2019-10-01_Australian_Womens_Weekly_NZ

22 The Australian Women’s Weekly|OCTOBER 2019

therewasalwaysa lotoflaughterin the
house.It’sfunny– wehadthatgreatsenseof
community,eventhoughit seemedlikeit was
a ‘model,rockstar’life.Weweretravellingfor
a lotofit andtherewasalwaysa greatsense
ofcommunityin theband– wewouldalways
eattogetherandI alwaysbroughtthekids
withmeontheroad.”
EveryChristmas,someassemblageofthe
Hunter/Stewartfamilygathers.Lastyear,
Rachelposteda videotosocialmediaofher
andthekidsdecoratingtheir tree inLAto
Rod’sChristmasalbum.
“Thatfamilyis justan
extendedfamily,andit always
hasbeen.Again,if I wanted
tochangemyperceptionofit,
I couldmakeit reallyawful.
Youhavea choiceastohow
youseethosehardtimes.
Sometimestobeabletoshift
theperspectiveandperception
ofa situationis important.”
It’sperhapsthereason
shehasremainedgrounded
despitebeingontheroadfor
hugestretchesoftime.Herlifeis split
betweenNewZealand,LosAngeles,India
andwhereverherkidsare.Homereally
is wheretheheartis – andshe’sperfectly
comfortablewiththat.
“WhenI wasin theprocessoftryingto
sellmyLAhousethefirsttime,I packedtwo
suitcases,thinking,‘Thisis meforthenext
year.’”Thesuitcasescontaineda coupleof
fancyoutfitsif sheneededthemforanevent,
thena bunchofclothesforteachingand
learningyoga.Thatwasit. “Iletgoofhaving
tohave‘stuff.’I havemybooks– myyoga
booksandmyjournals– andthat’sallI need.
Andmytoothbrush.Sometimesmypillow,
butI lostthat,”shesays,witha laugh.
It wouldbeeasytoattributeRachel’ssingle
statustohernomadiclife.“Manypeoplego”

• sheputsona suggestivevoice– “‘Wow,
  you’regoingbacktoIndiaallthetime,what’s
  goingon?’Whydoeseverybodythinkit
  hastobea romanticthing?
  “I’lltellyouwhatit is – it’ssittingin the
  Himalayas.Thisis a veryfulfillingtimefor
  me,butyes,I’mstillsingle.I’msureit’ll
  changesoon.I’dlikeit to.Anypsychicsout
  therethatwanttoweighin?”Shelaughs.
  “No,I’mkidding.I don’twantanymore
  psychicinformation.”
  Besides,shesays,youcan’tfeellonelyin a
  country like this. Without knowing why, it

wastheplaceshemadea beelineforafterher

motherdied.“Irememberwalkingoutofthe

airportandthenthinking,‘Holys***.’I rang

mysisterandsaid,‘ComingtoIndiaalone,

whatwasI thinking?!’”

Butthenshetooktimetorethinktheword

“alone”.“We’renotalone,”shesays.“We

haveeverybody.Wecan’tbealone– we’reon

theplanet.Andyoucanneverbelost– you’re

onplanetEarth.If you’reonthetrainandit’s

goingin thewrongdirection,getoff.Youcan

alwaysgetbackonanothertrain.Youcan

neverbelost– there’salways

anotherpath,there’salways

anotherway.”

It wasonherfirstsolotrain

ridein Indiathatshestartedto

relaxintotheideaoftravelling

byherself.“Atfirst,it wasthat

conditioningof,‘Ohmygod,

whatwillhappen?It’smidnight

andI’mbymyself!’

“Andthenallthatflashedin

frontofmewerethebeautiful,

smilingfacesofthepeopleI’d

metsofar.Youalwayshave

tobewiseandkeepyourcommonsense,of

course.Butthere’salwayssomewheretogo.

There’salwayssomewheretobefed.There’s

alwayssomewheretosleep.Andsomeonewill

alwaystakeyouin.I gotonthetrainandthere

wasa familyonit, andtheysharedtheirdinner

withmeandwehadthemostamazingtrip.”

Thisabilitytofindfriendseverywhereserved

RachelwellonTourofBeauty– that,plusher

curiosityabout,well,everything.“Beingable

tositdownwithpeoplewholivedifferent

lives– that’sspecial.Deepconversations

creategreatintimacy,andintimacyhas

becomea harderthingforustoachieve.

“WhenI cameoutofIndia,I calledthefirst

tour,‘Beautyofthesoul.’That’swhereit is

• beautyisn’tlimitedtotheexternal,it’sallof
  that.Soit wasreallylookingat alltheaspects,
  andthatevolutionofbeauty,becauseit just
  keepsgrowing.
  “Whois themostbeautiful,whatis the
  most beautiful – that’s always changing.”AW W

Cover story

“Youcan

neverbe ‘lost’.

There’s always

another path,

there’s always

another way.”

RachelHunter’sTourof

Beautyis availablefrom

October4,$39.99atallgood

bookstores.Visitwww.

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