Defining your New Normal

Week 6 — You Have Done What?

Approaching another birthday, my 39th, I had made one big change to my life in the UK. Rather than being envious of colleagues doing the same job as me, but being paid a whole lot more, I was now one of them. Returning from South America, I made a conscious decision. I was now a…

Where to start the story?

This has been one of the biggest challenges to date. Stories, especially life stories, don’t often have a clean entry, and exit point. Not like novels. That start in a defined place, follow a story arc, and wrap up nicely at the end.

This is where my story starts

Hello, and welcome to my story. You don’t know me right now. By the time you finish reading this, well, at least when it is all published, you will know a lot more than many people. You are going to join me on my journey, from first meeting my good friend, and co-author, Phil…

A brief biography of Phil

The Phil that I am now is not the Phil I used to be.

Week 7 — the story continues

Australia has some of the most stringent immigration laws of most countries. And rightly so. You don’t just turn up and live in the “lucky country”. In fact, you don’t just turn up here, period. As we found out when Victoria tried to visit for a holiday. Needing a visa was one…

Moving to France, the early stages

After we got home from our 3-month sabbatical in Quillan, on American Independence Day 2011, I’ll…

Part 3 — in the beginning

“I’ve been asked to go to Dublin”

“Wow. That’s great. I mean, really great.”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah. I’m always jealous of people who get to go on business trips. And Dublin is great. Although, you…

Week 8 – Travel

I have loved travel for most of my life. And when I say travel, I don’t mean holidays. I mean what I would call real travel. Not cocooned in some 5 star hotel, whilst the locals can’t afford food and drink. Not soothed by air conditioning when the locals live in temperatures that could cook an egg. And not…

Defining my new normal

I have always thought there is more to life than simply ‘following the herd’. That it is possible to do things nobody has done before, with the right amount of planning, effort and support, and a big portion of mental strength and self confidence. In this life we are each on our own…