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Moving to Germany wasn’t a difficult decision. I think it was probably one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. For an incredibly indecisive person, when you come across something that makes complete sense and doesn’t make you second-guess yourself at all, you go with it. It’s as simple as that.

I’ve always loved to travel. In fact, my first flight was at 2 months old and I couldn’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve traveled since then. It’s just something I’ve always done and it’s seeped deep into who I am. While I never traveled out of the country much, nothing made me happier than exploring a new town or city. The size of the place didn’t matter- as long as there was something interesting to absorb and add to my life.

As soon as I had gotten a bit settled here, I realized that there was no way I could just move back to the states after my au pair year ended and feel satisfied. I’m still working on my plan to either stay in Germany (and no, it doesn’t include marrying some German man) or move to yet another country. Eventually, I’d love to spend a few years at minimum just traveling the world. I’ve been so inspired by blogs like Never Ending Voyage and other digital nomads that my life dream continues to grow and evolve into something that provides me the ability to eventually live nomadically. I don’t want to limit my travels to one area- I’d love to travel all over Asia, Africa, and South America as well as take on the rest of Europe. As of right now, I really don’t see myself staying in the states for any extended period of time unless something were to drastically change.

I know many people are going to think I’m going through some quarter-life crisis, and maybe I’ll look back in twenty years or so and wonder what in the world I was thinking, but I have a feeling I’ll really look back and say “look at all these things I accomplished, saw, and experienced” and be proud I had the guts to abandon that traditional way of living that almost everyone I know has embraced. I want to be living a life that is constantly brimming with new challenges and stories. While I haven’t been the best blogger as of late, I do hope that this will turn into a place that I can share those stories.

I’ve caught the travel bug, and there’s no way I’ll be looking for a cure.

Victory Column in Berlin

listening to: the neighbourhood

Lately, I’ve been catching myself wishing that time would go by quicker. Although I do have some amazing things to look forward to in the future (one of them being my parents arriving in Germany Friday morning!), time is passing me by and I want to make sure I appreciate every moment of it.

I feel so incredibly blessed with my life right now. I’m living in what I feel is one of the greatest places on the planet, I’ve made some wonderful friends, and I’m healthier both physically and mentally than I have been in close to five years. Despite all of that, I still find myself getting impatient and wanting more good to come my way. Part of that attitude is human nature, but I don’t necessarily think it has to be that way. I really have been wanting to work on enjoying every moment possible.

I really have been wanting to work on enjoying every moment possible because I don’t want to look back and wonder why I’ve wasted all of this time in a gorgeous country surrounded by all these fascinating people. I guess mostly, I just want to make sure I don’t take this time for granted. There’s been this internet challenge floating around called 100 Happy Days. For 100 days, you take the time to notice the little things that happen every day that make you happy. I think this is the perfect way to slow down and really learn to appreciate all of the good things that happen during the day that people tend to overlook. Sometimes it’s just something small like a really good nap in the middle of the day or a stranger holding a door for you, but then other times it can be something monumental like having your first full conversation in a language you’ve been struggling with or checking a major experience off of a bucket list.

These 100 days will last until August 7, the day before my 25th birthday, and I’m so excited to see what each and every day will hold. I’ll mostly be posting my daily photos through Instagram (@kim_shipley) but I’ll try to do catch up posts on here when I get the chance. I know some days will still be rough, but that’s how life works. One of my biggest goals is to find a glimmer of happiness even in the stormiest of days. I think it’s going to be a fun ride.

“The trick is to enjoy life. Don’t wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead.”

– Marjorie Pay Hinckley

[ingrid michaelson]

My track record for writing seems to have gone down the drain.

It’s not like I’ve stopped writing all together. In fact, I think I’ve done more meaningful writing in the past couple of months than I have in years. It’s just been in the form of journaling.

There’s something special about writing by hand. It’s almost as if you can feel the emotions flowing through your handwriting in a way that typing out the same thoughts through a computer can never match up to. I’m also left-handed, so when I get really excited or into what I’m writing, I become lazy with my hand placement and tend to smear the ink a bit as I’m writing everything down. I can always tell if I’ve had a good writing session by the amount of ink on the side of my left hand.

I was on vacation this past week while the family I work for was on vacation in the states. I had originally planned to do some traveling through Europe, but the lack of extra money held me back a bit. One of the main things I had intended on doing during this vacation time was turn some of my journaled thoughts into blog posts, but here it is on my final day of freedom with nothing to show for my time off except for a much more well-rested face and a lot of clean laundry.

