Hi everyone! We’ve made it to the last week of the trip, a bittersweet feeling. This was a jam-packed four days — one full day each in London and Paris, before flying back to Melbourne. Quite a shock from the sleepy island holiday pace of Menorca.
But firstly, a twist of sorts. On Friday 13 October, I took my last roll of film featuring London and Paris to a photo lab in Melbourne. In an unbelievable turn of events, thieves broke into the lab and stole all of the film that was deposited that day. The lab was in a notoriously sketchy suburb, but this had never happened in their ten years of business. They launched a full police search, and managed to track down where the film had been dumped in a nearby bin, the thieves deciding it was of no monetary value — just irreplaceable sentimental value. Amazingly, some of the rolls of film were recovered, as were the job bags. Because they found my job bag and got in touch with me, I was fairly hopeful that my film would be one of the lucky recovered rolls. I couldn’t wait to tell this story, of the little roll of film that had its own adventure, outside of my hands. But the next day, I got an email to say that my images of London and Paris were not on one of the rolls that they were able to salvage. My heart broke, I burst into tears. I’m not sure why I was so hopeful that this wouldn’t actually be mine, perhaps in an effort to deny any possible heartbreak. What are the chances? Although, it was Friday the 13th.
I was so excited to put this final post together, for the final week of the trip, and I’ll never know what those photos would’ve looked like. Instead, I’ve scrambled together the some iPhone photos to get the stories across.
I flew to London on a whim to catch my favourite artist, Alice Phoebe Lou, who had announced a solo show at Rough Trade Records. Not that I had a ticket to the show, thanks to my indecisiveness — it sold out fast. I had one full day to explore the city, with the sole mission (rather, a ‘soul’ mission) to hustle to get a ticket to the show. I landed a ticket via the waiting list, but missed receiving the email as I was boarding the plane to London. It was painfully unfair, but I trusted that something would work out. I chose an Airbnb near Rough Trade in East London, and thought I would just turn up in the morning and explain the situation. I told Loz, the woman at the desk the story, of how I’d missed that ticket, and was desperate to see Alice as I’m here from Australia, and if there was anything she could do. She casually logged onto the system, typed a few things in, and worked some magic. As simple as that, she put my name on the guest list! And I didn’t have to pay! I teared up and thanked her profusely for making my dream come true. Hopefully I played it slightly more cool than that, but I most likely didn’t. Forever grateful to you Loz!
I spent the rest of the day before the show wandering in the rain in typical bleak English fashion, with my broken umbrella, stopping by the vintage shops of Brick Lane, bakeries, coffee shops, the Whitechapel Gallery and a few exhibits for London Design Week. Later in the evening, I headed back out for the show, stopping by Beigel Bake in Brick Lane. Legendary bagels, open 24 hours. Their classic salt beef was mind-blowingly good. There was a reflective mirrored surface inside, assumingly so that you could check that beef wasn’t still stuck in your teeth. Necessary.
The show was magic in its purest form. Alice is otherworldly. She shared intimate stories from her songwriting process, spending weeks in a house in LA with a grand piano writing the new songs, and described her whirlwind of a life as a touring independent artist. I was struck mid-way through one of the songs, that her latest album came out two days into my trip. I remember first listening to it in full on the train from Paris to Bordeaux. And here I was coming to terms with the end of my trip, finally getting to see her play live. This adventure has been perfectly bookended by her music, with her songs and words piercing through many key memories and moments of reflection on my trip. The show was also a signing, so we lined up and met her afterwards. What a dream.
I treated my last full day in Paris with the mission to get through my last roll of film. Unfortunately, it was bucketing down with rain, which made Paris seem a lot quieter than I had experienced before. I walked around with one hand holding my broken umbrella, balancing a croissant and my film camera in the other hand. The scenes were typically touristy — dodging the men trying to tie bracelets on your wrist at Sacré Cœur, following a stylish couple around and wondering what their story was, and wandering around the cosy bars and eateries of Montmartre. I enjoyed one final decadent meal — a burger and fries, and a glass of red, seated facing the street. I had splurged on a luxe hotel room (thankfully bed bug free) and ate a crêpe in bed on my final night.
My last morning before my flight to Melbourne was amusing and chaotic. The driver of my Uber to the airport thought I looked like Nicole Kidman. He was trying to sell me Tunisian marble and olive oil, whilst we sped down the freeway in the pouring rain. I had flashbacks to the infamous BlaBlaCar ride. Once at the airport, relieved, I bought macarons from Ladurée as one final treat of the trip. By this point, I had somewhat accepted going home. Flying to Melbourne felt as simple as travelling onwards to the next city, just as I had been doing for the past three months.
Adjusting to life back in Australia has been much harder than first thought. I was in denial about being back for a long time. I’ve spent a lot of time at my parent’s place, in the town I grew up in. It’s felt nourishing to spend extended time there with my family, returning at an opportune time to catch the warm spring weather.
I’m currently in limbo as I figure out my next plan, whether that means moving somewhere, more travel, or staying put for a while. I hope to continue sharing here regardless, with words and film photography as I document life ahead.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this newsletter, and for sharing with me how this has touched you. I’m so grateful. Thank you to all the beautiful people I’ve met along the way, many of whom I haven’t mentioned here. When I think back to the version of me four months ago who was terrified to go on this adventure, I thank her too. It’s been worth it in every way, and life changing in ways that I think will continue to unfold in the coming months, and possibly years.
Here’s to the next adventure.
Mad x