I love it - South Africa

Things I love about South Africa:

The sound the birds make in response to the rising sun. Rooibos tea before bed. Familiar faces everywhere you go. Salt of the earth people. The colours, of the people, of the sunsets, of the skies, of the land. The beaches that raised me. Hospitality. The smell of a summertime braai. The way it looks after it's rained. The sounds of the night. Star-clustered skies. Four seasons in a day. Freedom. The richness of the land. Thunderstorms. Winding mountain roads. Flavors. Our history and our journey as a nation. Wildlife. Curry, bunny chows and breyani. Occasionally having to chase a monkey out your house. The humor. A country that never takes itself too seriously. Jumping off the piers. World-class wine. Promenade skates. Humid air. The garden route. Surf spots for days, and days. Wide open spaces. A people shaping their future. The smell of burning sugar cane. The Drakensberg. Fresh fruit. Rugby braais and watching the men shout at the TV. The high spirits when the Springboks win the match. Biltong, biltong, biltong. Inside jokes, thanks Trevor Noah. Camaraderie. Christmas at the beach  in the summer. Open homes and open hearts. Spirituality. Wells of revival. A colourful country. The proudly South African spirit. 

Oh, to Build a Home

As most girls do, I've been lately dreaming of taking a house and making it into a home. I've been doing temporary work at a furniture and decor shop in Ballito called Home Flair, and I think being surrounded by gorgeous wallpaper and crystal chandeliers from 9-5 has inspired me to start visualizing what the home of my dreams would look like. So, here's to hoping my ship comes in and I get to take this mood board of homely dreams and turn it into a sweet reality. 

You can take me out of South Africa, but you can't take South Africa out of me

After 9 months on USA soil, I am finally back under the African skies.
As the plane hit the Durban runway, my heart leapt at the joy of being home and my eyes welled with tears as the airport sliding doors revealed my family and best friend standing on the other side.
Two whole days of travel (from Redding to San Fran to Dubai to Durban) is a brutal companion for a lone traveller, but the destination awaiting me was worth the uncomfortable airplane chairs.


Being back in my homeland is a longing fulfilled. Towards the end of my American adventure, I began to yearn for my country, culture, and people. Living outside of these familiarities is no small challenge. After living away from South Africa for the amount of time I did, I realized that there are things that we all take for granted daily that we are unaware we are taking for granted. Example: Friends with whom you have a long history of relationship; Places soaked with memories that stretch as far back as childhood; Family members that live one bedroom away at least or one car ride away at most.
Before I moved away, these things had become luxuries that valued far less than I should have. I'd never had to live without them nor did I ever imagine having to.
When I boarded that plane that carried me to a land far, far away, I was bored with all things familiar and needed a taste of life outside the nest. Don't get my wrong, I had such a good time, that this coming August I'll be doing it over again, but I guess since having my feet planted in South African soil once again, things are being viewed from new perspectives.


It's odd to be standing as a person who has changed and transformed so much, in a place and amongst people that don't seemed to have changed at all. Things are mostly the way I left them, yet why does it feel that 9 months away has allowed me to feel as though I'm tasting for the first time, things that were once my everyday norm? Everything about my country, home, family and friends seems new and different, yet there are still faint traces of years of familiarity that cling to them.
Every day I've been looking outside my window and wondering if it's gotten more beautiful since I've been gone, or if the lenses of familiarity just clouded me from seeing and appreciating this evident beauty all along. I think it's the latter.


I am simply adoring my 'new' Durban lifestyle as if I've never lived it before. I've gotten to watch the sun rise over the ocean and set over the rippling sugar cane fields once again. I've been able to surf the Indian oceans and see dolphins swim by yet again.
It hurts my heart a little to know that there are South Africans with hearts bent negatively towards this country and desires of running away to seemingly greener pastures. Take it from someone who once thought the same, it doesn't get a whole lot greener than this.


So, if anybody needs me I'll just be soaking up all this South African goodness over the next few months, and strike me down if I ever forget what a good life it is!

You don't know what you've got until it's {almost} gone

I will be leaving home in T-minus 7 weeks to relocate to California, and have been getting ridiculously sentimental as the reality of the trip has hit, and hit hard.

Don't get me wrong, on a scale of 1-10, my excitement levels are sitting somewhere around 20 at the moment, but on the flip side of the coin, I get a lump in my throat at the thought of everything and everyone that I wont be able to pack in my suitcase and take with me to this new land full of new adventures.

Leaving and cleaving is not for sissies. When you come from a home like mine, full of life, and lots of laughter thanks to two parents who will always be kids at heart, the idea of ever wanting leaving is just silly. I have always had a close relationship with my family {immediate and extended}, and family and home has always been a place of safety, of love and a peaceful haven, living alongside the best people I have ever known. I heard a quote once that said "what I love most about my home is the people I share it with," and this pretty much spells what home has been for me as I have grown from baby to child to teenager. My parents and my family have shaped the person that I am, and now they will watch me pack up and take the lessons I've learnt into this future that stands in front of me.

As much as I adore living at home, I have never felt so ready to jump out the nest and learn to fly on my own. Growing up is both a frightful and wonderful thing, and I have my incredible family to thank for standing behind me, teaching me all I know, and allowing me to follow my heart down the road leading to fulfilled dreams.

Sometimes the line that defines the difference between friends and family is so thin, that you can't tell where your friends end and where your family begins. I will be bidding farewell to the most incredible, hilarious, fun and flippin' fantastic group of friends that feel more like an extension of my family than a separate entity. These people, and this city in which I was born and bred, have taught me a thing or two about the definition of the word 'fun,' and in these past few months have rolled out the red carpet of unforgettable times that I'll most likely refer to as "the good old days" when I'm old and grey. So I'd just like to thank Durban and friends for making 'goodbye' that much harder, by being so darn amazing.

At this current moment, I am savoring what's left of Durban life as if it were the last bite of a favourite meal, and am soaking up the last of the good times like a sponge. I have a new found appreciation for my mom's home cooked meals, and not having to do my own laundry, because I soon won't have such luxuries.
Oh, the joys of growing older.