Brain Vacations

December 6, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

Summer’s kicked in here in Australia and it’s the time of year when thoughts turn to holidays. Tomorrow’s my last day at work for the year and on Monday I fly away. With that in mind, I’m wondering where your mind travels when you start to think about holidays. Is there somewhere you’ve been that you’d like to visit again or is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to see?

As I’ve mentioned before in my post Girls off the Streets, I’m getting ready to head to Bangladesh and India to see the work that SIMaid is doing to rehabilitate girls who have been rescued from forced prostitution.

I know that it’ll be a very confronting trip but I’m also looking forward to being back in India. I’ve visited twice before and I just love the country, its people, the food, the sights. I’ll even be dropping in on the Taj Mahal for the third time.

I can’t believe that our departure is just days away. Very early on Monday morning I’ll be in the air heading for Malaysia on the way to Bangladesh and India.

When you’re thinking about holidays where does your mind go? Is it overseas or somewhere in your own country? I’d love to hear where your brain goes for vacations.



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Taking Time Out

July 28, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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I’ve been mostly absent online over the past few days. I managed to get a couple of posts published on this blog but from Friday, my 48th birthday, until yesterday afternoon, I was spending time with my family in Dwellingup.

Situated in the heart of the majestic jarrah forest, Dwellingup is a town enveloped by earthy and historic charm.

Dwellingup is truly one of Peel’s hidden treasures and a fabulous all round holiday destination for a day, weekend or even longer. Offering an abundance of attractions and activities nearby, Dwellingup is also a popular base for regional touring with the choice of luxury chalets, Bed and Breakfasts and family budget cottages situated in natural bush settings.

The close proximity to Perth provides Dwellingup with a number of scenic entry drive points – one from the foot of the hills through Serpentine Jarrahdale, the other via the coast and Mandurah, both bringing unique driving experiences. – Experience Dwellingup

I can’t remember the last time just the four of us headed away for a break together. We stayed in a cosy A-Frame cottage with a log fire burning constantly. The cottage is set in magnificent gardens and the property surrounded by tall trees and wonderful Western Australian bush.

The few days we were away gave us opportunity to relax, explore, recharge and to enjoy God’s creation in what is surely one of the most beautiful places in W.A. We even took the opportunity to indulge in a little mountain biking on some gravel roads and tracks.

Life starts to return to normal today with Emily and James back at school. I’m still on leave until the 8th of August and this morning I’m happy to be cleaning out my email inbox and tapping out this blog post. I’m hoping to get time over the coming days for some reading and catching up on a few bits and pieces I need to do.

When was the last time you spent time away with your family? Do you like your holidays to be five star luxury or back to basics relaxation? Do you have plans for holidays any time soon?



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Feeling Disconnected

July 23, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

Ever feel that you’re disconnected from the rest of the world? I’m not completely disconnected but I am far enough away from home that I am without the technological comforts of home. We’re in Dwellingup for a couple of days and so we’re facing life without immediate access to billions of terabytes of useless information. How will we survive? Quite well I would suggest.

Don’t get me wrong, we still have access to most television stations, even if reception isn’t 100% crystal clear, our mobile phones have full service and we have a number of choices in electronic entertainment. What we don’t have is the Internet or any SBS Television reception, so staying up to date with live coverage of the final moments of the Tour de France is proving to be a problem. It’s not a complete technological detox, more of a partial fast. (Feel free to text me with results of the Tour de France. Just remember to be gentle with me if Cadel Evans doesn’t win.)

Now to the positive side of things. We’re staying in a wonderful A-Frame cottage with a roaring wood fire and huge servings of relaxation. Carol King’s Tapestry is playing in the background and I’m tapping out this post on my ‘disconnected’ iPad. I don’t have to rush the post because I won’t get to publish it until we next drop in to some place with wi-fi or 3G coverage.

Life is good

Life is good, very good, and it’s not the times like this that make it good, it’s times like this that we have opportunity to reflect on how good it is all the time. When we’re rushing from one thing to the next we can focus on the struggles and difficulties that we all experience, but when we slow down, take a breath, and look at the whole picture, we start to gain a little clarity. Life is tough and there will always be battles to be won and obstacles to be overcome, but that’s all part of the journey we travel. Life is tough, absolutely, but life is also very good.

