Tribewanted: Vorovoro

I sit here feeling rather guilty, after all my good intentions of writing a regular blog went out of the window when I arrived on this magical island.

But I have a good excuse.

Come closer. Let me whisper you a secret.

Today whilst bathing in the sea underneath a rainbow, (okay it sounds like a total cliché but things like that actually happy here) I realised something…

… I realised that I have fallen in love.

With an Island. More than an Island.

A truly magical place.

But how to describe VoroVoro? Words do it no justice. It’s a feeling. A calmness. A community. A sense of belonging.

Days merge into one. You forget all sense of time or responsibility, pressure and routine here.

Am I forgiven for not writing sooner?

I will try my best over the next few entries to describe what it is like here, in an attempt to absolve myself from being utterly selfish by keeping my first 14 days completely to myself. A total lack of desire to communicate with the outside world, save sending a few short texts to precious people back home, feeling that having contact with ‘the other world’ will somehow break the spell you seem to be under here.

My lazy, whimsical, curious days are spent on VoroVoro, which is a tiny lush green Island, full of coconut, Papaya, Guava, Bread Fruit, Orange, Lime and Lemon trees. The Island is surrounded by crystal clear turquoise-green waters, abundant with fish of every colour, shape and size.

But first, how did I end up here?

It all started after being utterly spellbound by the programme Paradise or Bust. Not only had the programme inspired me to take some time out to rethink work, life, the universe etc… I also felt a real connection with the initiative. With my background and experience in strategic communication and PR, I felt I could really contribute towards the next stages of development. So two weeks after seeing episode two, I met with Ben Keene, the founder of the project and a really inspiring, likeable young man and spent an amazing couple of hours understanding his vision and future aspirations for Tribe Wanted, sharing ideas and debating how this unique, innovative project could be taken to the next level. It was agreed that I would visit Vorovoro, both for some personal time and to assist with developing strategic corporate partnerships.

So here I am, writing my blog, under a sky so laden with stars it almost feels that it might just drop upon me with the weight of their brightness.

I will sign off for now, as I’m being distracted by star gazing. The other night I saw a succession of eight shooting stars – another Vorovoro perfect cliché… with the promise that I will write more another day, but I will leave you with one last thought. If you were considering coming here and were not sure if it was the right thing to do, just do it. You won’t regret it for a second, and you will most likely fall in love with the place too.

Elaine Rose – Fiji Name – Lainey Rosado