I have some work, well at least a month's worth to start with. And that's a start! I'm currently busy doing research into boutique and luxury hotels in Bali. I have to find out who the main agents booking luxury boutique hotels in ten countries are (both online and those with a physical presence) and I also have to put together a list of all the travel press in the ten countries. Now you're thinking "you've moved to Ibiza and you work in interiors (apart from when you have an international relations project to do) - how have you ended up doing research on luxury boutique hotels in Bali?" Well, my past has come back to haunt me as it seems to do.
I had a meeting a couple of months ago with one of the main independent estate agents on the island to talk about work. He told me to go and talk to his friend A who has an interiors shop on the island, has lots of work and may be able to pass work my way. I thought the shop was for bathrooms as the shop flyer in my hand showed bathrooms. A was away for a couple of weeks and was going to come back while I was meditating in Barcelona. I planned to get in touch as soon as I was back from Barcelona but met him by accident and had an impromptu meeting/introduction on the pavement.
I went to see him at the shop a little while later to discuss how we might be able to work together. The shop is absolutely gorgeous - I've been to a lot of the interiors shops on the island and this one has to be my favourite, along with Sluiz. A travels frequently to Morocco and Indonesia and scours both places for the most beautiful things he can find. As a former fashion designer (based in New Delhi for 11 years), he has impeccable taste and this reflects in the collections in his shop. We ran through my CV verbally and when I mentioned that my first degree was in International Hospitality Management, he asked if I could help with the boutique hotel he's opening later in the year in Bali. Of course I said yes! And that's how I find myself doing the research.
There's been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing getting started but I have at least a month's worth of work and that's great! Of course it would be brilliant to know that there's more work after that month but I just have to be patient and deliver on what's been asked of me in the first instance. I know that a part of me wishes to have something a bit more concrete and definite - it's as if you seek some sort of security when you've put your life through such a great upheaval moving it from one country to another. The uncertainty does make me feel uncomfortable but it's better to sit out the discomfort and see it through to the other side than to run and find something that is more comfortable (which would probably mean working in a bar or restaurant!). I know I'd love to work with A (and there are very few people who I would want to work with) so fingers crossed this leads to something good!
I've also got some writing work on the island although this is unpaid. I'm just happy to be finally writing about interiors, after wanting to do it for three years! I'm going to be writing a monthly interiors article for "Ibiza Now", the main foreign-language magazine on the island. The magazine is published in English and German and I'm going to be writing for the English version. Depending on how that goes, the articles may be translated and put into the German edition of the magazine. I had a meeting with the Editor-in-Chief earlier this week to discuss the articles and plan them out for the next few months. It was a great meeting, we ended up talking for a couple of hours and mapped out article ideas that go as far as March of next year.
So, two bits of good news in one week and both steps in the right direction. But I'm not feeling as ecstatic as perhaps I should be. It's not that I'm feeling homesick but I am really missing having close friends around. My meditation practice has waned as well but it's a catch-22 situation - when I most need to meditate, that's when I'm least likely to do it! So, the aim for this coming week is to get back into a daily meditation practice and continue onwards and upwards!
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