I’m dispensable

One of the things I love about taking time out is the reminder that the world can do just fine without me. I am not the answer to the world’s problems. I am not even someone who is essential for my workplace to continue functioning. If I met with an untimely end anytime soon, the world would go on.

That may sound morbid but to me it’s incredibly freeing. It’s an enormous weight off my shoulders when I remind myself that I am simply walking through life one step at a time as God leads me. Yes, I am an important person in the lives of a few people and I have the privilege of doing some important stuff in my work but I’m just a very small, dispensable, cog in the machinery of life. I’m not the saviour of the world but I know the one who is and he’s far better at running this crazy world than I could ever hope to be.

I’ll be back

Our time here won’t be long, in Dwellingup I mean, but I’m hoping it’ll be a time of refreshing for our little family. I’ll be connected again before I know it but the secret is to take the lessons learned in times like these back into the busyness of life.

When was the last time you took time out? Did you manage to relax and de-stress? Did your time away from routine change the way you approached things when you returned to your normal day to day life?



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Take a Break for Australia

June 9, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
8 Comments

It would seem that Australians are a disgrace when it comes to taking annual leave. That’s according to Federal Tourism Minister, Martin Ferguson, who is telling us that we have too much annual leave stored up and that our bosses should be encouraging us to take more short breaks.

Apparently a lot of young Australians are hoarding leave to take extended holidays overseas. Mr Ferguson wants us to take short breaks within Australia. Well, of course he does, he’s the Federal Tourism Minister.

We need to be encouraging Australians to take not just long holidays, but to take that long weekend in Tasmania, that mid-year break in north Queensland, that three or four day holiday.

I like the idea of more short breaks. I like the idea of extended holidays, both in Australia and overseas, but until I have the money for all these wonderful holidays, I’m likely to stay home. If Mr Ferguson wants to slip me a few dollars I’d be happy to holiday all over Australia.

Mind you, I’m rather interested in one comment the Tourism Minister made.

We’ve got to change our own mindset and get people to realise that a short break is as good as a long break and encourage people to actually have a holiday in Australia.

A short break as good as a long break? Really? OK, here’s the deal. If anyone’s willing to fund a long holiday for me and then a short holiday, I’m prepared to carry out research on that statement. I will give solid evidence on which is best or if they’re both the same.

So what about you? Do you stockpile holidays? Do you prefer holidays in your own country or overseas travel? Are you finding it harder to afford any kind of holiday? I’d love you to leave a few comments.



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Visiting Fairbridge Village

April 17, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

Wolfe Cottage - Fairbridge, Western AustraliaYou may have noticed I’ve been missing in action for the last several days. I was spending some time away with my family in Wolfe Cottage at Fairbridge Village near Pinjarra.

Pauline and I took Emily and James to share a house with Pauline’s mum, Pauline’s brother and his four children, and Pauline’s sister, her husband with their two children. We had a great time sharing the cottage.

If you’ve never been to Fairbridge it’s well worth checking it out. The village offers a range of accommodation and all the money raised through hiring out the various cottages goes back into helping young Western Australians in various ways.

Fairbridge is a major youth charity in Western Australia and the only charity in Australia that owns a whole nationally heritage-listed town site.

Kingsley Fairbridge saw a dream in creating a nurturing and positive environment for young people to grow. He established Fairbridge Village (now nationally heritage-listed) as a world first, in 1912.

Fairbridge runs a myriad of programs and services for young people and has partnership agreements with dozens of other youth organisations. Fairbridge works with children with a disability, young people at risk, young people with drug problems, the unemployed, young people in our justice system, young people who are struggling with life, indigenous young people and refugees, through to gifted young people. Fairbridge helps young people reach their full potential and bring about long term positive sustainable change in their lives.

Fairbridge uses a holistic approach to working with young people and their families. Services provided range from mentoring, leadership development, life skills, interest free loans, accommodation, education, accredited training, employment opportunities and adventure camps.

I’ll tell you more about what we did over the past few days in coming posts.



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