Things Aren't Always As Easy As It Seems

Life can often appear easy from the outside. With social media, many only share their good times or highlights of their life. You don't tend to question what the story is behind that post or image. Personally i have only shared the good things on social media as i want people to see the times i have been enjoying, in turn, hoping that they also enjoy the content i create. In this post, I'm going share some of those posts with you and the real stories behind them.

When Plans Take A Turn

I'm sure many of us have experienced plans that didn't quite go the way you intended. Maybe you missed the train because you got held up in the queue for your coffee, or you became so ill you had to cancel your plans. Whatever it may be, even the best-laid plans can derail. There have been many unexpected things during our travel, including having to pay for brand new flight tickets at the check-in desk in order to start our travel because the ones you got were invalid! That's a story for another time. For now i have picked out 3 examples during our journey to give you the reality of how things can take a turn as well as give you a good laugh, only now that the coast is clear :)

First we will start with this great photo! Me and Charley taking a selfie with a beautiful sunset holding a puppy. What could be better?

The moment we took this photo was indeed one to smile about, so the photo isn't fake. However the place we took this photo was not our happiest time. When we first got to New Zealand on our Working Holiday Visa, we were sold this amazing idea of living and working on a farm in Kaikoura for the first few months of being in the country. We were sold a dream but in reality lived an ordeal.

Unfortunately our host put on a front when we first got there. He seemed like a nice guy, offering us the chance to go to quiz night with him and even taking us all for meals out when a volunteer was leaving. That front lasted all but a few days, then we got to see the real person. I won't go into all the details but i think it's enough for me to say he was a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable. I guess you never really know what you are getting into until you are there.

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Next, let's talk about a weather-related incident. Here we are in an all-inclusive resort celebrating Charley's birthday. Little did we know that in the evening we had warnings that a bad hurricane was coming our way! This meant that all the ferries would be cancelled and our plan of leaving the island would not happen.

So in a frantic moment we had booked a super early ferry and a bus to take us to the airport so we knew we wouldn't miss our flight. That night the thunderstorms were crazy. Lightning bolts on our balcony and a roar from the clouds louder than i have ever heard! We prayed that we could leave in the morning.

Luckily that storm had passed by the early hours and we got straight onto the only ferry that was scheduled that day. A bus ride later, a sleepover in the airport happened. The next morning there were so many delays in flights and many people struggling to get to the airport because of floods, it was chaos. Sleep deprived and broke (because of the airport food prices) we managed to get on our flight home and just miss the hurricane.

You can see how close we came to Hurricane Helene ->

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Finally this is a lesson that we learned the hard way in the Grand Canyon.

For context, we were staying with an Ex Grand Canyon Ranger who was dropping us off at a trail head at 4am so we could see the sunrise in the canyon. From what we understood the trail we were completing was a loop and once we finished, we would meet back up with them at the gift shop. This photo was taken toward the beginning of our journey, sunny day, full of energy and smiling. Going down into the canyon was pretty easy. It was about 9am when we realised that we had royally f'ed up.

We were at the bottom of the canyon, near the colorado river that flows through and we spoken to a guide asking them what route we were to take next as we couldn't see any signs. He then informed us that we didn't have enough water to continue on the track and that we needed to go back the way we came, before it got too hot... or wait till 6pm when its cooler...

You know that easy track going down, yes we had to climb back UP. Cursing the guy and the information he had given us was incorrect, we made the decision to start heading back up. There were points our water was topped up by passing guides or by other hikers but knowing how long it had taken us to get down there, we were scared that we were not going to make it back. The sun was getting hotter and shade was becoming non existent. With no signal to call for help and not seeing another human for hours we became very tired. How could an ex ranger make us go so wrong?

To cut a long story short, i wouldn't be writing this today if we hadn't made it out. It took a lot of determination between us to keep us going and get us out. Turns out we totally misunderstood the information! At 4am we were clearly tired... What we were told is that he was going to do the loop track as he has done it before and that we should only go as far as the third checkpoint. Then we walk back up and get the shuttle to the gift shop, meeting them there. So all that information got jumbled around in our brains and we were going into the Grand Canyon clueless.

Some lessons we learned from those experiences are the importance of adaptability and flexibility when things change. Whether that's with short notice or things just don't go to plan. Allowing yourself to be open to change will really help in times of need. Another lesson is finding strength in resilience during difficult times. Even when you think you have no way out, keep pushing through and there will be a way.

Reflecting on Growth and Achievement

Moments like these took a lot of energy to overcome and that physical and mental exhaustion can affect your motivation. There were times where we felt nothing was going our way and that it might be easier to head on back to England. Looking back at these times now, i am so glad we didn't and we were able to push on through that overwhelming feeling and continue our journey. I can see how much mental strength i have to overcome all these obstacles which allows me now to push through the smallest things with ease.

It is important to remember that you are stronger than you think. Taking a minute to collect my thoughts and allowing me to feel the emotions of what i was going through i think really helped me. As well as reaching out to family and friends to know that they support and love me is a great way to boost a positive mindset.

Life is full of challenges, so embrace your struggles as part of your own personal story.