Well! Where to start. First of all, happy 2011 to all! I hope you’ve had a relaxing start to the year – what have you been up to? I know in some parts of the world it’s been a rather devastating beginning to the year with floods a plenty. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find many spirits of those who have suffered filled with a sense of renewal and community.
For me, it’s been a time of significant change.
Mes amis, I have moved to Sydney, Australia. This past month, that’s what I’ve been doing – moving my life from one part of the world to the other. And now, after a 5 day ‘time out’ holiday on my favourite island in the Malacca Strait (photos and stories to come!), we’ve just landed in Sydney – ready to embark on this next part of our life journey together in this sunny part of the world.
How did it all happen? Rather quickly. How do I feel about this big move? Perhaps ask me in a month or two once we’ve found a home and settled into Sydney life. As much as I’m happy to be in the sunshine and be in closer proximity to family and friends here, it means I have left dear friends over there, and that makes my heart ache. If only it was possible to be in two places at the same time…
It helped a lot to have some time away from the (blog)house to focus on all the physical tasks at hand, to spend quality time with my friends in Amsterdam, and to pack up our belongings which are now on a boat (not the boat), due to arrive in Sydney in a couple of months time. After only finishing the book a day before Christmas, I had little energy left for the events that transpired over the last 30 days. I know I’ll be looking back on these last months and wonder, how on earth did I get all that done in such a short space of time? It’s amazing what the mind and body can do when they work in harmony…
I’ll tell you more of the whys and hows as my mind and heart settle into these new surroundings but in this moment, I am very excited about the year ahead. I’m not one for making resolutions, but come new year’s eve, I found myself resolving that this year I want to focus on having fun. I am so incredibly excited about the launch this coming april/may of My Heart Wanders. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and sent me sweet messages about the cover! There are some great ideas being discussed about book events for the launch here in Sydney, I can’t wait to reveal them to you.
Pour l’instant, I feel ready to blog again. I hope you’re ready to have me back…
xx
What a surprise! Happy settling, and I am SO ready to have you back 🙂
p.s. very excited about your new book, one more reason to look forward for Spring to come.
January 24th, 2011 | #
My goodness, that sounds like a tumultuous few weeks. Wishing you all the best for settling back in and readjusting. It must be a shock to come back to this heat.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Wow! What a leap of energy and faith you have made! Wishing you all that you wish for in 2011 and looking forward to seeing how you capture your new life spiritually and aesthetically.
Helen
http://www.helenhallows.blogspot.com
x
January 24th, 2011 | #
Oh Pia!! So good to have you back!! Ad can’t believe your back down under!!! Wow! You’re such a brave lady and I’m constantly inspired by you.
Have a great 2011 dear and good luck with adjusting (back…) to the Southern Hemisphere! xx
January 24th, 2011 | #
wow, i love that you are starting a new journey in a new place and i wish you lots of fun exploring your new world.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Welcome back! And what exciting news! I can’t wait to hear all your Sydney stories. It must be great to be starting a whole new chapter in warmer climates!
January 24th, 2011 | #
Hi/dag Pia and welcome to Down Under! I’m based in Auckland, am dutch/NZ… love Sydney. Good luck with your move and settling in.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Oh, what a pity that you’ve left Amsterdam… But I’m sure beautiful things are awaiting you in Sydney, and I wish you all the best for this new year & new adventure…
“It’s amazing what the mind and body can do when they work in harmony…” – sounds just wonderful. I’m sending you all the best from grey Holland, and hope to see you again one day!
January 24th, 2011 | #
Wow, Pia! What a change! I was so not expecting that. Sad that you are no longer a train trip away, but excited for your next round of adventures and new inspirations. I guess the good news is you no longer have to figure out a fresh way to say something about Amsterdam 😉
You are truly a citizen of the world! Felicitations, Pia!
Bisous,
Anne
January 24th, 2011 | #
very happy 2011 🙂 what a wonderful way to start the year !
