Deep corporate cleansing

This weekend I grew stir crazy on the farm and ran off to London, winding up at a hostel with strangers as diverse as the United Nations. London did not disappoint, but the part I will remember was the reminiscing we shared back at the hostel on Sunday evening. We all spent hours and hours walking, accidentally joining a breast cancer awareness walk (going the wrong way), and riding more than one bus in the wrong direction. Yeahh, always lost...more on being lost in London later. Anyway, as we poked fun of each others mistakes and missteps, I looked around my hostel room at the exhausted and dirty faces of my fellow travelers and was struck with how very happy each of them were. They were exactly where they wanted to be. The contentment on each of their faces, in spite of everything they didn't have, was amazing.

The sequence of events leading up to that moment are as sweet as they are strange, and most days I still can't wrap my mind around what my life is like now.

Let's back up. Two years after college I was working for an advertising agency, enjoying the job immensely and all the comforts that come with working with amazing people. During those days I would tell anyone who would listen how I wanted to work in missions, fighting for social justice and real social change. I had paid off half my college debt but the end wasn't coming fast enough. As time went on, I grew more itchy and landlocked and around the height of it, I was recruited to do in-house marketing for another company. This position would significantly shorten my loan pay off plan to just 12 more months. The company didn't have the best reputation, but in the end I accepted the job. I could handle anything for a year right?

The company turned out to be worse than I imagined. The politics and beaurocracy had a way of setting everyone on edge. I was instructed how to write emails, speak in meetings, the order of command to get approval, what times of the day I could speak to the boss, and how to spin the truth and deny any and all mistakes. Daily, I struggled with my decision but determined that I needed to just suck it up, fall in line, and in twelve months I was free. Again, what is twelve months of this compared to years and years of following my dreams?

In the end I made enough mistakes, and on a sunny Friday afternoon in June I was told I didn't fit in and shown to the door. To be honest, I wasn't great at the job - I could never keep the rules straight. Twelve weeks was all that it had lasted, but I was so burned out that I needed a deep corporate cleanse. That weekend my Grandpa was diagnosed with pneumonia and I went to visit him the hospital. He asked how work was going and upon hearing the entire story, he asked why I would have wanted to work for a company like that anyway. I explained the line that had become my mantra, I was doing this all so I could pay off my loans and be free. His response: oh! if that's all that's keeping you from following your bliss, I'll pay off the rest of your loans.

When I think that conversation took place five weeks ago, it still blows my mind. To be given so much freedom so fast was unbelievably overwhelming and I tried to think straight. I decided to spend the next few months outside, living with the most laid-back and modest people I could find. Six days later, I had signed on to WWOOF (world wide opportunities on organic farms) in the UK for the summer. I moved out of my apartment, sold my furniture and bought a plane ticket. I now spend my days gardening and doing any odd jobs around the farm. I stay with hosts and work in exchange for a room and food, which has been a cheap and fun way to get to know a country. Currently I'm in England (B), and I'll be working my way around the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, and then back to Wales.

When I come back in September, I have no intention of getting a job in Minnesota. There are still a ton of things to be worked out, but I would like for this next season of life to be spent fighting generational poverty, disease, and lack of resources in a third-world country. God willing, and I'm not kidding its going to take God to make this happen, I will get to work internationally for a non-profit that I can really put all my blood, sweat, and tears into.

Office break

Share these pictures with me. These are from my last few days in Wales and my first few days in England.

Dirty and happy, cutting down bracken taller than me.

I know the dog pictures are getting out of hand, but she's THAT awesome.

Spot the bee?

Green baby green.

Low tide

Our last walk :(

Look carefully at that van...cheeky bugger.

Bye Wales, bye hippies!

Change of scenery. From the hippie farm in Wales to the proper gardens in England. And from the rocky shoreline to flat English countryside.

Nature reserve.

Beautiful old 17th century church

Right, so I was feeling landlocked one night and tried to walk to the sea. My first obstacle was thick, high lilac shrubs.

Then I had to hop over about a half dozen of these mini gorges.

Leading to this :)

And this.

Phone box on my way home

My new coworkers. They help with the flowers.

Tiiiidy gardens....different than Wales.

Verrry English style home.

Veggies

I've met them.

You know all the times when you daydream about traveling and you imagine all the interesting people you'll get to meet? In your mind, they will be freaking hilarious, laid-back, down for whatever, and talk in funny accents. And of course, they will think you're equally awesome.

Meet Rich and Dave Moses.

Within hours of meeting at the hostel, we hiked a mountain and then missed the last bus into town and conned our way onto another bus with a suicidal bus driver who would swerve all over the road, scream in Welsh, and then honk and wave at people he almost hit. It was amazing!

