What am I trading I wonder. What is the cost of experience? It is certain that the relaxed exploration of the Faroes I am embarking on could not be attained by money alone but equally true that I am paying a high price in terms of my time. I usually use these placements as 'kick offs' to get me grounded, familiar with the currency, the transport, the food, the way a country works and then head off.
I'm confused about whether I still want to do this although the confusion is probably more about the length of placement which brings both rewards and limitations, but also perhaps the client group. Cleaning back packer hostels in return for rent, free every day after 11am is a very different beast to unknown hours in a boutique guest house trying to offer, I quote, a five star service!
When I'm travelling I want to be able to connect with the free spirit inside me, to learn about me and my interactions with the world as much to discover a place, so unsurprising then that commitment doesn't work. If, however, I were more interested in a place, as an end in itself, then long stays would be a perfect arrangement. Therein lies my dilemma.
I loved the Vestmanna boat trip and will repeat it. The swell, wind, crashing waves and sea air, I find enjoyable and the sun gleaming on the water with back drop of ancient rock, iced with brilliant green and feathered with cloud, top it off for me. As we turn to the north the view is breathtaking, the vertical craggy cliffs have been cut, as with a giant saw, leaving vertical layer on layer appear one behind the other and cloud hangs, as it oft does, draping and hiding sections and wisping softly around others.
At this point I regret that my camera is my iPad. I decided that I am here to view the birds and that trying to photograph them could never do justice but could prevent me seeing them with my own eyes, so photography was not on my agenda. In fact, while birds hold my interest, it is the aging fishing huts as we leave the harbour that first grab my attention and then the land, the textures, colours and depths of the rock itself. I have been wanting to take photographic imagery for some time, particularly as we enter a cleft or narrow passage into the rocks and the water swells alarmingly on one side simultaneously falling on the other until the force of the water evens its path.
The boat rides high and drops low with waves crashing the bow. We rock side to side and my attention is taken by standing upright, this is no time for playing with a thin and slippery iPad. I watch with slight jealously as those with cameras safely round their necks snap away. At one point I reach for my phone, manageable one handed, but my ageing iPhone 5 has decided on a temper tantrum and switches itself off each time I turn it on. In fact it is very temperamental here and in particular, does not like being plugged in. It refuses to do anything I ask of it while connected to the Faroese power supply.
I return, physically and mentally, from my fantasies of Viking ships and lazing in the sunshine to doing my internet tasks 'at work' for it is the only place where I have wifi connection. I open a can of cold beer, (discarded and donated by the irish referees) and try to settle down but soon become aware of a taxi stopping outside. I ignore it. Voices, then a tapping and it seems three guests think they are booked in here tonight.
Marita has told me we are empty this evening and indeed it had looked to be true. These girls, and the taxi driver, insist they are in the right place so I welcome them in and try to make contact with Marita. My evening collapses. I fetch them bottles of water, liaise with Marita and lay tables for breakfast on being informed that I'm to oversee breakfast and check out tomorrow, followed by airport drop off and turnaround. It won't be the kitchen floor after all for me then!
Shipping forecast
