by Julie

A landmark day

This day last year, 5 May 2015,  I arrived in Sydney, my final destination in Australia. In a trip full of fantastic moments, this one was special. I had driven a good distance from Port Nelson, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and straight to the car rental drop-off; much as I loved my trusty Golf, I was glad to be ditching it and not having to deal with Sydney traffic. My lovely Air BnB host gave me a glass of wine to calm my nerves,  and off I went to discover the city. First stop,…
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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

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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