In most summers when I was a child, we went camping in France. Other than pain au chocolat and squat toilets, there was one theme woven through all of those holidays – a family canoeing trip. We always rented canoes for a day, heading off along a river into the countryside. This sounds straightforward, and no doubt for other families who enjoy similar outings it is just that. But for us, it never was. The river was always fast, there…
I finished my breakfast of mutton and mare’s milk, rooted my laptop out the depths of my rucksack, and slipped out of the yurt. Our campsite was on a plateaux by a river and…
‘What’s wrong?’ Irina asked when she discovered me on the sofa gazing forlornly at the ceiling. I shrugged. ‘Maybe you should think about it.’ Strangely I still need reminding to pay attention to what’s…
I held him at my neck and strode gently across the driveway. His small breath tickled my skin. I didn’t want him to wake, but longed for him to know. ‘We might never have…
Today as I made my way through town at lunch there were lots of tourists around, peeping into shop windows, snapping away on cameras and generally poking about the place. As on most summer…
Are you easily discouraged or distracted from pursuing your dreams? When something goes wrong and you find yourself on the floor, how good are you at getting up and pushing on with a smile?…
What are your dreams? What do you want to achieve in life? One of mine is to be a writer – like a proper one who makes money from it. So I’m working in…
You don’t see many homeless people where I live. Sure, if you begin to look beneath the surface you find that there are a number of people without a proper place to live, but…
Did you know that life is supposed to be fun? I mean really fun. Enjoying our lives is not a bonus or something for a lucky few. Far from being the icing on the…
I am fortunate enough to work with some great people; they are mostly members of my family. Over the last few weeks however, there has been some quarreling amongst us. Not long ago, my cousin introduced…
Do you ever have that feeling that you’re supposed to achieve something important in your lifetime; that you are destined to be the cause of something significant in the world? Maybe you feel a…
So last week I set a challenge for those of us who find meeting new people terrifying and holding conversation difficult. The provocation was to talk to a new person everyday for seven days –…
Do you fancy a challenge? For some it’ll be as easy as breathing. For others like me, not so much. It’s amazing how little incidents in our day can be so important. A few…
I don’t really know what to make of it. It’s been playing on my mind a lot lately. I work for a charity, which partners with small organisations in Malawi, to help communities overcome…
When we go on holidays to Poland where Irina’s family live, there are a load of favourite spots we like to visit. One of them is the cinema. Coming from a small island, this…