everything for weeks… even months, maybe.

Sorry to disappoint people, but I can’t answer any of those questions the way that I should. I’m anxious to see for myself what will happen when I get back. Will I be different?  Who knows.

Here are some things I do know:

I love traveling… and want to do SO MUCH MORE, but in smaller segments. No joke… the other night I started planning out the next 9 world trips. Its opened my eyes to a whole new world. HA!  But really, hearing about people taking off and traveling and seeing and exploring... that sounds so amazing! I want to see the world. This is the end, but it's also the beginning. I'm expecting a lot more world adventures in the near future. :)

This trip definitely pushed me…. especially New Zealand. I was with another person 24/7 for 6 or 7 weeks straight. That’s a lot of togetherness.  It was also "go, go, go" every single day and planning at the last minute… From the very beginning I had said that this trip would be good for me because it would force me to not be so up tight and to better "go with the flow…" but no. I still like to plan. I still NEED A PLAN. I also still worry when I don’t have to. I don’t think that’s going to change. And I know every single time that I worry, in the end everything will be okay…. But I still do it anyway.  So yes, New Zealand pushed me to go out more and do more things. (go, go, go mentality…. No time for rest) So hopefully I can keep some of that "go, go, go" spirit for back home. :)

Australia pushed me in meeting people. (which actually turned out to be really easy) I spent more time alone in OZ (on tours or in a hostel) and that’s where I met and talked to a good majority of the people. I think it’s easy over here though because backpackers/people traveling all have a common interest. Wish it was that easy to meet people back home! 

Another thing I realized is how much I love the tourism industry. Being a tourist for 2 months made me appreciate my job so much more. I had mostly good experiences these past 2 months, but there was one instance (it wasn’t a big deal)… in which the lady just seemed unhappy at her job. This in turn made me not want to be at her business. I want people to enjoy EnterTRAINment Junction. SO MUCH. And it makes me want to talk to everyone and find out their story and where they’re from and do whatever I can to make them love the place even more. 

Been working on a "BEST OF" video...still not happy with it, but I'm too tired to work on it anymore. Tried to make it as short as possible, but there was a lot to cram in there! :)

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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