Hi, I’m Sandra (or Sandy as most of my friends call me) and I am a Soul Searcher. No, I haven’t actually lost my soul! What I mean is, I feel a constant “je ne sais quoi” motivating me to search for whatever “it” is. The place I currently call “home” is the furtherest I could geographically be so, “Kia Ora” from New Zealand all!
I wish I could say this blog will be a treasure trove of enlightenment but I don’t want to mislead you. I have no idea what form it’s going to take or even how often I’m going to post! One thing I can say is that this is more for me than it is for you. This means I have a beautiful sense of freedom to create content that I love. What kind of content you might ask? Let me take some wild guesses:
- Travel: I was born in London, United Kingdom but moved very early on in life to a small town (way to go Sandra, now you have Journey swirling around in your head; “Just a small town girl…”) called Dorking in Surrey where I developed a love for the countryside and the finer things in life. I have lived in many homes during my thirty-five years with medium to long-term stints in four countries; United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. I have been travelling overseas ever since I was a child. My parents used to take me and my brother to France every year for a summer holiday. It was those trips that started my love affair with travel. New routines, beautiful accents, different cultures (no I didn’t try snails or frogs legs) but most of all a “je nes sais quoi” feeling that I can feel at home in more than one place. It’s my quest to discover whether that feeling dissipates once I arrive at “the place I am meant to be”. Whilst I can’t answer that question yet, (*sings* “But I stiiiiiillllll haven’t found… what I’m looking for.” Damn it Sandra!) I did combine my love of travel with another passion early on in life. Can you guess? Yes, it’s music.
- Music: I started travelling the world more proactively during my teenage years. This was due to a die-hard love affair with the boybands Boyzone and Westlife (ok, I have type!). The stories I could tell you (maybe I will) and the friendships I made along the way changed my life! For the first time I felt part of something. It’s hard to describe the feeling when standing in a crowd of thousands of people who just “get me”. It’s “je nes sais quoi” at it’s best as all sing along to the songs that have soundtracked our lives. Music plays such a huge part in my life it’s not too far a leap to assume I will be writing about it ALOT. I say music as a generalisation partly because I’ve grown out of boybands (they’re “manbands” now) but mostly due to my diverse tastes. I still love good old fashioned pop music (I swear allegiance to Taylor Swift until my dying day) but I’m very much a country kinda gal nowadays. I truly believe I’m meant to fall in love with an American Cowboy and retire to Nashville.
- Food: There is a reason the enteric nervous system that regulates our gut is often called the body’s “second brain”. Now that I’m in my mid-thirties I have a greater appreciation for “good food” and don’t mind experimenting with different flavours (maybe I will try snails!). I love finding out how my tastes change just from being in a new part of the world. Before venturing to this continent I loathed avocado, couldn’t stand olives or Espresso Martini’s and loved mango!
- Health: No I’m not a doctor and nor am I the human equivalent of Dr Google! What I am is a woman who has battled and overcome depression and PTSD. I’m also a 1 in 10 woman suffering from Endometriosis, a non-curable disease I’d never heard of three years ago. I often felt (and sometimes still feel) scared, vulnerable and isolated with the above conditions. If writing about my experiences helps somebody feel a little less alone then I don’t care how uncomfortable it makes you feel reading about my “hoo ha!”
- Books. I’m a full-on book geek. I’m that person walking around book shops picking up books just to see how they feel in my hand. If you print your book on too thin or too thick paper then it’s a no from me. I’m the kind of weirdo that asks, “Does anybody else love that new book smell?”. I have refused to listen to audio books because it’s not even reading. The Oxford dictionary defines a book as (click here to find out’) so why on earth are they called audio books when there is nothing to hold? Why not Audio Stories? They were a non-starter for me until a beautiful specimen of a man (Colin Jost) seduced me with his face, humour and accent. I had never heard of him until comedic sketches started popping up on my socials. He reminds me of my work crush somehow, and therein lay the trap! I’ll still buy the book (I need to see the photographs!) but damn I’m a sucker for an American accent! Heck… if you throw in a “yes ma’am” I’ll be yours forever!
- General “Sandra Stuff”. It will be the kind of stuff that stays floating in my brain until I write it down and will more than likely be very uninteresting to anybody but me!
Disclaimer
This blog is personal and all content is subjective to my own thoughts, feelings and beliefs. I do not write anything as fact unless there is sufficient evidence. I do not write to offend or placate anybody. All comments will be moderated and any that are deemed abusive in nature will be removed. All recommendations are based on personal experience and any reliance you place on them is at your own risk.
My photos are mine unless otherwise credited so please ask if you’d like to use them.
I don’t bite so feel free to send me a message at sandy@diaryofasoulsearcher.com with whatever is on your mind.
I hope you like reading my brain dumps and if you don’t … well … It’s more for me anyway 🙂
S x