MY STORY

My life was once fast paced, filled with adrenaline and always a need to rush everything. I recently realized that this type of lifestyle was not made for someone like me. Chasing the world, chasing the needs of millionaires and following endless orders that I was meant to complete all in the same breath is something that I could survive for a time, but eventually something that exhausted me to the point of complete burnout, physically and mentally.   

Today, everything is now the opposite for me – my days are slower, brighter and filled with purpose. Following my heart and my dreams is what led me to Wild Reverence. As uncertain and uneasy it may be at first, I am slowly learning to trust my path, trust my process and most of all, trust my intuition. I truly believe that everything that has happened, and all the choices that I have made, has led me to where I am finally meant to be. Dreams were made to be followed, and I am following mine with every fibre of my being.   

Growing up mainly in a countryside area has been a dream come true. From the time we moved into our beautiful house and large garden, I felt like the luckiest girl alive. Trees surrounded the area, little hills laid out on the land and the big field next door was more than anyone could ever wish for or want.  

Before moving onto the big plot, we were in complexes. I enjoyed it as it was all I knew at the time and had many complex friends to run around and play with in the afternoons and the weekends. Even though we were in small houses with smaller gardens (than the plot), my mother always allowed me to have some sort of animal to keep me company, considering I am an only child. We only had two dogs, and whenever we moved always kept them in mind and let the complex owners know we had dogs so that we were able to move in. I also managed to have quite a few hamsters in my childhood, along with a bird when I was very young who passed away too soon, otherwise I’m sure he would still be going strong today.  

I was gifted another bird in my later years, before high school, who managed to live for eight years. The point is, I have always loved and appreciated animals since I was very young, and could not imagine my life without them. So moving onto the big plot of land, meant we could have even more animals; more dogs, some chickens and even a pig. But for all this time, I was still never able to have my favourite animal in the world – horses. They are expensive, and my mother did not need another financial drain in her life at the time.  

I would day dream in the garden about having my own horses, picturing riding them bareback, grooming them, playing with them and always thinking, “One day…”. I believe everything happens for a reason, and when I was so close to adopting my first horse at about sixteen, that chance was blown to smithereens.  

I was heartbroken. I had spent nearly a year bonding with the one particular horse that I wanted, Belle, just for her to be snatched away from me. I was destroyed and stopped volunteering at SAID in my teen years. I did not go back for years.  

Later on, I saw that maybe it was for the best that Belle went to another home. She was adopted shortly after I was disapproved for having a horse on the property, because of my “aggressive” dog who probably would have been the one more prone to injury/trauma if he got near the large horse who can kick and break bones.  

At the end of school, I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life but had this incessant desire to travel the world and be near the ocean. That’s when yachting happened. I worked hard, gambled with my study savings my grandfather had kept aside for by using all of it to pay for my required courses and certificates and hoped for the best.  

It was not at all a smooth or easy ride. I was so close to giving up, more than once, especially since COVID 19 was spiraling across the planet, which meant we all had to put our lives on hold. I waited almost a year after my courses before I could travel overseas to dock walk and find my first job, since everyone refused to fly out a fresh greenie to a boat in the middle of COVID.  

It was depressing and demotivating but I managed to get through it and was buzzing with excitement when I was finally able to leave for Europe for my first time. My mother and my aunt kindly paid for my ticket to Spain and from there it was just up.  

My future travels were the most likely reason I did not end up with Belle. I was reassured that she went to a good home which made me happy for her, but I selfishly wanted her to be with me instead. I cried for days. And in between my twenties, I have thought about her a few times, and remembered how heartbroken I was that I couldn’t have her, but realised that maybe it was for the best.

Going away for months at a time, attempting to find permanent contracts where you only get a month’s leave to go home every year, would not be ideal for someone who has a special horse waiting for her back at home, wondering when she was going to return, if she ever would. It was hard enough for me to leave my dogs and my cats behind, and broke me piece by piece each time I left for the airport and saw their sad faces watch the car drive away with two large suitcases, knowing that they know I am not coming home for a while.  

They always had my mother to take care of them, but I knew for them it wasn’t the same as having me around who gives them hugs and kisses and plays with them. So to leave horses behind, the animal that my mother fears the most, would be even worse and more catastrophic than the dogs and cats.  

It’s hardly mentioned in the yachting world, leaving your family and pets behind and having to carry guilt around with you while you are flitting around the world and you’ve left people and animals behind. It’s a normal thing, and a tough choice to make, to stay at home and never experience what is out there, or to go out there, explore, make tons of memories but miss out on family events, possible deaths and funerals, weddings, the aging of your pets.  

I have so many reasons why I stopped yachting, but the main reason was to be with my family and my pets. I know my old dog has arthritis, for a few years now and it’s just been getting worse and worse and I always had this anxiety that I would one day come home and he wouldn’t be around anymore and I would sometimes cry because I thought maybe I should be with him instead, in his last years of life rather than working overseas. An inner conflict about two seemingly simple choices that are actually life changing. I also knew my mother and my aunt were not getting any younger, and I felt in my heart it was time to step away from the floating hotels and set roots in the ground where I am loved and appreciated and completely irreplaceable.  

I always had in my mind that if I ever quit yachting, that meant the end of all my travels across different countries. It meant no more earning big money and no more parties at exotic nightclubs and no more making international friends.  But this is not true. Quitting yachting means I can travel to places for holiday, instead of work, I can choose the places that I want to go to, not where some itinerary tells me I can go. It means I have more time in the day to sight see and explore the cities for as long as I like without a curfew made by some bossy chief stewardess or captain.  

Quitting yachting has not taken away the freedom like I imagined it would; it has actually gifted me the freedom I have always craved. I may not go to different places for months at a time, but I don’t want to go away for such long periods in any case. I have freedom to choose the places I want to travel to, and I have a long list! Starting at the top is India or Mauritius. I have been meaning to make time and a financial budget since 2022 to visit India, but have never managed to be able to do it.  

I may not be able to afford it right now, but in due time, I have no doubt I will be scheduling points in the calendar for how many countries to visit in one year and travel all the beautiful places that call my name.  

My story may not be completely unique or original, but what makes it special is how Wild Reverence found its way to me. A quiet calling, a country lifestyle that had been born in me from a young age and the urge to have has many horses as I can and try save and rescue them is the beating heart of WR.  

I am so proud to associate my name with such a meaningful introspection that goes beyond surface level layers. Created with authenticity, honesty, and love for the horses of the world, Wild Reverence was born to help me along the path of my true dreams, and to in turn help those who may also be lost and searching for small meanings in life.   

My hope is that through sharing my journey, I can encourage you to follow your dreams too. 

Dreams were made to be followed