It was time to push the reset button.
Which I think we all need to do from time to time. Even those in relationships. In fact it might even help your relationship. Here I am giving relationship advice when I’m not in one. Well hey, sometimes an non objective outsider can make a valid observation on something you can’t when you’re on the inside looking out.
The last time I did one of these cabin trips was a year and a half ago when I stayed in a cabin, on a farm, up the sunshine coast and also where I wrote about in “Me, Jimi & LSD”. So this was long overdue.
Anyway, as much we need to be around people, we sometimes need a break from people. I actually really love people. I can be quite extroverted when I’m in a particular setting [and introverted in other’s], but I love being by myself JUST as much as I love being around people, so my ratio felt a little off. Plus it’s also nice to just put a pause on every day life. The things you don’t even think would fill up your time like feeding your pets, driving from place to place, staying a bit too long after training to talk… it all adds up. And all of it is completely valid, it’s just life stuff. But sometimes you look at the clock and think, where did all the time go? So occasionally it’s important to get a little of that time back.
I do a lot of stuff on my own but for the most part, I am constantly around people. Which is more than okay, like I said, I love people. But it was time to isolate and reflect but also get inspired to be creative again. It seems every time I do one of these, let’s call it detoxes, from my world – socially, technologically, digestively and mentally; I always find that I am pulled back to my roots and can refocus on the big check list I have hanging in the back of my brain which gets very easy to ignore throughout the hustle and bustle of life. But goals are there for a reason right? And those goals aren’t going to achieve themselves if I don’t put the time and effort into them. I know I can come to this reality on my own without isolating myself in the bush but like I said, there are many distractions and it can be hard to refocus if you haven’t been doing so in a while. It’s like cleaning. It’s easier if you just maintain instead of allowing a space to completely get thrashed and have to start over again. The more I spend my time with day to day stuff and not prioritising my long term goals, it slowly gets more obstruct from view. The more I keep my long term goals in perspective, naturally ill be inclined to progress in them.
So I booked accomodation [while I was supposed to be present in a gymnastics class, not something I care to be distracted from normally] at 9pm Thursday night. Went home and packed my things. Woke up Friday morning, packed my car, went to training and drove straight down the coast after class. It was all very last minute and the best turn outs usually are.
I originally found the place on Airbnb [they had a seperate website for these cabin stays which I ended up booking through instead] and asked [since I was travelling alone], if the host could adjust the price for me. PRO TRAVEL TIP – This is something I regularly do! Especially if i’m travelling alone. This cabin was fit for 7 people and the price was a great one… If I were travelling with 6 other people. On my own however, not something I can comfortably afford or justify. I simply messaged the host, told her my situation and since I was travelling solo, she understood and we came to an agreement. It doesn’t hurt to ask, the worst thing that can happen is they say no.
I also booked for 2 nights and asked if after seeing the place the following day, I would let her know if I wanted the 3rd night or not. As soon as I was in the vicinity of the cabin, there were no other cars, no people and barely any phone connection. What with that and the several roos hoping around the lake, welcoming me in; I was obviously ecstatic as this is exactly what I wanted/needed. So I booked the 3rd the night too.
I discovered there was a yoga retreat happening up the road near the lake, which may seem like the kind of thing i’d be into but this specific situation I had put myself in, I made sure to stay clear of that. This was also the only area I had reception so that made it easy.
Before I could settle, I unloaded my shit, checked every room and sussed out all the lights – by this I mean, figure out which ones I like and which ones I will be using and not using during my stay. I have a weird thing with lights. I hate white lights and avoid overhead lights if I can help it, mainly at night but its just more cosy either way. I also make a huge effort in getting as comfortable as possible in any situation [which is why when I did my 2 weeks quarantine, I basically dismantled the whole joint and turned it from a hotel room to a mini studio apartment]. Don’t worry, I always put everything back where it belongs and always clean up after myself. But I knew I was staying for the whole weekend so it was worth moving some stuff around. There was only one bathroom light and it was not only white but had an extremely loud fan noise so that wasn’t going to happen. Luckily, there were two small yellow light lamps in the main bedroom so I put one of them in the bathroom. I pushed the small couch in the living room corner right in front of the fire and placed the side table in front but not to block the little fireplace.
