Although we’re constantly being told by those who seem to know that we should live in the moment, I think there’s a lot to be said for anticipating what’s to come as well. A lot of the pleasure of going out, seeing your friends or a delicious meal has already been had in the anticipation…
Category: Travel
The plane to nowhere
Most people I know don’t enjoy flying very much. What used to be considered a glamorous adventure has become a dreary slog in recent years, at least for those travelling in economy. The airport experience was particularly bad, involving long waits, searches, frisking and the passengers’ walk of shame through the metal detector – shoeless,…
Cancel the retreat
It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was only last autumn when I spent a few days on a retreat at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine in London’s east end. It’s hard to believe now that I thought it would be a real luxury to withdraw from the world and to spend a…
Extreme dining
Yesterday I had lunch in an igloo. That’s not a sentence I ever thought I’d write. I dislike extreme cold intensely, probably because I grew up in Ottawa, Canada’s frozen capital. I wish they’d had an alternative, tropical capital I could have moved to, but they didn’t seem to have one on offer. Ottawa winters…
The irresistible lure of nostalgia
It’s a strange quirk of human nature that some of us are looking back on those lockdown weeks with a certain nostalgia. Of course for many it was a terrible time, but for others it’s now perceived as a period of enforced calm and blissful peace in which nothing was expected from them except to…
How comfortable are you with risk?
I think we all have an idea of where we fit on the thrill-seeking scale, whether our perfect day out would involve white water rafting or a visit to a National Trust property followed by a cup of tea and a piece of carrot cake. The recent easing of lockdown restrictions has only highlighted the…
My “Don’t Do It” List
Although I have tried very hard not to make lists since losing my flowery Filofax, I haven’t been entirely successful. Without realising it, I have been mentally compiling a list of things that I will never do. I know that this isn’t in keeping with the self-improvement spirit of our age, but I think that…
Brain clutter and tai chi
I am practising tai chi, concentrating on the stretch going from my shoulder to my fingertips – for about 20 seconds, then my mind wanders off in another random direction. Why do I seem to have no control over my brain whatsoever? Surely I should be in charge and if I’m not, then who is?
To travel mindfully as well as hopefully
When people ask me what I’m doing these days, my first reaction is to say “Well, what is anyone doing?” But I have realised that this is not the right answer and most people have a much more impressive list of achievements than I do. I hear tales of immaculate gardens, painfully clean houses and…
View from inside
What are we doing with ourselves now that we can’t while away the time in cafés and shops? Have we embarked on a strict project of self-improvement? Have we joined Gareth Malone’s online national choir so that we can frighten the cat with an off-key version of Elton John’s I’m Still Standing? Or are we…