Catch The Wind

To the real Jonathan Seagull, who lives within us all,

My identity is irrelevant. I am a vessel for everyone who has ever had an adventure, been anywhere, or even just dreamt of visiting some far off exotic place.

My story began when I was a young and overly precocious child, scouring my world atlas, memorising the names of unbelievable destinations like Ouagadougu and Zanzibar. Some years later, when I was old enough to understand my limits (or lack thereof!), I made a deal with myself: that I would have visited every continent by the time I was 30, and many other places in between.

My age is irrelevant too. Let's just say that I am far from thirty, and just two continents away from my goal.

This blog is not just about my travels (although they will feature a lot). It is about returning home and facing reality. Some days I wake up and feel the need to up and leave without telling a single soul. Other days I am so wrapped up in my own little life that I forget what it is that I love. Or who.

Currently, I am in limbo. I am stuck in between two great journeys: the one I have just completed and the one I am about to embark on in 6 weeks time - possibly the most life changing journey I have taken so far. I am in a dead-end job, earning money to make ends meet. I exchange banal gossip with my friends about people we knew at school. I am in a relationship with a perfect man who supports everything I do. I think I might be in love with someone else.

Two years ago, on an idyllic beach in Thailand, I came across a beautiful, sunkissed girl who just happened to be from the same city that I am from (my location is the most irrelevant detail of all. I live for not having one). She was settled into this amazing life where she was earning just enough to get by, and was spending her days lying on the beach and reading. She, like me, was all too aware of the oppressive existence of reality. She returned home once a year and fell into a dead-end job. She saw her old friends, and visited the places that they used to visit together. She made the money that she needed and she went travelling again as soon as she could.

"travelling".
I've heard people sneer at this word a lot. People think that it is just a synonym for laziness. My mother once told me that richness wasn't about having money - it was about experience. Experience is everything.

Come with me?

x