They had supplied chopped wood and there was a fire place inside as well as a pit outside so I was over the moon. I love a good fire and make them regularly during winter. But I arrived early afternoon so it wasn’t time for fire yet. So the first thing I did after turning this random bush cabin into Shakira’s new home, was go for a walk down to the lake where the roo’s were with my notepad and pen, and made a list of what I wanted out of this trip.
Aside from recharging from being around people, I wanted to reflect on some personal stuff. Like I mentioned, refocus on my long term goals were a big one. I always have shorter goals I’m usually working towards but it can get easy to forget the big ones.
I also read a lot while I was in the cabin. Basically any time I was sitting around the fire. I was up to the last chunk of Goblet of Fire which I’ve given myself the pleasure of enjoying again for the millionth time. But honestly, its been so long since I’ve read the HP series, its like a whole new story to me again.
I had also told myself that I would do a long fast once a year after the last lockdown/my last long fast which was 4 days. Just because of all the benefits I learnt about it but I’m always training so there isn’t really an opportunity to give myself where I can afford to not give my body fuel. I was supposed to do it the last cabin trip but I gave in, stopped my the grocery store and grabbed stuff. Also the lady in the cabin next door to me brought over some fresh mangoes and other fruit that I was not going to say no to so it worked out anyway. It was still a nice break from junk that but this time I knew this would be my only opportunity and let’s face it, the only time I could actually force myself to not give into the temptation of my own kitchen or weekend events. This was the digestive detox part of the trip and mind you, I ate so much the day before, I actually didn’t feel properly hungry until a solid 24 hours after stopping. That’s really saying something…
Saturday I spent basically all day writing. It wasn’t too warm yet so it was a lot of time writing in the sun on the patio and reading inside by the fire. And like I predicted, just giving myself a second to not be distracted and write, I had ideas and they were finally flowing. This was my recharge before my planned self therapy session the following day. Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and I woke up with the sunrise to get it started. The ultimate mental reset is one that involves psychedelics. Its like a fast tracked way to sort out all the bullshit. I will elaborate on all this in the next post I guess. Now this time around, I actually brought mushrooms and not LSD so [coming to this realisation only once I had arrived] meant that I would not in fact be fasting from food the entire time. Face palm. Mushrooms of any kind would definitely put my body out of a fasted state. So I had to plan this out. When you do a long term fast, coming out of the fast is just as important as the fast itself which i’ll elaborate in another post. So seeing as Sunday was better weather and a longer time to remain fasted, this was the perfect day to go on my trip.
And food always tasted better when coming down from mushies so I had to have something ready. I stopped by the shops on the way up and bought some good old chicken breast and eggs to cook. I’ll get into this in the fasting specific post but you basically don’t want to shock your system and have a huge insulin spike, reversing any beneficial effects the fast had had. I brought up a small sachet of bone broth to first prep my stomach and ideally you want straight protein to break the fast after that, hence the chicken. Then I would introduce the eggs/fats after but seeing as I incorrectly planned, I had the bone broth first then brewed the shrooms in a tea [so my body wouldn’t have to break down the contents] and drank it straight. Be mindful that when you do brew shrooms instead of eating them, your body digests it almost immediately so you want to make sure you’re already set where you’re going to be. I drank my tea in a takeaway cup on the way down to the Shoalhaven River. Parked my car at the lake, walked barefoot on the grass with my cup in hand, hat on my head and music playing. I felt like Bilbo Bagins walking up over the bushy hills and out of sight.
