05 Aug Amanda’s recent travel experience 2023

I will begin with a quote from the film “Eat, Pray, Love”:  If you are brave enough to leave behind everything that is comforting and familiar and set out on a truth seeking journey externally and internally and regard everything along that journey as a clue and accept everyone along the way as a teacher and face difficult realisations about yourself, then the truth will not be held from you.   

So, what did I learn?

I learnt that to be truly free, one has to practice forgiveness and to be able to let go of the past and be present and to try not to think too much about the future.  Yes, we have to make plans for the future, but the key is to remain in the present whilst doing so.  Surrender, be patient and go with the flow, as the water flows and to try not to force things.

I was never far away from water having been to the Lake District, Crete, down the West Coast of Wales to Pembrokeshire and the Gower Peninsula and Anglesey.  Being a Pisces, I have a close affinity with water, and I’m always drawn to it.  Water brings me great peace, joy and happiness be that a river, the sea, a lake, a stream or a waterfall and it is very cleansing so we can use it to wash away all that we want to let go of from the past to make space for new things to come in, just as a storm passes and the sun comes out. 

I also learnt that you can give yourself everything you need internally but whilst at the same time enjoying the external experiences that nature and travel provide.  So, you can find the paradise you are seeking from within so you don’t need to travel around the world to find paradise as you can get this from wherever you are (I already knew this before I embarked on my adventure, but it became very clear and was clarified whilst on my journey). 

I practiced lots of gratitude as I have no hot running water in my van and only a small water tank and not much power to keep my fridge running and cool enough to stop fresh food from going off if I’m not hooked up to electric on a camp site which most of the time, I’m not as I like to wild camp as you are away from the crowds and you can find some idyllic places to park up which are off the beaten track.  I also don’t have a bathroom in the van so no shower and no separate sink to wash in.  I do, however have a toilet for emergency use.  I bought a portable shower which you fill with water and put on the bonnet of the van to heat the water up on a sunny day or you can fill it with water from the kettle.  I hung it up at the back of the van with the doors open for privacy and showered that way a few times which was very welcome on a hot day having been sweating and caked in sun cream and stuck up with sand.  On other occasions, I strip washed in the van and when the need arose, I did have the luxury of booking on a campsite to shower, fill up with water and empty my wastewater and toilet (the biggest joys of camper van life). 

So how did I connect internally?

I did lots of meditation and yoga on the beach and I took my new Himalayan singing bowl and connected with it with my voice.  I played it sat by a waterfall, in caves with the echoes of the bowl and my voice bouncing from one corner to another.  The vibrations reverberating in every cell and molecule of my body.  I did lots of sitting in silence which is when the answers you are seeking come to you.

There were several occasions where I said to myself or out loud that “I was in heaven” for differing reasons but all because of the magnificence of nature, the rivers, mountains, ocean, waterfalls, wild life, bird life, sunrises, sunsets, insect life, flora and fauna, sweet smelling scents, the sun, the moon, the stars, all of which brought me immense serenity, peace, tranquillity, calmness, joy and happiness.  Places to just be and absorb the incredulity of being in the present moment and connected to myself and my surroundings.

I will try and describe one such occasion.  Just outside Cemaes Bay on Anglesey along the Wales Coast path, I spotted a cave to my left and I wondered if it was accessible.  On closer investigation, I found that it was, but it was very tricky walking over the spongy, slippy, seaweed covered rocks, so I had to tread very carefully.  At the entrance to the cave was a large boulder but I was delighted that I was able to carefully get around it.  As I looked up, I saw a hole in the roof of the cave where white light was shafting through.  It reminded me of the “Lord of the Rings” and Gollum came to mind as it was a very similar scene to the one in the film. 

I find it fascinating that both the cave and the hole in the roof have been carved by the power of the waves coming in and then going out again on the tide over millions of years.  As I existed the cave, I was greeted with the most wondrous, exhilarating site which took my breath away.  Jagged rocks rising from the ocean floor, draped in seaweed of differing shades of greens and browns with two large walls of rocks on either side which were drilled with holes and clung to by sea anemone, snails and tiny insects crawling around. 

As the tide came in, it created a large, blue pool of water to the right.  An outcrop of further rocks could be seen in the distance with the waves crashing over them.  It was cloudy at first but then the clouds parted revealing the sun’s rays sparkling on the surface of the ocean like diamonds and casting hues of gold as if the fire was burning away any fears.  A hypnotic potion.  It was very windy which was blowing faith and trust into my life as my long, golden hair flowed behind me.  It was one of the most magical experiences of my life and I felt compelled to be totally free, so I undressed and draped myself over one of the seaweed covered, cold rocks imagining myself as a mermaid, selkie or siren – a goddess of the sea – Amphitrite.

A power station was silhouetted on the cliff tops in the distance, and I felt the power of the elements as I connected with each one; fire from the sun, the salty air of the wind brushing my skin and filling my lungs, water with the sea all around me, space or ether and earth with the beauty and energy of the rock formations.  I felt compelled to pause as I was leaving the cave to chant Om, Shanti Om as I felt so peaceful, serene and calm and I wanted to spread this feeling out into the world.

As I continued along the Wales Coast Path, I was greeted by another wondrous sight; A large white pointed rock sticking up from the golden beach; the White Lady.  As I got nearer, I noticed that the beach was strewn with red marbled rock which I later learned was copper as there were lots of redundant copper mines in the area.  The cliffs were also marbled with red and the contrast of the white against the red was beautiful.  The sun began to set, and the sky was marbled and mottled with wave clouds which parted to reveal the suns rays being cast upon the ocean, making it twinkle like diamonds.  A solitary sailing boat appeared bobbing on the waves in the distance and was silhouetted against the sky and the sea between the rocks of the coastline and a large rock out at sea.  I felt truly blessed to witness such an awe-inspiring site.

I continued my journey towards Holyhead as I was due to catch the ferry to Dublin the day after but I’d begun to feel quite lacking in energy and drained and I developed mouth ulcers which were extremely painful so I made the difficult decision to cancel the ferry and return home as I didn’t think it was the best idea to go to a country where I didn’t know anyone, wasn’t feeling well and I didn’t have access to a doctor.  It did feel the right time to come home as I missed my house and garden, my family, my clients and my friends and although I wasn’t away for as long as I’d planned, I had said to myself on several occasions that if this journey were to end tomorrow for whatever reason, I am so grateful and blessed to have done all the things I’ve done and experienced all the things that I have so I won’t be disappointed.  Ireland will still be there next year.