January 24th, 2011 | #
Dear Pia,
Good luck!!!!
Happy to see you back here, and sad that you no longer in Amsterdam…:-(
But, knowing how important is to be surrounded with your family, friend and of course the sun i wish you all the best.
Again good luck!
xxx
January 24th, 2011 | #
wow! let me welcome you back to Oz 🙂 I hope this year IS full of fun and beautiful times for you!
and good luck for the house-hunting/settling in!
January 24th, 2011 | #
Wow that is a big move! I wish you lots of luck and happiness in your new location and look forward to reading your stories of it all!
January 24th, 2011 | #
happy new year pia and welcome back!
sounds like you have been pretty hectic (we know that feeling). we are sure sydney will be an adventure. we travelled around australia a couple of times and lived in sydney for a little while and we loved it. feeling envious already. oh sunshine!
glad you are back & looking forward to your posts as always.
sammy & glenn
pachadesign
January 24th, 2011 | #
What did you do with your lovely houseboat?
What a pity you don’t live in Amsterdam any more. I gave your book Made in Amsterdam to so many friends here in Holland and to family menbers in Sweden and they all enjoyed it so much.
I hope you will enjoy your Aussi life as much as you did your Dutch life. And keep us all posted!
January 24th, 2011 | #
Have very joyful life in Sydney, I hope you all best for the new beginning there.
January 24th, 2011 | #
How exciting for you! I wish you the best as you settle down and make your new home. I know all too well of the emotional and physical drain that an overseas move can bring, but I hope that you will enjoy the wonderful new adventure and be given extra energy for all the unpacking! Best wishes from Copenhagen!
January 24th, 2011 | #
hello pia! well, i am new here, i kind of arrived a little before you made a break, so i was coming here from time to time to see if you were already back, and now you are!! i am looking forward for some new adventures! good luck on everything from now on!!! take care!!! twiggs (from the other side of the world!)
January 24th, 2011 | #
Hi Pia,
I’ve been enjoying your blog over the past few months. I’m a Sydney girl too, now living in Germany, and my heart skipped a little envious beat when I read that you’d returned to the sunny land we call home! Best wishes for settling in and finding a home.
Ally
xx
January 24th, 2011 | #
Yey! You’ve arrived!
Welcome home!
Hope you had a safe trip, I’ll write to you in person later on. For now huge kisses from my hotelroom in Dublin oxox
January 24th, 2011 | #
Happy to have you back Pia! Wow, lots of changes for you… that certainly is a fresh start, very exciting! Wish you all the best for this new year and this new adventure! Focussing on having fun sounds as a perfect resolution 🙂 Maak er wat moois van!
January 24th, 2011 | #
O my goodness! What a surprise to visit and see that you’ve made the long trip just across the ditch from where I live. I’m looking forward to seeing your posts and pictures of Sydney and Australia and hope you come over to New Zealand too, Pia. I saw Amsterdam: Made by Hand at my local library today and it felt like seeing an old friend. I’m a big fan!
January 24th, 2011 | #
It’s great to hear from you again, Pia. Good luck with your new life!!
January 24th, 2011 | #
Wow what a surprise … but I’m sure a good one.
Happy settling and looking forward to hearing all about it!
xx
January 24th, 2011 | #
Ooh, Pia – what huge news. I can’t believe how much you’ve had on your plate lately. Enjoy settling into Sydney and relish the sun after the winter you’ve been having! J x
January 24th, 2011 | #
wish you all the best, love and happiness in your new home!
hope it will be good and inpiring for you.
can’t wait to read about it, enjoy!
January 24th, 2011 | #
Oh great, what a surprise though… never expected to read about such a big move! I will be in Sydney in April, I wish/ hope/ pray for the launch to happen while I am there… but maybe we could meet nonetheless?