After walking through the trees, I reached the river and walked down it as far as I could go in case people decided to come down later in the day. At this point the effects were already starting and by the time I found a nice patch of sand and grass to settle in, it was in full effect [again, i’ll go into specifics in the next post]. This was also the time to turn the music off and just listen to the sounds of nature. And boy were there many. I had no recollection of time until the effects were waring away but I laid in the sun for hours and went in the water every now and again when the sun was filleting me. It was just the most perfect day. Once I finished my “self therapy” session and started coming down, it was time to put the music back on and enjoy the rest of my time just being by the water and in the sun. The only thing that could have made it better would be an ice cold beer but I did not have one on hand. Then I started to get hungry…
On my way back along the river, the spot in which I jumped from one sand bank to the other was completely submerged in water so with my bag above my head and shorts rolled up, I trekked a little across to get back to the main bank and as I went from water to trees, I looked back and gave the river my gratitude towards it and a little peace out with my hands to sign off… and for dramatic effect. On the way back along the lake, between the trees and the gravel road, there were eagles circling above me so I just stopped dead in the middle of the grassy track to lay down and watch them for a while. To my great fortune, no one was in sight and I enjoyed this for as long as they soared.
When I got back to the cabin, first thing was first – washing myself clear of dirty river. Mind you, showering even with the slight past effects of psychedelics is heavenly so it was a whole thing to enjoy. The cabin unfortunately did not have any oil or anything I could cook the chicken with so I had to get crafty with what I had on hand. I had another packet of the powdered bone broth and some lemon [lemon does not break your fast and I have it with my water every morning]. So I chopped the chicken up, moistened it with lemon, and rubbed pepper, salt and the rest of my bone broth powder on it before chucking it in the oven. It actually turned out alright. Had the chicken with boiled eggs, which the yolk of gave the chicken a sauce to enjoy with it [side note – plain meat and the yolk of eggs is underrated and a regular enjoyment of mine]. I brought up a glass bottle of kombucha which is my version of a soft drink [I know, wild one this one] and enjoyed that with it while watching the sun set.
Before I left the cabin in the morning, I placed all the logs and kindle in place both inside and out so it would be ready to go when I got back. So just before the sun was completely gone, I sparked up the pit outside and by the time it was dark, the fire was fully roaring. I grabbed a chair from inside and sat down to enjoy it. I then looked up and saw how bright the quarter moon was and instead laid down on the bench beside it. Watched the stars for a bit, could hear the roo’s rustling in the bushes and eventually used the light of the fire to continue reading. After this fire was set, I was honestly so impressed with it. I didn’t have to adjust any logs or rekindle it all the whole time I was out there. It was actually quite frightening how well it was burning as I was constantly reminded at the fact that all the trees and bushes surrounding me were merely an unlimited supply of kindle for my fire. It was so well lit that when I wanted to go inside, I had to put it out with water otherwise that thing would’ve blazed until morning time and there was no way I could let a fire sit out there with all that bush and sleep easily.
On Monday, I was woken up at 5:30am to the sound of roo’s screeching and birds chirping oh so loudly As beautiful as it sounded, I really thought that was too early to wake up on a trip away from home. Sleep is so important! Then I remembered, aside from walking and stretching, I hadn’t trained in days and so my body probably didn’t need as much rest and recovery as usually. So I got up and went to explore the creatures that belonged to my wake up call and watched the sun rise over the lake.
After a long process of packing my things, putting the furniture back and cleaning up the place, I hit the road. I passed through the small town Berry as it was on the way back and bought some donuts from the “Famous Berry Donut Van”. I wasn’t sure how the coffee would taste but figured, I love coffee and i’m never here so its worth trying. Let’s just say, they’re famous for only the donuts for a reason…
With my car smelling greatly of cinnamon sugar while driving back up the coast on this extra warm day, I had to stop by the beach. Beach hopped around Cronulla and enjoyed some donuts.
My body clock seems to be real set on the extra early mornings this week and when normally this would upset me and cause me to stress over lack of sleep, I am now taking it as a sign my body has had enough rest and I will just get up and have more time in the day to focus on that list.
I got everything I wanted out of this trip and more. This was also a reminder that if life gets a bit too hectic, its probably a sign to reset and do another one of these.
Time to start being more productive with my time.