My First Month Living in Ireland
- Molly Bowen
- Oct 12, 2024
- 5 min read
Have you ever started a new chapter of your life and it feels like everything that existed before that point wasn’t real, almost like it was a dream? And this new phase is what your life has been leading up to all along? That’s how I’ve felt from the moment I landed in Ireland.
If I could describe this past month in one word, it would be bliss. I continuously have thought over and over again If someone told me I died and this is heaven, I would 100% believe them. This is a stark contrast to the escapism and desperation that previously weaved throughout my days in 2024 — my year of confusion. In retrospect, it was almost like I was ceaselessly trying to shove a random piece into the wrong puzzle.
To compare that mismatched forcefulness to now, I finally have the right piece, and it glides into the puzzle with softness and ease. Let's dive a little bit deeper into how I've been feeling, shall we? I've found effortless community that is fueled by reciprocity and loving warmth. Without the need to prove to anyone else that my decisions are “correct,” I am inspired and motivated to confidently take steps in a direction that is aligned with my life goals. I am blanketed with contentment every single day, which is a luxury every person deserves to feel. Overall, I consistently feel abundantly lucky to live this life while also knowing that I fully deserve it.
As you may be curious, allow me recap what I have been up to. On August 27th, I landed in Dublin incredibly jet lagged and made my way by bus to County Donegal up in the northern part of the country. Because I have some family history around the area, I figured it could be cool to stay a week in a location that genetically I am connected to. Another motivator to stay in Co. Donegal was to revisit Slieve League, the first hike I did back in 2018 that made me understand why people trudge up mountains for fun. Aside from my hike, the days of my first Irish week were filled with organizing immigration appointments and sleeping 12 to 13 hours every night. And it was beautiful.
On September 3rd I made my way to my first stay at Big Style Atlantic Lodge on the west coast of Ireland in Killadoon, County Mayo. I’m smiling just thinking about my time there, because it truly was so special. For those who may not be familiar with work exchanges, I apply to stay at different places through a website called Worldpackers, and the hosts provide accommodation in exchange for about 15-25 hours of volunteer work per week. No, I am not getting paid to work, but I am being fully taken care of and also have access to opportunities that I otherwise would have to pay for. If you’re picking up what I’m laying down, I am being “paid,” in a sense outside of monetary gain. For example, at the Lodge, we were able to use their sauna, cold plunge and hot tub, along with surf boards and wet suits, free of charge. Even more importantly, these stays allow for deep connection with other volunteers from around the world with similar life paths and values as myself. And that to me is worth way more than money can buy! :)
My primary duty at Big Style was to teach yoga classes every Saturday and Sunday to those staying at Lodge. My sessions served as an initiatory experience for many of the guests; every group shared that they either had never done yoga before or had very limited experience, and it was my honor to reveal the healing beauty of yoga to those in the classes throughout the month. Aside from teaching, I paid my dues by helping cook lunch on the weekends and doing some housekeeping during the week. The work at this stay was incredibly reasonable, leaving loads of free time to explore the area and bond with the other volunteers. Quick introduction of the team — Fiona and Matilda, childhood friends from Germany. Rahel from Switzerland. Caity from Australia. Daniel from Killdare, Ireland. Cata from Chile who came a week before we left. Pia from Germany who left a week after we arrived. And then there was Ally our sweet manager, Griffin the maintenance guy/surf instructor/cook/skater dude, and Paco the surf instructor/reception guy/pot stirrer.
And may I share how insanely close the group of us hooligans got within a month of knowing each other. Our first night at the lodge, we broke the ice while sitting in the hot tub gushing praise over the breathtaking view. While we were introducing ourselves and diving into conversation, it was almost like we were reconvening after some time away instead of just meeting. It seems we all showed up being our most authentic selves and in turn we instantly clicked from our early interactions onward.
This was my first experience I’ve had in my ripe 23.8 years of life on Earth where I effortlessly and wholeheartedly fit in to a group of people. I didn’t have to try to be a certain way in order to find my place in our little family — and that is truly what it felt like, a family. It was incredibly simple to love and be loved as we constantly looked out for each others’ well being. Our days were sprinkled with endless expressions of joy; dancing, singing, laughing, attempting AcroYoga, surfing, and playing games. Essentially we discarded any element of seriousness and let ourselves exist in humorously peculiar ways. For example, Fiona and I frequently spoke in a voice of a goblin/witch. This bit was hilarious to us and likely was frightening to all outsiders listening. We were able to convince some of the other volunteers to give the voice a whirl, but our request was usually aggressively declined with a blatant “No.” Oh yeah, we also hitchhiked as our sole mode of transportation. Before you start having heart palpitations, this area was very rural and those who picked us up were all locals who knew we were volunteering at the Lodge. Don’t let the horror stories you’ve heard fool you, hitchhiking in this circumstance was completely safe and also restored a huge chunk of my trust in humanity. #bringbackhitchhiking2024
Alas as the tale goes, all good things must come to an end. To commemorate the celebration of our meeting, the group of us spent our final night together partaking in a Dublin pub crawl. Historically I usually am very emotional about endings, yet this time I felt so sure that we would see each other again that I maintained my composure. Having three more work exchanges lined up to look forward to likely played a heavy part in keeping my perspective light. And as I am typing this right now, I am volunteering in a magical castle in Scotland!! While I know you must be squirming to hear more details on that, you must be patient young grasshopper. Haha. Alright, that is all for now. Thank you for reading!! <3
Until next time,
Molly
A mother’s dream is to have their children find peace and their place in the world. I’m glad
you found yours. Love ya Mol!