January 24th, 2011 | #
So happy for you – can’t wait to hear about your new adventure! welcome home.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Oh Pia, nice to have you back, you really have been one busy girl … Happy settling in XXX
January 24th, 2011 | #
Great to have you back even though you’re so far away now! I wish you all the best. I’m sure new adventures are just waiting round the corner.
I’d like to use the opportunity to thank you for your wonderful book, Amsterdam: Made By Hand. I finally ordered it and I’m so enjoying reading a few pages each day. I just finished reading about the De 9 Straatjes and I was so sure to run into you at Pancakes!Amsterdam on my next visit to the city 😉
January 24th, 2011 | #
No matter how far, or how wide we roam…welcome home. I hope you are struck down too wildly with “re-entry syndrome”, and your adjustment to the surrounds and ways of Sydney is smooth and joyous. Look forward to hearing the story behind the move and your always inspiring posts of a life less ordinary.
January 24th, 2011 | #
What exciting news!! we are so so sooo excited to have you back on our shores.. may your new adventures ahead be filled with warmth, love, happiness and all the sucess possible!
looking forward to coming to the launch of your new beuatiful book xx
January 24th, 2011 | #
very excited to have you back and to hear all about your new adventure. thinking of you.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Just found you via My Beautiful Adventures, and I LOVE your photography. It’s totally ethereal and so calming. You do great work.
January 24th, 2011 | #
WOW! How exciting! Best wishes for settling in. xo
January 24th, 2011 | #
Welcome back Pia! Looking again at your new book’s tagline and smiling. Nothing quite like those whirlwind leaps of faith when that last little toe lets go and you fly into the unknown. Congratulations and well wishes for more succulent creations from your pen and lens. Blessings – kvk
January 24th, 2011 | #
Oh my gosh, my jaw is on the floor, what HUGE news!!! Change is always good, so enjoy your new life Down Under. 🙂
January 24th, 2011 | #
I’m just now finding you, but I am excited for your new adventure!
Blessings!
January 24th, 2011 | #
Welcome back. So looking forward to more of your wonderful images.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Oh Pia! What exciting news. One more reason to take a trip to Australia then??
January 24th, 2011 | #
Wow! It sounds like an amazing new adventure that you’re undertaking. Have so enjoyed following your Amsterdam based blog so am now looking forward to seeing what Sydney brings.
The Return to Oz is something we’ve been contemplating too though with a little fear from so much time having been spent away.
Good luck for the coming months of settling in!
Sx.
January 24th, 2011 | #
wondered where you had gone to; good move i think. northern europe is cool but often too cool temperature wise, not to mention the gnawing humid. enjoy the warmth…
January 24th, 2011 | #
What exciting news. It’s hard to leave people you love but they are in your heart. SO excited to hear the news of your new book and I hope the move is going smoothly! Happy New Year.
January 24th, 2011 | #
I can’t wait to read more about your adventures!
January 24th, 2011 | #
welcome back! and a huge congratulations on the move. sounds so exciting – look forward to seeing your australian adventures.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Veel Geluk ! Good luck ! where ever your home is.
Audrey
January 24th, 2011 | #
What a surprise! Good luck with everything. Quickly made decisions are rare bad decisions!
It will be fun reading about your new life out there. Can’t wait…
January 24th, 2011 | #
Welcome back; I won’t say “home” just yet, that takes a little longer and it sounds like you still have some adjusting to do.
January 24th, 2011 | #
Well done Pia!
Huge job to leave countries and resettle but how exciting and wonderful. Life is meant to be used to the full and that sounds exactly what you’re doing. Have you been to the little beach Fairy Bower at Manly? I think you would love it.
Vickixx
January 24th, 2011 | #
Gosh – such a suprise, and I have been missing your blogging.
Returning home after so long is always a wonderful mixed position. If nothing else, one can go to the supermarket & buy things like Tim Tams, musk sticks, stras, salada, furry friends, and other specialties that one never knew how much one liked (im being formal today) until they were no longer there. Even if they need to remain guilty secrets –
I’d give up on the cricket though, we keep loosing.
