Off to the unknown once more

Wow, so that was quite the rollercoaster these last few weeks here at the Bed and Breakfast. It started off well with an awesome 1 day road trip with some fellow helpers, but then kind of got a little bumpy as the Universe decided I had had enough fun and good times thus threw all sorts of crap at me!

Why did the Macbook have to die!

Although in saying that, it has really opened my eyes and blown this trip wide open now that I basically have next to no possessions with me anymore. I actually went and... like... did stuff! Actually come to think of it this last week has been great, we got 3 absolutely awesome helpers, Jason (Greece) and Harriet (Greece), and Gunnar from Iceland. Iceland! I have never met anyone from Iceland before.

I have been at this Bed and Breakfast a crazy 2 and a half months now. Wow. So suffice to say that seeing as the entire premise of this trip was to see and spend time in New York City, I should probably start getting a move on once more.

Sigh, I kind of don't want to move to be honest. Traveling around is tough! I am so comfortable here; I have my own room, provided food and accommodation, meet awesome people from all over the world, am learning countless new skills... where as traveling around involves noisy hostels, carrying bags, planning stuff... not to mention the terrifying fact that the future is so terribly unknown!
 
Some of my favourite moments of my final few weeks here:

Me and fellow helper Julia climbed onto the roof of the Bed and Breakfast and spent the afternoon drawing and painting, the sun shining, completely hidden away from the guests, it was awesome. That colourful piece is my water colour attempt at art.

Random picture from the tower, the ocean out below

One of the guests' dogs, she was beatiful

I lost my prescription glasses so my parents mailed me my spare pair from home, with some Vegemite included! Thanks parents!

I finished off my painting from that afternoon spent on the roof. I am a terrible artist but I was pretty proud of the end result.

Then I got even more creative!

 Then I wanted to show, via photos, a day in the life here at the Bed and Breakfast:

My room

The view from outside my door (I live at the top of a tower)

Down the tower we go

Have to check on our chickens! We have 8 hens and 7 chicks, so cool.

The famous Vivien (innkeeper of the Bed and Breakfast)

The chickens escaped, got to round them up haha

It really was a great place with just so much diversity, variations and surprises. Sure it was tough, and at times just plain dreadful to be honest, but I guess that's what this trip is all about; the experiences. I had planned to leave on the Sunday, with Gunnar (the Icelandish guy) accompanying me back down to San Francisco so I can move on from there. That Saturday however we were hosting a wedding reception here at the Bed and Breakfast, thus we were very busy preparing the house, it was insane.

Thankfully those tables and chairs aren't ours and were setup by a catering company

Then once the party begun the helpers and I were free from any responsibility as the wedding was all catered, so we just hung out, keeping our heads out of the way.

Jason found some funny glasses, funny!

That night the live music began and all the guests were in the ballroom dancing away, having a blast of a time. Jason, Harriet, Gunnar and I went to have a peak, which somehow lead to us chatting to a few of the guests... who loved the fact that we were from all different parts of the world.

"Come have some wine and dance with us!" the guests requested.

The next four hours were an absolute blast! Free wine and beer, becoming awesome friends with absolutely everyone, and just dancing like pure idiots... so sweet!

The helpers and I dancing away with the guests, the best fun!

Wow that was such an awesome ending to my time here, it was some of the best fun I've had in a while.

Being here was... ridiculous, amazing, dreadful, awesome, eye-opening, stressful. I managed so much that I never knew I was capable of like becoming assistant manager, I learned so many new skills, there was so much peace and stability, whilst simultaneously being an environment of pure chaos, which I welcomed I guess. Back in July when I first arrived I had no idea that I would end up staying here for so long, and despite staying here for so long I have no regrets, this really was a great way to spend a good chunk of my trip. I will honestly miss it, I could have easily spent another month here at least, I still felt there was so much I had left to achieve...

But alas, time to move on I guess.

So where to now? Well a lot of people of late have been asking me when do I plan on returning home to Australia. While I do have a rough date in mind, I don't want to divulge that information just yet, but I do know that I am coming up to the tail end of my time here which means I better get a move on if I want to see and do everything on my list before my return.

And... perhaps this trip has made me cynical due to my plans never seeming to work out, or just a string of terrible luck, so I actually don't want to mention where I plan on traveling to in the coming weeks until I am actually there (thus proving it actually worked out and didn't go astray ha...). Already things are going astray as I was meant to be in San Francisco already, but my ride bailed at the very last minute for absolutely no reason. So I will now be taking buses tomorrow instead... why!

This trip has definitely taught me that life is completely unpredictable. At every turn I try and plan my next move, or conjure an image in my mind on how things might turn out, yet time and time again it is always thrown completely upside down and I am always wrong.

Thus, like my time just before arriving to the Bed and Breakfast where I simply let what will come to be, just come to be, I will again just hope for the best and see what happens.

Wish me luck!