I haven’t really just sat down to blog much at all in the past several months. It’s not that I’ve wanted to give up and quit. I just haven’t been driven. Totally immersing myself into the “blog world” the past couple of years really took a toll on me. I’m not saying that blogging or the people who make up this community are to blame because pointing fingers is a pointless and tiresome activity. I just feel that the “writing to write” mentality has been replaced by people just trying to see how much they can get out of it. Creating a brand, doing sponsored posts, attempting to make a living by recording your daily life…these are all very common topics for the stereotypical blogger. I’m not trying to make anyone offended by writing about this, I just feel like it’s a very exhausting thing to try to do. I know a lot of fantastic people who are very successful in this form of blogging, but for me, I’d like to continue loving to write just for the sake of writing. Of course, you can’t forget all of the bloggers who always seem to have the newest clothing, the best beauty products, the most organized and put-together houses. The pressure to fit in with this becomes a big issue if you aren’t conscious of your thoughts.

Writing has become such a freeing practice for me. The past six months have been some of the most stressful months in my life, and just having an outlet like this has helped my mental health tremendously. There’s something to be said for being able to look back at your thoughts from a couple months ago and see how much you’ve grown as a person. So for me, I intend on continuing to write as a form of expression and healing. Hopefully, I’ll start getting more of that out here as well because I do miss the communication I used to enjoy in this setting. It’s just that this has become more of an enjoyable practice rather than a nagging possible key to success and fame, and I’d like to keep it that way.

architecture in helsinki

Oh hey there. No, I haven’t gotten kidnapped, lost, or abducted by aliens. I wish I had a reason for disappearing from this blog so soon after starting it up, but sadly I do not. I’ve been busy. I’ve been making friends, watching two of the most adorable small children possible, exploring my new city, making plans for the future, and visiting Israel.

Yes, you read that right: Israel. If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed that I was in another country. If not, you should probably go check it out and see all the sites. Or just wait until I post them on here if you’re feeling patient, but with my blogging track record as of late, it could be a year until you see pictures from me again!

One of the huge perks as an au pair is being able to travel with the family when they go on holiday. The family I work for just so happened to have some friends in the Jerusalem area, so when they offered to take me with them, I jumped at the chance! You just don’t ever turn down an all-expenses paid week in Israel even if you do have to work the whole time. Chances of a lifetime, people. That’s what this new adventurous life of mine is all about.

Of course, 8 days in Israel is just too much to cover in one blog post, so I’ll just do a basic overview today and hopefully go into a little more detail later in the week. We arrived in the country on a Thursday. The next day, we visited Bethlehem and Jericho. Bethlehem for sightseeing, and Jericho for delicious food at this fantastic patio restaurant. That weekend, we went to Tel Aviv to stick our feet in the Mediterranean Sea, Masada (the ruins of an old Jewish town that was overrun by Romans), and the Dead Sea. We then spent the majority of the following week exploring the old city of Jerusalem and say just about everything we could imagine while having two small children along. I think I’ll just let some of my pictures speak for themselves until I’ve sorted out how to express my feelings on Israel.

The courtyard of the Church of the Nativity (or the site that they claim Jesus was born)

Inside an olive wood factory. They create some of the most beautiful nativities all by hand.

The walls separating Israel from the West Bank (or the Jewish people from the Arabic people) reminded me so much of the Berlin Wall not only because of the art, but because of the segregation that is so prevalent all throughout the country.

The Tel Aviv skyline

Stunningly beautiful beach and water. I did not want to leave and have to remove my feet from the water. There’s just something about the motion of small waves that can calm even the most stressed person

A view of the gorgeous geography from Masada. This small fortification/town is famous for rebelling against the Roman Empire in the best way they knew how: suicide. If your town was defeated and taken over by Roman soldiers, your best option for the rest of your life is to be sold into slavery. The Jews that lived in this town felt that death would be the far better option.

The Dead Sea was so gorgeous, I just didn’t want to leave. All of the white that you see in the previous two photos is just pure salt.

Visiting the Western (or Wailing) Wall was such a humbling experience. Staying in line with Jewish traditions and beliefs, the Wall has a men’s side and a women’s side. Women will just sit for hours with the Torah reading scriptures and praying. Visitors may write prayers on small pieces of paper and stick them in the cracks and holes in the wall.

