I am a woman born and raised in the mid-west USA, with a long but interesting detour in New Orleans, Louisiana… on my own at a crossroads in life. For five years, I lived internationally with no permanent address and my personal belongings fit inside my suitcase and a backpack. I am currently back in the US as the journey continues.
A bit about me.
My name is Nancie Teresa, but you can call me Teresa. Actually, my full name is Nancie Teresa Teresa… as I took Teresa as my confirmation name as well. I was named after St. Teresa the Little Flower. Raised Catholic. Born and raised in the suburbs of the mid-west, I unexpectedly found myself in New Orleans accepting a job out of graduate school. That was about 20 years ago. I worked at a university for a few years, enjoyed it, but began to wonder… what else is out there? I received a fellowship grant for a year which gave me independence, a stipend, some money to travel and access to a life that no longer lived in the 9 to 5 world.
After my fellowship, I took a little journey around the United States in my car and returned to New Orleans with a desire to explore a bit more off the beaten path. I worked at a youth hostel and the local Jazz Festival, I gave tours at a local plantation house (Laura Plantation…). I even learned to read tarot cards and worked out of Jackson Square. My sign in the square read “Nancie from the Suburbs.” Indeed, there I was an oddity…
My adventures and my own personal challenges led me to the exploration of my creativity, the unseen, the mystery… which ultimately led me back to where this story all began… St. Teresa, God, source. Full circle really. I discovered the practice of Reiki and yoga. My journey became more about my own healing and I relied on my spiritual practices and connection with God and spirit.
Hurricane Katrina
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit and sent all of New Orleans scrambling… I had been living in New Orleans for about 8 years at the time and happened to be visiting Houston the weekend the hurricane hit attending the Landmark Forum… not a terrible place to be in the face of a life-altering disaster. All of my belongings except for my weekend suitcase remained in New Orleans. A friend of mine grabbed my cat, my laptop and my guitar and met me in Houston. We then headed on to Austin, TX where we landed for about 18 months. I was at a Landmark seminar in Austin sharing my story to someone and she said, “you mean you packed for the weekend, went out-of-town and never got to go home?” Yup. Exactly.
It wasn’t until November, months after the Hurricane, that I was able to return to my New Orleans neighborhood and see the damage. I had a ground floor apartment. About 3-4 feet of water. My mattress was in a new location as it had swum around the room. My landlords were gracious enough to give me back my deposit. I collected a few recoverable things like plates in high cupboards and a few keepsakes and I was on my way back to Austin.
Coming Home to Me.
I returned to New Orleans in 2007 and after that life certainly was not been a breeze. In the midst of the challenges and debris, I could always practice coming home to me. Coming home to that which was greater than any house, or set of belongings or location. Not always easy.
My last year in New Orleans I house-sat in two different homes for a total of 12 months and my new to me post-Katrina belongings were in storage. My cat ran away and my belongings all were destroyed in storage from the mold due to a tiny little leak in the top of the storage facility. Come on. You’ve got to be kidding me. The last house I was house-sitting in sold which was good, but I now needed a new place to live…and then my car broke down beyond reasonable repair… Hmmm… I thought perhaps its time to do something… different.
Europe Here I Come!
It started with a simple conversation. It was with my teacher and Reiki Master, Elizabeth Ohmer Pellegrin… I said, “perhaps I should… I don’t know… go to Europe…” Now, I went to Europe for a semester when I was in college. I was only a little disturbed to realize that this was… um.. almost 20 years ago now. I had meant to return to Europe. And then in our conversation Elizabeth, as she often does, had an image, an idea, an instinct pop into her mind. She knew a family of Reiki Masters living in Germany and running a Seminar House and Bed and Breakfast. And, bonus, the house also comes with another American, also a Reiki Master living and working there… Perhaps I could go and stay there?….
The question was practically still lingering in the air when there was a sale on tickets to Europe and… I bought a ticket. To Europe. At this time this seemed like sort of a miracle – buying a ticket to Europe. I used to have this recurring dream where I had bought a ticket to Paris that I had forgotten about and all I had to do was get on a plane and go… remarkable. And here it was in truth… I had a ticket. Now all I had to do was get on the plane and … go…
Preparing and getting ready was sort of like a dream. I was more nervous than I cared to admit. But I got on the plane, with a brief rendezvous in London, and then I headed on out and moved to Germany. Wettenbostel that is. No swimming pools. No movie stars…
What was initially a 6-week adventure quickly expanded to a year. The date of my flight home came… and went and I….stayed. Next I went to France and spent the summer doing a work exchange at a Chambres d’Hotes (Bed and Breakfast) called Les Battess that I found through the on-line traveling resource helpx.net.
Then a funny thing happened… I got a job teaching English in South Korea! I returned to the States to handle the lengthy process of acquiring a Korean work visa. A quick THREE MONTHS later…SUCCESS! I had a Visa in hand! “Oh my God!” I thought… “now I need to buy a ticket to South Korea!” And so I did and within a few weeks, I was gone… like a nomad sucked through a tunnel of travel… courtesy of United Airlines.
My travels continued on to Vienna, Austria and Chiang Mai, Thailand! Now, here I am, rich from the journey! After five years of international life and travel, I am currently back in the US restoring and nurturing my busy gypsy soul and also exploring and discovering… what now and what next?
This is my journey! My adventures, wisdom, simplicity and life’s lessons for the mind, body and soul! Would you like to join me?
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Gypsy Woman 