Chasing Amy-Lou

Travelling blog posts have been a little slow lately; in fact, blog posts of any description have been a little slow. At the moment I’m working full-time and holding down two freelance writing jobs (no complaints there) so finding the time to write is proving very difficult. Not being able to regularly contribute to my personal blog as much as I’d like is something that upsets me greatly as writing for pleasure is a way of expressing my thoughts and feelings – it’s a creative outlet and helps keep me sane..well…half-sane.

Therefore, while I try to come up with a way of managing my time better (less procrastination would probably be the key), I’ve reproduced a piece of my writing from an issue of The Eye Creative, an Australian-based creative magazine that I began writing for in July 2015.

You can read the full issue as well as past issues by following this link: www.theeyecreative.com

Enjoy:

 

“Travelling soothes the soul: forever shall I wander, free and in love with the world” 

Amy Farnworth Dec 2013.

 

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to write. It’s that simple. I used to write and illustrate my own books when I was younger (they were BRILLIANT, or so I was told by my parents); my school essays were always longer and more convoluted than those of my peers, with my tutors sometimes failing to grasp the ‘concept’ of my writing, dismissing it as incomprehensible or ‘not concise enough’ (more fool them). While studying Journalism at University in the UK (many years ago now…gulp), Academics tried to coach me into producing writing that was more concise (part of a journo’s talent, obviously): “Tabloid journalists can condense the longest pieces of information into the tiniest spaces, Amy; you need to break your articles down; train your brain”.

But you see, therein lies the problem (although not really a problem at all) – I’m also a talker and a thinker so my thoughts are expressed through my writing and more often than not, failing to be able to explain myself in a brief and condensed way, I will ramble for hours about a subject I find interesting. My musings can span pages and my vocabulary and language-use can flit and flirt from the simple to the downright obscure. What can I say? I love writing.

My love of travel however? Well, that didn’t come about until later in life; perhaps when I was 19 (although two trips to Amsterdam at the age of 16 and 17 probably sparked an interest but I can’t really remember anything about those excursions…). I began my, shall we say, ‘travelling career’ in 2005, when I went to the States to participate in the Camp America programme. Upon completion I travelled from San Francisco to LA, and then on to New York. On my own. Having just turned 20 (Me, a little working-class girl from the North of England who knew few people that had ever done anything like this; Facebook didn’t really exist back then either and long distance phone calls were made on pay phones due to high contract tariffs – PAY PHONES!).

From then on I had the bug: Following my Graduation, I took city breaks whenever I could (whenever my measly budget would allow). I applied for a job in Glasgow and lived and worked there for six years; spent time and money visiting friends in Germany; acted like a local with a former work colleague in Paris; hopped over to Belfast to stay with mates; hostelled in Edinburgh during the Fringe; explored and broadened my historical knowledge in Copenhagen; soaked in the Catalonian culture in Barcelona with my brother; and partied hard in Krakow.

It wasn’t until 2013 though that I really fell in love with travel, and decided to try and combine my two passions. In May of that year I went to China. Alone. I was 27. China is a BIG country. China is a dangerous country. China is a DIFFERENT country. And I loved it. Everything about the culture, the history, the way of life, the people, the food – it fascinated me. I was there for three weeks and you know what? It wasn’t nearly long enough. During that time I did some incredible things and I met some of the most influential people I have met to date. It was those people and that experience that have helped turn my life into what it is slowly becoming today.

Returning to the UK, exhausted but itching to get on the move again, I made a decision that would alter the course of my path forever. I quit my job (I was a Firefighter – logical progression from graduating with a Journalism degree…right?!). I quit my job and decided to come to Australia.

Now, my intentions at first were to come on the Working Holiday Visa, and possibly stay for two years and then…well…I didn’t have a plan after that, I would just wing it. In September 2014 I left Manchester and arrived in Brisbane: my adventure had begun.

After several ups and downs, some ‘soul searching’, and some struggles with work, I finally found my feet. And I was happy. Happy for the first time in a long time. I’d started a blog in which to document not just my travels but my feelings too, and I felt liberated; – I felt like I was being myself: the person I had always knew I could be.

Over the last year I have seen and done some absolutely wonderful and insanely incredible things – partying HARD in Brisbane with old friends; sky-diving in Byron Bay; getting full-on drunk on Fraser Island; spending NYE in Sydney with the best people in the world; working in a country town and mixing with the locals; travelling the Great Ocean Road and drinking FAR TOO MUCH coffee in Melbourne, and ultimately falling in love with the place; playing with Quokkas on Rottnest Island; avoiding near death with the jumping crocs in Darwin; eating my own body weight in Indonesian food and doing heaps of yoga in Bali; snorkelling and diving the Great Barrier Reef; meeting the best group of people on the Whitsundays; canoeing the Everglades in the pissing rain in Noosa; and discovering this amazing challenge at The Eye Creative – a stroke of luck perhaps? Or maybe just fate? Who knows?

And now? I probably want to stay in Australia…forever…

Where my passion for writing dwindled a little while I was in the Fire Service, it was reignited because of travel. That’s not to say I would ever limit myself to writing solely about travel. Hell no.

I believe in other people. I love the arts. I love everything to do with creativity and expressing yourself through something that you love. Being creative is important – it can act as a release, it can soothe the soul and it can inspire others. I believe that creatives, whatever area, need an outlet too; they need a platform, just like writers.

At the moment I am quite content concentrating on myself and my writing (and travel of course) and The Eye Creative is giving me that opportunity. I want to show the world what other creatives have to offer; what beautiful people, places and ideas are out there. If I can do that through my writing; if one article can catapult a designer into stratospheric recognition, then it will be worth all the effort in the world!