by Julie

The speed of things

Walking home from the train station I noticed how fast everyone was walking - way faster than me and I always thought I moved quickly.  Then I remembered being somewhere where people did the opposite, walked really slowly, so slowly that I had to slow myself down to fit in and not feel like I was rudely rushing through the city. I thought - where was that? Then I remembered - Rio de Janeiro, specifically.  South America in general. No-one rushes in South American cities, it's a totally different feel to New York, London or…
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by Julie

The end of an era

Tomorrow is a big day for me - I go back to work after a long time away from the workplace. I lost my job in 2014: it was difficult but I came to realise it was a gift, a gift of time and money. I knew that this was my chance to do all the travelling I ever wanted to do. So I took it! It was a daunting prospect, but I knew it was 'now or never',  and if I didn't go I would be just the person talking big but not following…
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by Julie

How to be like Captain Cook, not Admiral Nelson

In response to the challenge of www.justmeplease.com, here is my tip for dealing with sea-sickness: DON'T GO ON BOATS! But I jest of course. The best thing about travelling is the opportunity to do things you wouldn't normally do, and going on boat trips was one of them for me. I never even considered sea-sickness until the day I went to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, from Cairns in Australia. It was a rocky enough trip and I remembered what motion sickness was then, I tell you. It was even worse when I…
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by Julie

Does grace exist?

The woman on the radio plugging her book was talking about her conception of 'grace': she posits that it's about how we move through the world, that graceful people put other people's needs ahead of their own, are kind, polite and considerate to everyone they meet. On that basis can we say that grace exists anymore? It made me think of some of the people I met as I made my way around the world: the barman in a restaurant in Rio de Janeiro who stepped in to help me when the waiter and I…
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