Ok, first off I want to point out a few things;

1. Although I really do like pink sparkly things, I am not a real Princess (unless wearing a tiara at any opportune moment makes it real?)
2. I haven’t ever ‘blogged’ before and am not even really a writer (unless you count inspiring primary aged children to practice their creative writing in an attempt to fill an hour long lesson?)

But I do, for now, live in a caravan.

So let me start by telling you a little about me and how this blog came about.

I am a 33 year old primary school teacher from London. The travel bug bit me hard a long time ago and since then most of my spare time and money has been invested in travel, from short weekends in Europe to longer trips traveling around India. I have been lucky enough to not only travel but also to live in Australia, Canada and now South Africa.

A few years ago having returned from a month living in a small town in Uganda and teaching at a primary school there, I set up Global Handprints. For the next few years I juggled running the organization alongside my teacher training course then full time teaching and then a move to Canada. Sadly it got put on the back burner while I focused on working and living in Toronto.

In 2014, an unexpected chain of events (everything happens for a reason, right?) meant I found myself living in South Africa and having had 6 months experience working there for a large volunteer organization, faced with two choices;

• Go home, get a job and ‘settle down’
• Stay in SA and get Global Handprints going again with a vague idea I had for a new, slightly ambitious volunteer project

Everyone who knows me wasn’t surprised I chose the latter.

Almost a year later, having spent two months at home, I once again was faced with the same decision; ultimately whether to stay or go. Home is home and you guys there make it my safe place. But, once again my friends weren’t that surprised when I said I was boarding the plane and coming back to South Africa. I have unfinished business there in what is an amazing but also frustrating at times, country; there is more I want to see and experience and places to cross of my bucket list before I can move on to somewhere else. Global Handprints’ heart is in Africa and right now, specifically in South Africa. It’s where I need to be.

So, here I am. A Princess in a Caravan.

The boy and I have decided to give up the static life of household bills and chores and replace it with a (pretty small) caravan filled to bursting with our important and necessary belongings (clothes mainly for me and ‘toys’ mainly for him) and the two dogs. We have a vague plan; drive, see, work, experience, and a vague route; the west coast. Apart from that we will see what happens.

This blog is my way of taking you on this journey with me so sit back and enjoy the ride 🙂