New Orleans. Part 1: What the Guidebooks Don’t Tell You.

New Orleans, a unique American port city on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi River.  Well known for its rich Creole culture, famous carnivals and French and Spanish architecture.  It’s suffered a turbulent history with the American civil war, and in recent years, hurricane Katrina.  Although at times chaotic, this hasn’t swayed the attraction to this city in Louisiana also famous for its cuisine, music scene and southern hospitality…

Sounds like a lovely entry into a travel brochure if you’re thinking about your next holiday destination, doesn’t it?

This was also my impression of this city having never visited, and quite frankly, never fancied it.  However, earlier this year a very good friend of mine from London went on an extended holiday to NOLA and invited me down to join her.  So within 24 hours of having that conversation I was on a plane to holiday in America for the first time in well over a decade.

Day in the Life #2

Day in the Life #1

Me So Horny!

Me so horny, me love you long time. You party?

Yes readers that was the first line to grace my Tinder profile. Not the most romantic of opening lines, but what’s love got to do with it? With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’m sure love is the subject on everyone’s mind.  Single, married or in a relationship whatever your status Valentine’s Day is thrust upon us (no pun intended).  The shops fill with garish pink and red crap adorned with love hearts, all there for you to purchase for your sweetheart to show them how much they mean to you on this bullshit holiday.  I sound rather bitter, however I assure you I’m not.  I’m just contemplative.  I’ve been single for nearly 3 years now, please guys, I’ll not have any looks of pity from any of you I’m actually happy where I am at the moment (nervous laugh). I was a serial monogamist for nearly half of my life and I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere. I wanted to break free from the cycle and it was Tinder that was the catalyst to help me find a new form of freedom and expression.

The Hippie, the Neo-Nazi and the Exorcist

The Hippie, the Neo-Nazi and the Exorcist…sounds like the start to a bad joke. I actually made a sarcastic comment this past weekend to a girlfriend of mine about how my next post should be about how I have a tendency to meet such idiosyncratic types.  It’s no joke, I really do, and I think you’ll find it rather interesting.  Here’s my story of how meeting these characters have played out over the past 6 months.

The Hippie

Last July I spent a weekend away to leave the hectic grip London had over me, as I wanted space to think about whether to continue with the visa sponsorship at work.  So I escaped to Devon in the south western part of England.  The town I visited was recommended by a good friend and had a direct train from London so was easy to travel to in a few hours. Walking down the High Street I understood what my friend meant when she described the town as having a bohemian vibe full of spiritual types, where I could find a yoga class or

The Space in Between

Hey guys, it’s Flo.  As the dust settles with my indefinite move to Toronto and the holiday celebrations have come to an end.  The sun has set on another year, a new one has dawned and as a result has triggered some introspection in me.

2016 has been an eventful one, with the last few months being very strange. I’ve been too busy to even think about much and have been operating on auto pilot; working like mad at the office then suddenly stopping. Straight onto attending various Christmas parties, packing up my life, saying goodbyes, getting on a plane, and then arriving in Canada to the open arms of my family.  The manic nature of London is behind me, but there’s no rest during the holidays. So it was straight onto family reunions, loads of food and merry making with friends.  Now, just under two weeks into life here and I’m only just having some time for reflection.

I feel like I’m in this weird timeless vortex.  The strange and quiet space in between the start and the finish.  The midway points that we eventually forget about years down the

Merry f*ck!ng Christmas

Hey guys, its Flo.  I know its been a while since my last post, but I’ve got a really good reason for my absence.  Watch my video blog for the news (obv my first time recording, held my phone the wrong way! Don’t judge)

Much Love Flo xxx

‘L’ is for Laughter

Hey readers, its Flo.  How’s it going these days?  I’ve actually been very busy at my 9-5 as of late.  I’ve been doing work that’s somewhat removed from the usual, and it’s a bit full on.  Which I don’t mind to be honest, as I’m a fan of variety.  I’ve also realized the work I’m doing at the moment is a culmination of skills I’ve learned at previous jobs.

My very first permanent job in London was to work on a central London boutique hotel project, and the company I worked for were the lead design consultants on the job.  The afternoon before the monthly project meeting, I was given the task of preparing the meeting agenda.  Jez, the creative director, gave me a list of items to include and all I had to do was type them up in bullet points. I typed up the list, scanned my eyes over it, and ran a spellcheck over the document…hit save – pressed print – job done!

F*ck Should

Hey readers it’s Flo.  And how are you all doing a few days into a new era, otherwise known as the dawn of the apocalypse?  There’s my drama queen ways acting up again ;).  But seriously, what the fuck ‘merica?  I actually planned to write about something else, although entertaining, but nonetheless not as relevant given the news about the US presidential election.

I try to stay away from the media when it comes to these things, however I understand this is big news with Trump winning the election as this will have a global effect.   I can empathise with the Americans, having gone through Brexit here back in June.  You feel all sorts of emotions after the initial shock of the news. And not just the kinds of emotions you feel when you fight with your partner, or when you have a tense moment with a sibling.  It’s less direct, but bigger, like something heavy is hanging in the air. Almost like a sense of alienation, like the neighbours that you’ve come to know and love, are not the people you thought they were.  There is also a feeling of fragmentation happening, but on a large scale. And let’s face it, it feels really shitty!

