The journey back

The clouds felt my emotion with perfect pathetic fallacy as I prepared to leave Koh Rong. Claps of thunder echoed in our ears and the horizon was spiked with lightening as dark clouds gathered, ready to pour but only letting out tentative drops. It was me that was pouring as I sat on the boat waiting to leave, unable to look at the smiling faces waving me goodbye, the people I will miss so much. 

Then slowly, as I made my way across the water and the sun appeared from behind the clouds, I turned my attention away from sad thoughts of leaving and onto new plans for the future. So many ideas rolling around in my head about what I want to do. I want to do it all, see everywhere, do everything. Yet, when I find that special place, I want to stay forever.  In a way, part of me will stay on Koh Rong forever.  An essence of Glastonbury infused into the buildings, bars and food… A lingering splash of pink... and in return this small island has been permanently etched onto my heart. 

For the moment my journey has landed me back in England, for how long for I don't know. Already I'm working on a business plan that will get me back out to Cambodia so watch this space, fundraising coming soon!

6 Tips for first time travellers

1 1. Don’t bring too much stuff.

You can find almost everything on your travels for less than half the price it would be back home. A small washbag, a couple changes of clothes  and a good padlock is all you need (the padlock even unnecessary a lot of the time and simple ones purchasable in most places). A light bag enables you to walk around before getting a hotel room, hitch lifts and generally have freedom to do whatever you want!

2. A smile goes a long way.

Even if you don’t share the same language, a smile is universal. Those who smile back will often make great travelling companions, and this is usually a good time for #3.

   3.  Sharing food is a great way to make friends.

A simple gesture of offering to share your food can be a great way to start to making friends with locals or other travellers on your journey . Even if they refuse, the gesture shows generosity and they will be instantly more favorable towards you.

    4.    You can do anything if you put your mind to it

Does that mountain look too high to climb? That road too long to walk? You think you can’t touch your toes/hula hoop/spin fire? Think again. You can do it. Everything seems hard when you first try but with determination (and sometimes a few failed attempts) you can do it.

   5.    Plans change

No matter how long you plan your trip for, you will usually want to spend longer than you expect. Or something will happen that will make you want to move on sooner. The moral of the story is that plans change, so don’t try to be too set on what you’re going to do. Research, have options, but allow flexibility. Apart from public holidays (Christmas/New Year etc) you usually don’t need to book in advance, so let yourself be free, don’t book anything and go with the flow.

   6.    Just do it!

Stop fantasizing about what could happen or worrying about what might happen. Book a flight and go! What are you waiting for?

Moving on

The time has come to leave the island. It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

When I last updated this blog, rainy season had worn me down and I was ready to move on. On my return, however, I changed jobs,  my lifestyle changed and I fell in love with the island all over again.
After low season I couldn't handle working in a bar anymore so i was very happy when someone else wanted to buy into Vagabonds and take over management (Courtney, you're great). With the freedom to work on what I wanted, I created myself a little office job, doing the accounts and bookings for all 3 of Dave's guesthouses.

The initial aim of this role was to eventually update all of the info available online about Koh Rong and create a press pack for each business. Snowed under by bookings over Christmas I didn't get much of a chance to do this before another project came up.

While working for 3 businesses I was getting my food and drink from Island Boys and Vagabonds, while living at Dreamcatch Inn. Being around Dreamcatch meant that I began to help out automatically, then in January took on the project to start a kitchen.

The kitchen wasn't even built yet so I recruited a chef (also from Glastonbury) and together we designed the kitchen, wrote the menu and bought the stock. When I first spoke to Bethany about starting the kitchen she asked if we could use all recyclable packaging and natural cleaning products so I knew she'd be perfect (and she was, Bethany you're great). We were also joined by another Somerset girl who took on the art work and organising the reception (and has now taken over managing the place completely, Nat you're great). So together the three of us created a little hippie cafe on the beach  :-) To anyone and everyone reading this, go check it out, it's great!



It was this lifestyle and community that was so hard to leave. I'd gotten away from 24 hour party bars and had found other people that wanted creative projects and early nights. I did a full year on Koh rong, and in that time started two guesthouse/restaurants, helped out with a tshirt business and created a tobacco brand (gave it a go, doesn't smoke amazingly but cheap, local, and not too bad). It's crazy what is possible in Cambodia. It's the wild wild east with no rules our taxes and the easiest working visa I've ever heard of.

I talk about that more in a podcast I recorded for walking the earth. if you haven't heard it already you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/walkingtheearthpodcast/episode-14

Now is the time to move on. What was meant to be an 8 month trip in Asia has been 18 already. I've run out of money (a long time ago) and as much as I love Cambodia I know there are so many more places in the world I have to see. So to Thailand now for a final travelling fix before heading back to the UK for summer (yes that's right, I'll be in England, for a few months at least).
I'll never really be able to leave for good though, I'll have to visit, see how it all turns out, and you never know, I might not like the real world ... so ronguns, don't worry, I'll be back!