healths

LEGALLY ADDICTIVE At the start of this year, I decided I was going to give up chocolate. I've made this decision on a whim multiple times throughout my life and never managed to succeed more than three days before, but I was serious about it this time. I had come to the realisation that chocolate was present in my diet pretty much every day. There was not one day I could remember where I hadn't had a little bit of chocolate, even if it was Nutella on my toast or a cake for somebody's birthday (or just because, you know, it's a Tuesday) or a packet of chocolate buttons at the end of the day that may or may not have been family sized. The more I thought about it, chocolate wasn't a treat anymore. It wasn't something I enjoyed. It was a habit, almost like an addiction. When I meditated in Cambodia for 10 days, the thing I found the most difficult to give up wasn't my phone or my camera, it was chocolate. I craved it, deeply. I even dreamt about it. Twice. So, I...

What are you doing. You are insane. Why couldn't you just be content and happy where you were. This is ridiculous. Never again. Why are you putting yourself through this?... ...were just a few of the thoughts going over and over in my head on the 14 hour flight from Melbourne, Australia to Hanoi, Vietnam, four weeks ago. I woke up on the morning of the flight with my heart beating so hard I could hear it thudding against the mattress and that horrible but familiar sick feeling washing over me. I dismissed it as nerves. I chose to leave Melbourne, Nobody forced me. After an amazing and challenging 9 months living, working and travelling Australia I decided I wanted a change. I wanted to go back to SE Asia to get an English teaching job, something that I had been wanting to do since me and John first backpacked Asia over a year (!) ago. I really felt that I had done everything I wanted to do in Australia and it was time for me to go and try this, otherwise I would regret it. It was e...