All about me

Now that you know what my blog is all about, let me tell you a bit more about me and how I got to blogging 🙂 I’m a restless soul and a born story teller. Through some rather trying years, a bit of good fortune and a lot of hard work, I’ve finally created a nice life for myself, which something I’m really proud of, because from under my fog of depression and anxiety, I wasn’t sure that was going to be something I could do.

 

 

 

For many years, I did it all by the book. I graduated from university, got a “good” job, married my best friend, created a family with a little fur baby, got a mortgage on a perfect little nook that we call home… And while that’s all wonderful and that’s the big dream for a lot of people, after fulfilling a life long dream to travel to Egypt in 2013, I finally discovered that’s not all there is for me.

That’s why I’ve been so restless; I had been putting all of my energy into trying to avoid taking a life path I knew I never wanted. Now that I can see past the “this is what you should want” rubbish, I’ve discovered that my path is one of constant movement and experiencing and learning.

 

 

 

 

So, here we are. I’ve created a space where I can write, and share the things I love, both locally in my beautiful city of Melbourne, as well as globally on my travels. I want to share the amazing things that make me happy and keep me ticking – food, markets, real people, street art, small shops, photos of beautiful places unknown, recipes I’ve created and/or re-created, books I’ve read, even accommodation and restaurant recommendations.

I also wrote a post to re-introduce myself in September 2015, to acknowledge some big changes in my life since I first started writing here in early 2014, which in turn has pushed my writing style to something more raw and authentic, and less guide book, which I hope makes it a little more relatable!

It’s been incredibly freeing now that I’ve finally realised I actually don’t have to go with the flow and be like “everyone else.” But with the freedom of working out what you don’t want in life comes the challenge of trying to discover what you do want and how to get that. I’m hoping that doing more of what I love and documenting the journey might help bring a little more clarity to my life, as well as encouraging a few other restless souls out there to make some discoveries of their own  : )

   

 

 

 

 

 

Whatever the reasons are that bring you here, be it for somewhere cute to brunch at in Melbourne this weekend, a hotel to stay at in New York, fun shopping in Paris, a recipe for Vietnamese food or just a good book to read after you’ve been market-trawling, I hope you find something here that makes life just a little bit more fun and exciting and fulfilling! I also decided to expand my writing, putting together my second cookbook in 2016 – I’d love you to meet The Kitchen Passport!

As well as writing, I love love love documenting life through photos, and plenty of pictures of my day to day life are on Instagram (another online time capsule of sorts I guess, of life as a young Melbournian in the early 2000s…); come find me here! And if you’d like to say hi ask me more questions, share your stories, anything at all, you can contact me at: jess@ordinarygirlextraordinarydreamer.com

 

Life is short, and you only live once… but if you live it right, once is enough!