intro: island and ocean bound

Recommended Soundtrack: "In the Meantime" by Spacehog

One day I found myself castaway in a remote island of Vanuatu. A place with only locals, and I was taken within as a member of one of the families. One of the resilient ones of the Torba province. As usual, I had built great expectations towards a plan to change my life and yet had done next to no planning. My purpose was simple - return to my writing while I learned how to sail - yet the journey ahead was anything but. My quest to meet first my sailboat captain began as a challenging one, facing the island country’s own complicated ferry system. My quest to endure my sailboat captain was decidedly more challenging, facing someone who has lived alone at sea for too many moons.  Most importantly, I learned quick the sail basics, and following my own wind and swell, I ended up getting off that boat, which led me to one of the most meaningful contact to contact experiences of my life.

Stuck in the village due to flight cancellations (from engineering problems, poor management and severe weather forecast), I lived with and like the locals for 10 days. I could not pay them money, still the family took me in with open arms. That was matriarchal family, of course. And as my new mother and leader said: ‘We are women here, we all understand each other’, as we embraced and - naturally for myself - tears erupted from my eyes that are famous for not hiding much. Within the daily works, I mostly helped with the children as I quickly proved to not be good at either fishing or cooking. I taught them about navigation, based on a booklet that belonged to my ex-boyfriend and had stayed at his old army bag that I brought with me. I had covered it twice, and it was time to pass it on to a new generation of brave and venturous girls - and say goodbye (that’s a lie, a few days in, when awareness and desperation with my 'castaway' situation hit, he was my confider. For we always shared sense of wandering around the world - and I knew he’d know how to tame the anxious side of me well. Which he did, bless... he gets the worse of me. When he deserves the best).

So during the day, I swiped the floors, took care of the sweetest and winy and tender little girl, a lost twin to my youngest sister. Somehow she loved me and whenever she came to my lap she fell asleep, so the parents loved me more. Then I was surprised to be incredibly cool enough to be welcomed by the young teenagers. We would go for a swim at the blue waters, past the reef, dance to modern songs and and they asked the names of all my family members and friends. I thought that was a beautiful interest from the culture and heritage, hearing the names of people who are meaningful and define my own name. Then, I drank Kava most nights with the older ladies, my three best friends and family. And soon I realised that even outside of constructs of the modern society, I am drawn to trailblazing advancing female friends who enjoy, purely and simply, getting high.

What happened in Vanua Lava was a series of instinctive female experience. A rooted and original feminism.

It was extreme - even in the sense experiencing an extreme low pressure system that formed around us. For days we waited for a level 5 cyclone to hit us. The elder women’s predictions were right.

The nature was alive, singing through waterfalls, winds, rains. With the young teenage girls’ water music as chorus.

The people were ultimately enticing and it would feel rude to write about them in a post alone. For that, I am writing another book, to share their own inspiring stories from my humble aspiring Writer’s eyes. And perhaps some of my own adventures at sea, that led me sailing to and out of Vanua Lava with it. * Should you be interested in reading such an attempt to tell stories and push for fluidity upon cultural diversity, please leave a comment.

*** The narrative takes the literary style inspiration from my manuscript 'Vanbound Pearls – Stories of Life on the Road.' If you've enjoyed this tale and wish to delve deeper into the shared stories of the ever so incredible humans that we cross paths upon the extreme, please leave a comment for reading my manuscript.  And you’ll be the first one to access its potential sequel, 'Sailbound Pearls – Stories of Life on the Ocean.’