Anyway, I met those two at the hostel in Wales before going to my first farm and ended up meeting them a few days later for a beer. I ended up forgetting my bus money and my host (Anita the hippie) was so upset about it she drove off and left me to walk the last few dozen miles. Yeahh, things had started to get weird. Long story short, Ellen the Angel (below) picked me up and drove me to meet my friends, chatting the whole time about how wonderful it is to see young people traveling. Whatasmile!!

The whole car ride I'm very charming, laughing at her jokes, asking about her kids, offering her chocolate, you name it. Finally we got to the clock tower where Rich and Dave were and I thank and hugged her, reminded her she is so pretty and young-looking, and joined my friends. They bought me beer and nachos and caught me up on more stories about how the country of Wales hates Dave (most recently he had stepped in dog poop in the hostel kitchen) and the more they talked, the more I laughed and by the time a bird pooped on Rich's face, I was almost snorting.

We met up again the other day and they made us dinner, we skipped rocks, drank beer, attempted to dunk biscuits in tea (harder than it looks), and said our goodbyes the next day. I headed off to England, the two of them had absolutely no agenda except getting me to the bus station. Isn't that amazing? What an incredible way to live, to just wander and meet people, share experiences and a few laughs together, and then go repeat it somewhere else.

I never knew hippie until now.

Will

Anita

Meet the reincarnation of Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin, my host couple in Anglesey, Wales.

Will, who also looks a lot like Merlin the wizard, studies and paints insects and his partner and fellow hippie Anita, spends her days gardening and smiling. They share a ten year old hybrid, recycle rain water for their baths, recycle bathwater for their loo, and grow, roll, and smoke their own dope (I promise I'm not involved in any of that). Will is South African and was kicked out of the country in the 60's for protests and demonstrations so he landed in London. Anita just spent six months on a boat off the coast of Peru and holy crap what have I done with my life.

Thing is, I don't think I've ever seen more relaxed people. I mean, they spend their days gardening and painting by the sea so I guess it makes sense. Once, we were getting ready to go somewhere for dinner and I was a bit rushed and said something about just downing this cup of coffee quick. They looked at me, shook their heads, and before I knew it we were chatting and my coffee was gone. Whenever she thinks I'm working too hard, Anita pulls me away for a cup of coffee, or asks me to just sit and stare at the sea.

Is this real life?

When I first got here Anita took me for a walk and showed me her gardens I would be working in. Actually, that is entirely misleading, let's try that again. When I first got here Anita took me stomping through waist high wildflower fields and occasionally stopped to point out the random strawberry plant or willow tree that I almost stepped on. She plants berries, herbs, vegetables, fruit, and trees all over her land, in what I now know are strategic places. She's trying to create her own eco-system, mimicking the natural order of the plants in the area. For example, trees are planted in a tight row on the east side to buff the wind for more vulnerable plants, or to provide shade for other partial sun plants. Herbs are planted nearby a little summer house, so when we break for tea, we don't have to get up to add more herbs (alright more convenient than natural, whatevs). Forget garden pots, markers, rows of plants or anything that might be remotely organized or associated with type one (or A, if you're Type A like that) people.

We garden here.

Then we drink tea here.

Hand-picked herbs for my tea.

Fetch has gotten out of control.

First the farmer sows the seed...

Avocado tree!

So that's it, I spend my days here gardening (basically weeding and path clearing), planting, playing fetch with Maggie, drinking copious amounts of coffee, listening to Will and Anita's stories, avoiding second hand smoke, and secretly figuring out a way to meet Prince William and Kate (they live on the island).


And, I get an enormous amount of time in prayer. Which is good, because after this trip I have no idea what is going to happen. But I'm learning to trust God as my Provider (for like two years, I've been learning this, not too quick on the uptake). And I'm learning to embrace the unknowns. Not my will, but His.

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness.

No really, people actually live here.

I arrived at Will and Anita's place a few days ago, my first WWOOFING host family. They live on a small island on the western part of Wales and it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. You drive through a tunnel of plants and flowers to get to their property, a two acre lush garden estate perched on a hundred foot bluff overlooking the Irish sea. Below the bluff is white pebble beach and where fisherman and lobster trappers go, along with some great climbing routes. The nature reserve next door has wild horses that freely roam their hundred kilometers of land, and sometimes come into ours. Disgusting, right?

Walk down to their private pebble beach

I'll be gardening on top of that bluff


Irish Sea

Maggie and I play catch till she's soh tiyarrd.

The wild horses that follow / chase me

Little punk


My tree bog loo