For Those Back Home
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"That was the moment when I really questioned what I was doing - not in terms of showering by torchlight, I mean the whole trip. The whole being away from home thing. Away from friends and family. Perhaps if I'd not taken that call from Andrew I'd not have had those feelings but hey, I did answer the phone and right then I felt very lonely. I looked at my belongings on the shelf and realised that you know when you've been away awhile when you begin to run out of things like moisturiser, toothpaste and body lotion. I realise that this sounds pathetic but that night, that's how I felt - pathetic.
I started thinking about my nephews growing up and forgetting who I am and them remembering other people taking them swimming when that's what I love to do. I wanted to smell fresh bedding and make cannelloni for tea. I wanted to drink far too much wine on a Friday night, eat left over pizza and make Andrew laugh by saying "...You know when...?" I wanted to be told how I talk in my sleep about flying spiders and I wanted to spend far too much money at The Trafford Centre on shoes and handbags. I wanted to tell Andrew not to get injured (as is customary every Saturday before rugby) and I even wanted to go to the gym. Momentarily forgetting that the air conditioning rarely works and the step classes make me feel exhausted and achy. I felt very lonely."
"Nook and Fa moved around the bar with their arms outstretched shouting "I'm a butterfly" then crawled across the sand under our table muttering "I'm a watermelon". Yes, I know, it made me laugh too - they never did understand the difference between watermelon and caterpillar (do they really sound the same phonetically?)"
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About the Book
Jude Bull was successful and happy. She was content in the normal kind of way that 30 year old's generally are. Cocooned in Jude's World, one that revolved around Family, a Fiance, Friends and a Pet Rabbit. Oh and Work. Yes, Work featured quite heavily.
Then one day, just as Jude reached the point of being completely sucked and brainwashed into the Corporate World Of Work - It Happened.
A decision was made that would have a huge impact on the Family, Fiance, Friends and Pet Rabbit. Oh and Work. Yes, most definitely Work.
"Thailand you say?" voiced a slightly concerned, not particularly bothered work colleague. "For five months? Teaching English? But you're not a teacher, why on earth would you want to go and do that?"
Clearly this person was under the spell of Leedsitis, a condition becoming increasingly more common. They were under the illusion that life begins and ends in Leeds, and "Why would you want to venture elsewhere when everything that you need is here on your doorstep?"
And so the journey had begun. A journey, that Jude would never be able to second guess. It involved laughter and tears, sunshine and rain, a vast amount of courage and the chance for Jude to learn about herself - whether she wanted to or not.
About the Author
Judith Helen Bull was born in 1975 in Stockton On Tees, England. She is a creative, ambitious individual and has always held a passion for travelling.
Having spent ten years working for one of the big 4 Retail Banks, she decided to put her career on hold and travel to Thailand to volunteer as an English teacher.
This is her first book and contains extracts from her diary that she made whilst out in Thailand. She now lives in Leeds, West Yorkshire with her husband and hopes that this book will inspire other people to embark on a similar journey to what she did, during the summer of 2006.