January 25th, 2011 | #
Happy new year pia…and welcome back to sydney! Congratulations on all your big news and I hope the transition to living back in this part of the world goes well for you both! x
January 25th, 2011 | #
Yay welcome back to blog land and to Australia. I’m really looking forward to your new book. I hope you have a wonderful year full of fun and successes.
best wishes
Hx
January 25th, 2011 | #
nice to see you again Pia!
January 25th, 2011 | #
Holy cow! That is so exciting! And inspiring. I am feeling the need for change and you went for it. Good for you! Moves create such energy. Congratulations!
January 25th, 2011 | #
Welcome back to Oz!!! I’m sure you heard that Oprah’s recent visit had her reeling!! I have not been to Sydney (yet) but I know of it’s magic!! Soooooo excited about your book! I have to tell you … Your blog was immensely inspiring to me at a time when I really needed a lift… And now.. I have a blog of my own!! Thank you Pia, for standing in your truth and for giving me an electronic “kick in the creative pants!” All the best for the upcoming months!! Can’t wait to follow more of fairy tale!!
Sincerely. Angy 🙂
January 25th, 2011 | #
Pia you’re so brave! I can’t wait to hear about your life in Sydney.
January 25th, 2011 | #
Oh, my did I miss your posts and oh my no2 for your move to australia. I presume that it takes a lot of guts to just move and leave all behind.
I wish you best of luck in Australia. And I must say i’ll miss your shots of Amsterdam, but at the same time I’m looking forward reading your post about your ‘new life’ 🙂
January 25th, 2011 | #
I wish you luck and a good start in the new country at the other end of the world. And I’m excited to read more from you.
January 25th, 2011 | #
I´m sitting here crying, knowing all too well about all those emotions. I grew up in Australia and now live in Austria – where I was born…I have little pieces of my heart scattered in all the places I have lived.
January 25th, 2011 | #
All the best for you in Sydney…feels a bit strange that you left our little country but it is a comfort feeling that your blog will always be here.
January 25th, 2011 | #
What a way to start a new year! A real pitty that we in Holland have ‘lost’ you… the good thing though is we haven’t really, thanks to the bloghouse! I’m wishing that you & Romain will find a good, lovely, happy new home in many ways and looking forward to your new book! Take very good care of yourself!
January 25th, 2011 | #
Ready to have you back – you can visit my reader anytime. Beautiful images as always… they say as much as your words. Good luck, deep breaths, happy home hunting.
January 25th, 2011 | #
I think the tag line on your book cover says it all so beautifully Pia. Welcome home!
January 25th, 2011 | #
Yeah we are readyyyyyy to have you back! Happy New Year dear Pia! Now I am convinced totally that you are one of my inspiration 😉 All the best with your new life in Sydney!
January 25th, 2011 | #
Dear Pia, your blog house may be the best source to process your big change, how lucky we are, missed your blog but totally understand your “time out”. all the best for you 2.
January 25th, 2011 | #
Dear Pia,
Now I will always regret never making the trip from Paris to your signing last year! I will miss knowing you are no longer within reach of a TGV. But I have often pondered how hard it must be to be so very far away from your family – and now Romain will be experiencing that. I wish you both great things and a sweet flat or house in Sydney – may you live happily ever after and continue to enchant us with your poetic “licence”, in words and images!
xoxo
PS What will the swans do without you?
January 25th, 2011 | #
Thrilled you’re back but whirling with shock at your location!
What an incredible change in such a short space of time I can only guess at all the emotions that must be pulsing around your being.
My beloved brother and family are in Melbourne and my Dad in Queensland (and dry!) and I am here in Blighty so I can well understand the push and pull of great distance.
I wish you happiness and hope that you will find “home” soon and begin to settle.
