So last week this little plaasjaapie (as Drizzle and Dip’s Sam Linsell has christened me), headed off on her first media trip for Getaway Magazine’s travel blog. I was Raising Men’s co-pilot in an exciting expedition which involved flying, jumping, marathon eating sessions, copious amounts of red bull, stormy-sea boating and a lot of body flinging into the great unknown.
Let’s get something straight. I am not one for hair-raising, last minute, pack-my-bag-and-go, “YOLO”* trips. Especially not solo ones (well, technically, Tash was with me, but we hadn’t really met each other before, so it could have gone either way). The longest I have been apart from Andrew in three years is the four days every year when he does his annual Quad 4 Quads trip. I am a home girl. I like my comforts, and I like knowing that things are where they are because that’s where they are supposed to be (panties – top drawer to the left; white wine – fridge, pretty much all over it; popcorn – in pantry , centre of middle shelf). Life is mapped out and I am a control freak. Nothing scares me more than somebody phoning me and saying that they’re coming for an out-of-the-blue visit and they’ll be at my front door in five minutes. Ha. Not if I run away before you get there. Spur of the moment is just not my thing.
Last week I was pushed out of the proverbial nest and forced to fly. Literally. Comfort zones were blown to smithereens and I felt very, very alive. Guys, I was suddenly a GETAWAY BLOGGER. Hanging out with fancy media people and really, REALLY great members of the blogosphere, such as Tash (writer of one of the best parenting blogs in the country), Shaina (Food24 writer and blogger at Milk and Cookies) and Sam Linsell (food blogger at Drizzle & Dip and author of her own cookbook). I attended wine and food festivals for free, was treated like royalty at every restaurant we went to, we even attracted a stalker, and guys, I had a media pass. A real media pass with a bright green lanyard. I am just a little pipkin of a blogger next to all the others whom were in attendance, and sometimes I had no idea what language they were speaking, but man, did I learn a lot from them.
Getaway and the organizers at the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival made sure that we experienced every concievable thing you possibly can in the greater Knysna area. Not only did we attended festival-specific events such as the Knysna Wine Festival, The Pick ‘n Pay Flavours of Knysna, The Tabasco Oyster Shuckle and The Craft Beer Festival, but we were treated to all-year-round excursions and attractions, such as a trip to The Knysna Elephant Park, an aerial tree adventure course at Acrobranch Wildwoods, the Face Adrenaline Bungee Jump at Bloukrans, a boat cruise through the famous Knysna Heads and a very special tour of the Knysna Township.
I could write a blog post on every one of these adventures – and maybe I will. There will defintely be a blog dedicated to THE FOOD AND WINE. There are so many stories and so many photographs. I will say now though that each and every day challenged me, humbled me and made very, very thankful for the life I have.
Being dwarved by an African elephant made me aware of my little human footprints. It made me aware that as humans, we are small, but powerful and that we can cause far greater harm than any other species on the planet. It is our legacy to change the world. I hope it’s for the better.
Bouncing through the waves at the Knysna Heads in the rain made me appreciate the immense power of the sea. Knowing that numerous shipwrecks lay below the surface as a result of it being one of the most dangerous spots on the African coastline, forced me to put all my trust in our skipper. The rain blasting my face made me silent and fixed me right in the moment. Times goes slowly when we are uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean we should fight it. Sometimes we must accept what life hands us, sometimes the battle is not worth the war.
Jumping off a bridge into the wide abyss taught me that you can master fear, and that most of the time we first need to give into it before we can conquer it. It taught me that I am strong, that I AM brave and that no task, journey or experience is too immense to tackle head-on.
Being exposed to the sad stories of abused children and neglected dogs on the township tour taught me that the survival instinct is strong. Life can throw you the ugliest of surprises, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight back, brush yourself off and put yourself back on your path. Asking for help does not mean that you lose your dignity. And offering help does not make you a saint; it makes you human – the best kind of human.
I wish I could compress my experiences last week into a two minute video, plug it into your brain and let you feel what I felt, do what I did, see what I saw. I have come back with an itch. I want to see more. I want to do more. I want to build libraries and teach. I want to travel. I want to taste more. I want to make friends of strangers. I want to hang out with intelligent people whom I can learn from. I want to keep feeling alive and be a part of the bigger picture that is life – in all its beauty and ugliness. I fear the swan within the duckling has been awakened. And she is preparing to spread her wings and fly.
* Just so we know, I frikkin’ HATE the term YOLO. But it worked in that sentence, and so I used it. I ain’t no urban dictionary snob.
PS: some of these images are mine, some of them are Natasha Clark’s (she did a good job of taking pics of me) and some are thanks to the team at Face Adrenaline.
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