Active Lifestyle - Designer Diary #1

Last year (2017) took me on ventures I never expected to experience at the start of the year. Life revolved and I was forced to live in the present. This lead me to putting all my personal belonging into storage and set off into the unknown. I had no idea where my 'life' path would take me and so all I could do is live in the moment. At this point I didn't realise all the amazing people I was going to meet, the breath taking views I was going to see or the magical moments I was going to experience.

Amongst the fear of the unkown (not knowing when I was going to return to England), I started to feel liberated and a feeling of freedom filled my soul. So I embraced the change and traveled to Portugal (where I heard it was good for yoga and surfing).

As soon as I arrived in Portugal I was greeted with like-minded beautiful souls from all around the world. I feel very grateful that I was in the same place at the same time as such wonderful people (some of them are now my life long friends). All the people I met taught me something, I felt my personal growth expand by their knowledge, wisdom and stories. But most of all I enjoyed the moments spent with them and the adventures we went on, just being in their presents was a blessing.

"They say embrace change so I did"






This is where I met the amazing CoWorkSurf founders Nick Mattia and Joe Sharp. Two English guys that moved to Portugal purely for the lifestyle; the sun, sea, sand and most importantly the surf. Both of them come from creative backgrounds so I connected with then instantly. Nick is a photographer/videographer and Joe is a expert in marketing. I met Nick first,  he told me their plans to set-up CoWorkSurf in Portugal and a few months later it was up and running. I found Nick such a joy and inspiration. Both Nick and Joe made their dream into a reality, the idea was to build a co working space for people that love to surf and have the same values.


After having many adventures in Portugal I returned home to England but only for a short time. I had the travel bug so a few months later I was back in Portugal for the second time that year to stay at CoWorkSurf and later at the new venue in Bali (for New Years). Portugal and Bali are both such inspiring places, it's hard not to fall in love with them and never return home. Portugal has the golden sand, culture, cliffs for climbing and yoga. Bali has the Jungle, tropical climate, trendy bars, yoga and ancient history. But one thing is for sure, they both have the waves.



  
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope." - Winston Churchill 

Bali brought me into this New Year's (2018) which was such a blessing. For the first two weeks of the year I was able to explore the great country and vast space. There is so much to do and see. Including giant Waterfalls, Temples, the Jungle, Volcano's, Rice Fields, Yoga and Surf. As a designer I was able to draw inspiration for my new collection and live in the moment.
This year I tried many new thing's; I drove a scooter, climbed a volcano and swang out into the Jungle (on a swing). All the things I experienced over the past year, I learnt from. The main thing I learnt is to be active and to live in the present. Don't worry about your past or future, to embrace the moment and truly 'live'.

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