TIME TRAVEL

Photo by Jonathan Ring

So, lately I've been trying to lighten my load by throwing away some of the stuff I've amassed over the last few years. I spent the past weekend sorting through a pile of old cd's and came to the realisation that most of my past nine years has been documented through various mixtapes. I have one for every month (well, maybe not every month, but you get the picture!) dating back to 2003. And, as you'd expect, I decided it would be a good idea to see if any were worth keeping. 

January 2006 seemed like as good a place to start as any. Pressing play was the equivalent of being handed a real life tardis. I was immediately taken back. It was a good year. I remember it particularly well because it was the year I got my first car. Well, I tell a lie, I actually got the car in the December of 2005, but by the time I was confident and comfortable driving it (and for the purpose of this story telling) we can bend the truth somewhat.

I was 20 years old, I was on a placement year at uni (my first introduction to the world of 'corporate'), I was living away from home and driving a 1990 Austin Mini (much like the one above). I have such vivid memories of playing this particular mixtape and whilst soaring (within the speed limit, of course!) up and down the A1. I guess it was my form of release from a world that was so new to me.

It's a great thing how some songs can define a particular time, phase, or place in our lives - no matter what else changes in your world, the song and the moment stay the same. It's good to relive those moments from time to time...they remind you how far you've come! So now I'm going to share my January 2006 with you...right here.   

Tell me about one or more songs, and what they remind you of, or make you nostalgic for.

SAUDADES DO BRASIL

It has been suggested to me on a number of occasions in recent times, that I should consider widening my job search parameters beyond national borders. Germany has been suggested, as has Belgium. America too and more recently Brazil. Now when this happens, I talk around the subject like I'm there already - what I will do, where I will go, who I will meet, so on and so forth. And then I have my Dorothy moment - 'there's no place like home' - and am once again back in the stronghold of middle England.

I would definitely love to one day, live and work abroad, preferably somewhere sunny, and funnily enough my thoughts nutate towards Brazil! I've never been there before but it feels familiar. I read this from Fernando Augusto Pacheco via Monocle and his closing lines are certainly not without effect:

'Like many of my other fellow Brazilians who decided to leave, I can only say that the feeling of saudades (longing) is always there. And if you do decide to pack your bags and go to live in this vibrant country, be aware that you might not want to leave again. If you do, the saudades will come and get you!'

For now, these will keep the saudades away.

 

1. My Brazilian inspired playlist.
2. Black Orpheus. One of my favourite films ever.
3. Women&World's stunning photography.