A garden area outside of the Western Wall and Temple Mount. You can see the Mount of Olives in the background

Part of David’s Citadel where the famous Tower of David is located.

The Al-Asqa Mosque on top of the Temple Mount. We weren’t able to see much of the building because we were limited to 10 minutes on Temple Mount. Jerusalem is considered the third-holiest city in Islam, and we were surrounded by gorgeous architecture and design.

My favorite part of the entire trip: the Dome of the Rock. This is one of the (if not the best) most beautiful buildings I have ever had the pleasure of seeing in person. The Dome of the Rock is probably one of the most heavily debated locations in the world. For the Jews, the land under the building is sacred because this is where they believe the world was first formed, where Jacob had his ladder dream, where Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac, among other events. According to Islam, the actual rock under the dome is the site where Mohammed ascended into heaven.

A view of all of Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives.

In Jewish culture, they do not bury their dead in coffins. Instead, the bodies are buries directly in the ground, and the stones you see in the photo above are the headstones that mark the different graves. The Jewish people believe that when God comes back to create his kingdom and to raise the dead, he’ll start at the Mount of Olives. Because of this, there are thousands and thousands of people buried on the mountain. In fact, it’s the oldest/longest running cemetery still being used in the present day.

Now that I’ve thrown all sorts of Israeli knowledge at you and overwhelmed you with photos, I’ll start planning my next few Israel posts. Also, I have been in Germany for a little over a month now with hardly any blogging. Because I’m behind on German updates, please leave a question or two in the comments letting me know what you’re most interested about when it comes to living in a new country!

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, January 24, I hopped on a plane leaving Texas to head to Heathrow Airport in London. I had prepared myself for the jet lag by getting four hours of sleep the night before. If you’re exhausted, you’ll have no problem passing out on a plane, right?

Wrong. Normally, I get some of my best sleep on planes. It must have something to do with the fact that I have to take dramamine and I’ve been flying since before I could hold my head up. Who knows..the point is, I barely slept a wink on that flight. International flights are much nicer than flights within the states when it comes to getting fed. We got a snack, dinner, breakfast, and they delivered drinks every two hours. While that’s all fine and dandy, all I wanted was for the flight attendants to pretend we didn’t exist so I’d be able to pass out.

Before too long, we landed in London! One of these days, I’m going to make sure I actually go back and explore the city…a three hour layover is never my idea of “seeing the town”. I quickly realized that I should probably get an actual meal, but that I had no money, so off I went to exchange my US currency. The exchange rate from dollars to pounds was a little more than shocking to me (1 US dollar is 0.60 Great Britain pound), but I exchanged enough money for a good meal which is all that really mattered to me. I headed off to one of the busiest restaurants I saw because that obviously meant it was a tasty place. I was handed a menu that didn’t seem to have a single bad item, so I just ordered what the guy next to me was eating because it looked so tasty. It was also coming up on noon London time, so I decided to order a cider. Hearing my American accent must have been the reason why I got my drink served with ice. Even with ice, the cider was tasty and my food was mouthwateringly delicious. I really need to figure out what all goes into making piri-piri chicken. I could probably eat it countless days straight if given the opportunity.

Before too long, I was boarding plane #2 from London to Frankfurt. This flight was just a couple hours long, so it went by incredibly quickly. We landed, and I was finally in Germany!  First step: get through customs. I didn’t get my visa prior to my trip, because you have to take a language test before you can receive the special au pair visa that they offer in Germany (more on that later). This meant I had to explain to the customs official that I was coming into the country as an au pair, but didn’t have my visa or a specific date that I’d be leaving yet. He didn’t seem too happy, but I got through without too much issue. Next step: find my luggage. I had no clue what baggage claim was mine because I was one of the last to get through customs, so I wandered around a bit until I saw my two bags riding the carousel all by themselves. I grabbed my bags and was off to meet my family.

Within a few minutes, I had found them. The father, who travels almost constantly for work, was out of the country, so the mother and two children met me at the airport and we were soon headed to their house. They had my room on the first floor all set up and it was perfect. The house they live in is technically a row house and looks out on the Main River, which happens to flow into the Rhine. It’s four stories and is absolutely perfect. My room and bathroom are on the first floor, with the kitchen and living areas on the second. The third floor is all for the kids, and the fourth is the parents’ bedroom.

 

I passed out and got about 10 hours of sleep that first night. It was just what I needed to start getting adjusted to a year in Germany

Next up: my first weekend adventures with the family!