Well, I’ve been back in Wales for two and a half weeks, and am now feeling the closeness of leaving. It has been a blessing to find a home here. The pace of life, appreciation for healthy land and fresh food, and the landscape all remind me of Vermont, the State that I love. Replace the Green Mountains with a breathtaking coast line, and replace some of the cows with sheep, and here you are. It has truly been a home away from home, and a lesson for me, to feel that.

Kayaking off of Mwnt

Helping with the barn renovation

The view from the back pasture

Laura’s food cart that we help chop veggies for. Amazing Mexican food!!

The horses: Jack and Levi

And that’s saying nothing about this beautiful family that has taken me in, in my entirety. Renie’s sweetness and truly hospitable nature (she reminded me that the word ‘hospitality’ means to love strangers) has encouraged me to be more patient. The slowness here has encouraged me to work on my bad habit of filling in other people’s words, and to wait and listen to what they’re actually saying.

Morning swim and picnic at Seal Rock

It has also made me realize that staring at this little iPod screen is giving me eyestrain! The last two weeks, when not shoveling dirt, moving rocks, helping the plumber, gardening, helping with the horses, or running to the beach, going for barbecues or hikes, I have been planning where the next phase of my journey will take me. (And that involves a lot of googling places and checking ticket prices!)

Here is the rough version of my next month:
In a week I will meet my friend Kelly who is flying into London from Vermont! We will rent a car and spend two weeks in Scotland, watching Highland Games, sampling Single Malt Scotch, touring the Castle Trail and exploring the Highlands.
After that I will be meeting a friend that I met on the Camino! We’re meeting in Cairo for a quick visit to the Pyramids, and then over to Morocco for a whirlwind (sandstorm?) tour. I am very excited that I will be traveling with him; Morocco is a place I have REALLY wanted to see, but I would not do it without a travel partner. And yes, I’m aware of the current situation in Egypt. I check the news daily and have a backup plan in case the situation deteriorates.
From Morocco my plan was vague for a long time until I recently decided on somewhat of a whim to spend the last 12 days of my European visa in Switzerland and Bavaria. My original plan was to wait until the end of September when the visa would reset and then visit Italy and Austria as well, but that schedule had me arriving too late in the year in…
Mongolia! Maybe. I’m following my heart on this one, and I have no other reason to go other than I have always felt drawn to Mongolia and the Siberian area. I don’t know what else there is to do there but trek and be swallowed up by the land, and what better way than on a horse tour? The catch in my planning is that it starts getting really cold by late September, so if I’m going I decided to hurry up and get there before they let all of the horses out for the winter. There are lots of outfits that do horse treks but only a few in my price range, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that something comes through.
After that my timeline gets loose; I have received some help exchange offers in the Himalayas, India, and Thailand. I am definitely meeting another friend in Thailand, probably in late October, but I’m not sure where I will dedicate my time until then. October also happens to be the best month to go trekking in Nepal!

And there you have a slice of Nicole’s brain (and time spent staring at this screen) as I’m currently thinking. I hope you kept up! The next question is if I will spend Christmas in a far away land or not. But that’s months away.

I plan to go on my last Welsh hike tomorrow, down by St David’s and around Pembrokeshire. The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path was recently named the third most beautiful walk in the world, behind the Appalachian Trail and the Camino Frances path to Santiago de Compostela! Here is the list. It seems I have good taste in walking paths!

To leave you with, I took this photo in the middle if typing this post: sunset over the pasture, and Jack on the horizon. I’m so glad I was delivered here.