Highway to Heaven

Hey guys, it’s Flo.  This time of year is when much of the world celebrate the dead.  November 11 is Remembrance Day and Guy Fawkes Night on 5^th November.  The 3 days of Allhallowtide in the Christian Calendar is happening now:  October 31 was All Saint’s Eve, better known as Halloween.  Yesterday was All Saint’s Day, or in Mexico Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Finally today, November 2, is All Soul’s Day. During the 3 days of Allhallowtide, the dead are honored with various festivals, parties, feasts, parades and ceremonies.

I’m not a practicing Christian, so for many in the western world like me, this is the time of year when people chase the thrill of getting scared by sharing ghost stories.  Children dress up in silly costumes and run around on a sugar high, and adults run around dressed like silly children on a sugar high.  I’m not a fan of fancy dress myself so I haven’t actually got a Halloween party story to tell.

I do however, have my own story to tell in honour of the dead.  There have been a number of strange occurrences having to do with the unexplained that has happened to me (I’ll get into it another time).  This story, is the most popular one.

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One summer, when I was living in Canada. A friend and I did a road trip to Calgary from Winnipeg for his brother’s wedding.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the sheer size of the country, you can see from the below map of the route. And yes you see that right, it’s a 13 hour journey.  That’s if the conditions are right.  Our road trip took place at the end of June which is typically a very wet time of year. Because of all the heavy rains, a portion of the Trans-Canada highway (the main highway linking all major cities) washed away due to flood waters somewhere between Regina and Calgary.  This meant we had to take detours through back roads leading through small towns and our journey turned into something like 16 hours.  We wanted to do the whole trip in one go – because we were hardcore like that ha.

Roy and I took turns driving, it was my turn to drive and we were about 13 hours into our journey at this point.  Roy was fast asleep in shotgun and I was very tired.  The hypnotic feel of the empty road certainly didn’t help so I began to nod off.  The road was pitch black as this was a country road, the only lights to be seen were from the headlights of the car we were travelling in.  I remember seeing a big sign “Welcome to Beiseker” a small village in Alberta.  At this point I was going at a pretty dangerous speed, coupled with my fatigue it was a very dangerous combination! I also saw road signs notifying drivers to “slow down children crossing” or “Caution school bus” as I sped through this little town.  But thought, what does it matter? No one is on the road but me….

I saw a rise in the road ahead, and as I came up and over the top I saw a little boy standing on the shoulder of the road to my right. He looked about 4 or 5 years old, wearing a blue and white tee-shirt, shorts and was bare foot.  I saw his blonde hair blow in the wind and he raised his right arm up as if to wave me down, in the palm of his hand he was holding something.

I immediately slammed on the brakes and yelled “Whaaat the fuck was thaaat?!!” and my eyes went straight to the clock which stated 4:17am.   

My thoughts? What is a shoeless kid doing on the side of the road at this time?!?!

At the speed I was going, even after hitting the brakes, I went right past him. Of course all this action woke Roy up, “What happened?” So I quickly explained.  Roy is massively into horror flicks so his reply was, “I think you just saw a ghost Flo!”

I could feel all the hairs on me standing on end and I was scared shitless by now so I kept driving.  Too afraid to turn around.

A couple hours later, we made it safely to Calgary. I had so much adrenaline pumping through me that I was completely fine to get us there.

Now, I know you can rationalize this story and try to convince me that because I was falling asleep and going really fast, it’s likely my eyes were playing tricks on me…

I know, I did the same rationalization exercise on myself.

A few days later…

Guilt had set in by now.  What if there really was a car accident, and this kid was just trying to wave someone down to help his parents who were potentially in a car rolled over in the ditch?? I’m being very silly, I’m going to call the police.  So I did just that.  As I explained my story to the woman on the phone she went silent.

“Hello?” I said.

“I don’t mean to scare you, but a truck driver called and reported the same thing. He saw a young boy standing on the side of the road in Beiseker.  However, he stopped and turned around to check and found nothing.  No one was there, no boy, no car accident, nothing”.

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Shiiiiit! I still get chills everywhere whenever I tell this story.

So what do you think now? Pretty difficult to rationalize 2 accounts.  After some reflection on this encounter, I realized that it wasn’t a bad thing to have seen the boy.  After all I was speeding at a ridiculous rate and falling asleep at the wheel.  The scare woke me up and got us safely to our destination.  If I didn’t see him…well we all know what could’ve happened then. Believe what you want, however I believe I did see a ghost or spirit…someone even has called him an angel.

So on a day the dead are honoured, I’d like to thank the little boy with the blue striped shirt for scaring the shit out of me that early morning in June. I’ll forever be grateful. And may he always help weary travelers arrive safely to their destination.

Oh and if anyone reading in Canada has any information on this town and their little helper, I’d like to hear from you.

I’ve also attached a tune to help with the vibe of the post 😉

Happy Allhallowtide everyone!