By Danielle French

Amy’s Departure

Although I am sad to formally announce Amy’s departure from South Pond, if I’m being honest there’s mixture of pleasure in this announcement too. Amy is off to find adventure and possibly love in a new phase of her life. She is not only leaving South Pond, but the area – and not just around the corner. She is off for six weeks to Fiji to engage in a world of shark diving and conservation (who knew!) and then “down under” to Australia and New Zealand for a tour that is described asthe “living embodiment of variety”. Not simply a tour but travelling through the rugged terrain, diving on coral reefs, hiking on snow capped mountains and navigating deserts and forests. Amy is truly reaching beyond all that she has known and push her own boundaries in exploration. After several months of adventure, she plans to settle in for a new life in Tofino, B.C.

When she first told me – this past summer – I realized immediately that this was a journey in her life that she couldn’t pass up. We should all be so lucky as to take time in our lives to pause, reflect and reconsider directions. It is easy to remain complacent and stay where we are. It is far more difficult to grasp the unknown, in fact it is pretty scary. There are so many what ifs: what if I am homesick, meet no friends, get sick, feel lonely, hate it. What if I can’t make it in the new world that I’ve created? Amy is one of the most independent women I know. She thinks nothing of travelling alone and finding interesting things to do along the way. I remember when on one of her trips learning how to surf ended up in countless days of rain and cold. And she was by herself. She still made something out of this trip, learned how to stand-up paddle board instead and made notes of what to do for next time.

I will miss Amy, but I know there will always be a place for her here at South Pond. She has contributed so much to this business and it’s success. Who knows, the Ask Amy portion of the newsletter may be replaced with Adventures with Amy! I feel like this new chapter in her life may overlap with our own travels here at the farm. Bon Voyage!

Keep your eyes open for future posts from Amy, and in the meantime if you wish to follow her journey you can do so at www.ignitethejourney.wordpress.com or follow her on Instagram @amyluells

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