Shelby

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to cram in a weekend trip to Dublin for St Patrick’s day and though I was able to experience the buzz and entertaining atmosphere surrounding one of the biggest, if not the biggest affair in Ireland. I did not have time to explore the city itself. I vowed to come back to Ireland.

The emerald Isle as they call it has quite an appeal. Friendly locals warm the cobble stone streets, bars and hotels (not once have I met an unkind Irish). The presence of Guinness continues down every path you find yourself.  The rolling verdant hills that make you breathe in deeper than usual trying to soak in the crisp clean air. Everywhere you turn you see shamrocks, leprechauns, ancient castles and don’t even get me started on the hearty food!

I went back to Ireland two weeks ago traveling from Dublin to County Cork, and on to Galway before having to cut my trip short due to illness (bugger!)

This small country is beyond beautiful and would have to be on my list of ultimate favorite countries however it’s not limited to the beauty of the country itself, the Irish are the complete reason why Ireland is the wonderful country that it is.  The Irish are some of the warmest, cheeriest most outgoing people I have ever met.  I have met Irish travelers before and one of my closest friends is Irish but experiencing them in their own country is beyond compare. My first experience was a taxi ride on my first night in Dublin. I needed to get to a bar to meet up with a long lost friend and the 10-minute cab ride was definitely my favorite. The chatty driver was teaching me Gaelic sayings (Pog Mo Thoin was his favorite as he wholeheartedly laughed at me trying to say it), explaining to me about his daughter who wants to travel to Australia and telling the best places and bars to visit in Dublin.

Since that cab, I made an effort to catch them more often within my time in Ireland (I usually use public transport because its cheaper!) because each time I was learning small pieces about Ireland and laughed without fail beside the driver who always had a great sense of humor.

Each hotel, Airbnb and Bed and Breakfast I stayed in I was continuously impressed by the amount of friendly service, cleanliness and sincere hospitality I was given. The Irish have an infectious charm that just makes you love and be cheerful alongside them. From their demeanor, attitude and willingness to share a pint with, the Irish definitely left a lasting impression on me.

Ireland has magnificence like no other. Visit this country for it’s breathtaking beauty but stay for its people (even if you don’t always understand the accent!)

August 27, 2015

Shelby Baylis

And later on when you lie awake in bed with only your thoughts streaming in and out of your soulful mind you will wonder why you stayed. Heavy as a clock on a winter’s afternoon you will lay down next to the radiator on the wall and smell firewood burning in your mind desiring it was a crackling fire keeping you warm. Sometime after midnight while deep blue clouds blanket the sky, a slumber will graft in your veins.

You make that choice to stay or go. The road is open, the path is wide and the water is bottomless. The journey may often be brief, and later you trudge home weary. You come home to a place that is not the same as the skin you are now in. All of a sudden you won’t look at the soup stirring on the stove with animosity for what you stand. Mosquitos have drained your blood in countries you can’t pronounce; the skin you wear now has been hailed on in tropical storms light-years away from that stovetop. Your hair has been knotted, grown wild and slashed by the kind barber that didn’t understand your language. Your eyes have been burned with poverty and politics, they have been quenched with the markings on wood floors in bright deserted train stations and salted in ocean sunsets that in that moment seemed like you had found the edge of the earth.

And when the voyages closes, like a dream, maybe you will one day find youself alone on a winter’s night or amongst company on a autumn day ready to affirm love’s escapade again. Ready to blissfully fly away like the leaves leaving the tree in the light gusts.

Written by Will HuttonRecorded, Mixed and Mastered by Pau Romero at BeatGarden, Barcelona(www.pauromero.com)

Currently sitting in the comforting warmth of the sun, on my hotel rooftop in the wonderful ancient city of Jaiselmer India. My chai is leaving stains on my journal every time i place it back after sipping the sweet, milky heaven in a mug. 

I’ve been in India a total of 18 days. 18 of the most incredible days of my life. Throughout all my travels i have grown in small increments each passing day but in this country, this beautiful country I have learnt more than i ever have anywhere else about myself and the world around me. I have grown more in 18 days than any sufficient time in other countries. 

India is a drug. It takes you on this wild ride of sensibilities. 

I went from struggling to cope with such facts of India like the slums to falling in absolute love with every single element of the country. The first 15 minutes outside of the airport in Mumbai caused a trickle of salt water to roll down my cheek. The slums are never easy for anyone. No matter where i have been and what i have seen it all disappears as soon as your eyes find their way to the crippling tin standing in every angle creating some sort of shelter for humans who were born into poverty. Born in these places, in this life that is so incomparably different to the one i have been living for 21 years. The smell of Mumbai is peculiar one. One that is only recognisable as mumbai. The smell will forever be lingering in my nose. I loved Mumbai for different reasons. It was beautiful for itself. It was wild and exciting. More than half of Mumbai was in A class poverty. Rubbish fell from high rise windows whilst kids, dogs, women, cows and men swept through it on railways, paths and roads for some sort of treasure. whether it be food, clothes or just something to sell for their next meal. But what i loved most about the city was there were more smiles, more love on the faces and in the eyes of those crowded streets then anywhere else i’d ever traveled to. Like Gregory David Roberts once wrote “Mumbai was free…exhilaratingly free”. 

My journey so far has led me to Goa renting a bike and exploring the regions, finding cosy unpopulated beaches and meeting many friends. Across country from Anjuna (goa) to Jaipur on a 30 hour train ride in the ladies carriage. The first few miles of my train ride i had a beautiful Indian elderly woman sitting across from me, facing me as we both gazed out at what i could tell in her eyes was her proud country. Her every crevice, contour of her face was a story. She wore a stunning yellow and purple sari with a sparkling head piece. She smiled at the children as they ran around the carriage laughing at what seemed like a simple game of tag. She was not traveling alone, she had her daughter and grandkids. Her daughter was equally as stunning and a picture of her in her youth. As the small grandchild came over to sit with her grandmother to gaze out the window, the child looked at me with what i can only describe as envy as i sat there with my kindle. It wasn’t green envy. She was not angry. More so of a pink admirable envy and I could not see why. I struggled with this because what she did not see was my envy of her. Yes, I envied an 8 year old. I thought to myself she has no idea. She has something I feel I missed out on and still do. A love so intense that nothing could stop it. She is so wrapped up in love and adore i envied her more than i have anyone else in my lifetime. She was swimming in not just the loving warmth from her grandmother but the twinkle in her mother’s eye who was watching her with complete content from across the carriage. Later in the journey the young girl began playing with her considerably younger brother in the watchful eyes of both ladies and even the obvious love between the siblings made me rethink everything about my entire existence right there in that moment. 

In Jaipur I met two American guys who now have become great friends and travel partners as we journeyed from Jaipur to Udaipur and now Jaisalmer on overnight buses that left us overwhelmed, sick, sore and physically exhausted but ultimately laughing at the experience. 

We are enjoying our time in each place learning hindi and cooking skills. Immensing ourselves in the culture with every step we take. 

Life is not how we know it. Life is so much more. 

I just made my most delicious bircher so far. Goji berries and cinnamon are the key

Planning my next adventure throughout India

New career hopes (watch this space) 

Halloween costume for friday is sorted