Photo credit to Sweet Spot Images.

I am the Not Yet Decrepit Traveller.

I could hardly be called intrepid - even when I was younger some of our most memorable experiences have been way outside my comfort zone - but they are the ones I remember most fondly, like the challenging activities at the Ice Hotel - so much fun! I can't do some of that now that decrepitude is around the next corner, but I’m trying to see, enjoy, and share all I can of this wonderful world before I fall off my twig.

We have been fortunate enough to live overseas and travel widely. Some people might say we are living the dream. However, everyone has both light and dark in their lives. We’ve had our share of heartache along the way, the most profound blow being the death of our son in a car accident. For a long time afterwards, I felt guilty if I laughed or enjoyed life.

However, eventually I came to see that my reaction was wrong. Our greatest consolation was that he lived his life to the fullest, grasping experiences with both hands. Above all, he had the gift of laughter. I now try to live my life as he did, making the most of what life has to offer while I still can, remembering that laughter is the most healing gift of all. We began to travel to get away from the pain, and now it is our lifestyle.

My sister, who hates to travel, asked me to write about our adventures so that she could feel as if she’d been there without leaving her armchair. The blog with photos is the result, I hope it takes those who cannot travel along with me on my journey.

I have also been on a photographic mission, striving constantly to improve. It's a steep learning curve and I can see how far I have come. Last year I was highly commended in Australian Photographer of the Year in 3 categories, commended in the fourth. I'm honoured to have been accepted into International Salons and delighted with the prizes I have won in photography competitions. 

You'll have to excuse some of my earlier photographic attempts on the Canal du Midi, in Egypt, China, Japan, and India, to name but a few in which the photographs are amateurish at best. I was still a newbie photographer then but nowadays with Africa, The Kimberley in Australia, Norway, Svalbard and Canada, I feel as if I am beginning to grasp the fundamentals, at least!

I love sharing my travel experiences in which a sense of humour often saves me from a meltdown. If things go wrong at least it makes for a funny story afterwards. I hope that other people enjoy sharing the journey with me. Maybe some of our experiences along the way will help people in planning and making their own journeys.