I am off to Amsterdam in February for my birthday and will be guided by your book, just think how many others will be doing the same and so you will always be there………..
Love Sarah xXx
January 26th, 2011 | #
yay..you’re back! That’s pretty amazing that you moved there, I hear it’s beautiful, but no more boat house? You will find your niche there in Australia and a home and Im sure you’ll make it just as beautiful as your life in Amsterdam. Thanks for the inspiration to create an amazing life! xo
January 26th, 2011 | #
How exciting for you, Pia! I hope the next few weeks see things settling down in Sydney for you.
I’ve just come back from Paris and used Made by Hand everyday – thank you for all the tips!
January 26th, 2011 | #
So happy that you are back!!
Wow and that you moved to Sydney is so exciting, good for you!!
But we’ll miss you in Europe for sure.
Viele Gruesse, Kristina
January 26th, 2011 | #
oh Pia, welcome home!!! how strange but amazing it all must feel to you right now as you rediscover your city and slowly unravel your life here from storage. I will miss your little boat and wanders around Amsterdam but look forward to seeing the next chapter…and maybe a book signing in Melbourne?
January 26th, 2011 | #
I definitely missed you last week in Amsterdam! David and I had lunch at the little bistro where we met last month. But so glad your time in Oz is off to a good start. xoxox
January 26th, 2011 | #
wowsers, thank you for the welcome back wishes!
I can see a few of you are concerned that a move down under means I won’t be in Europe but that’s not the case, it just means my base has moved from Amsterdam to Sydney, but as always, I’ll be travelling between Amsterdam/Paris/Sydney for my work, and no doubt a few more places in between.
It’s so good to be back in the (blog)house – I’ve missed you all.
xx
January 26th, 2011 | #
I just knew(italics) you were gone! I felt you so far away… Still, shocked you’ve actually moved(italics again :)to Australia!! I thought you may be there taking a break, but move… wow.
Europe will miss you, and so will I.
Good luck and all the best with what sounds like a great beginning to the year. (I’m somehow sad though)
Much love x
January 27th, 2011 | #
Welcome Back, and Happy New Home!!!!
Surprised…you bet, looking forward to hearing all about it.
In the meantime, we’re all SO happy to have you back!!
Hugs Jane
January 27th, 2011 | #
Ohh.. i miss u Pia.. and Happy New Year to you.
Can’t wait what kind of journey will happen in Aussie..
January 28th, 2011 | #
Oh, the book will be launched here, in Sydney? How exciting! Please do let us know, so we can come and show our support!! Goodluck with the house hunting and settling in to the next chapter of your life. I’m sure it will be beautiful (& fun).
January 28th, 2011 | #
I am so excited! For you! It’s great to have you back, and I can’t wait to hear all about your Australian adventures. 🙂
January 29th, 2011 | #
Whoa! You’ve moved to Sydney! Happy settling Pia!
January 29th, 2011 | #
I am excited for the new year, too. Something in that cloud photo makes me feel hopeful.
All the best to you!
January 31st, 2011 | #
WOW!!! YOU’RE IN SYDNEY!!!! Please keep me updated with any of your book launch events as would love to meet you in person. You are truly inspiring. Welcome back and hope all is well.
February 8th, 2011 | #
Welcome home! New beginnings indeed! The recent week of extreme temperatures must have left the French Boy wondering what he’d let himself in for.
I can’t wait to see the book – the cover is gorgeous.
I hope you’re starting to settle in now.
February 9th, 2011 | #
What an adventure, Pia. I hope you are settling in and adjusting. Look forward to hearing what is in store for you.
February 12th, 2011 | #
Best of luck to you on this new journey! Living away from my loved ones, I know how that can feel – especially if your partner’s family is also in another locale. Enjoy your journey, and I know you’ll have lots of fun.
March 2nd, 2011 | #
oh u’ve been to my country? that’s awesome..
May 9th, 2011 | #