They were lyrics I’d heard a thousand times. The first verse of one of my favourite songs from beloved kiwi songbird Brooke Fraser. “And on a thousandth hill…” She was speaking of meeting a young girl named Albertine in Rwanda, who had touched her. My whole life, I thought the line was gorgeously poetic. But […]
Read more "GorillasWhen I decided to get my New York State Driver’s License, I knew that I would have to endure a 5-hour driving class. I expected it to be boring… but I never expected it to become one of my most insane stories of all time.
Read more "Life Lesson #54 – Drive Me Crazy"My love letter to Santorini, in five rose-tinted moments.
Read more "Five Moments in Santorini"As the train began to lurch forward, someone grabbed me. I turned and saw a man from the lowest caste, the untouchables. His left eye was milky white, and the right one was missing. He used a stick to help him walk. Through a large scar on his head, I could see his ivory coloured […]
Read more "Life Lesson #52 – Cattle Class"Some people dream of running a marathon one day. I’m not one of them. I once famously said I was allergic to exercise in a post that my future boss mentioned in my job interview. For the world’s largest group exercise company. I still have no idea how I got the job. But I’m stubborn, and sometimes stubbornness makes […]
Read more "Salkantay Trek: A Lesson in Endurance"You know that feeling when you open the dishwasher just after it finishes and the steam devours you and you can’t breathe or see? That’s what it feels like in the jungle. All the time. Our much anticipated 10 day jungle retreat was cancelled two days before we arrived in Iquitos, Peru – the largest city in […]
Read more "Life Lesson #51 – Don’t Join a Cult in the Amazon Jungle"I’d fallen asleep in the early evening, reading my book. Darkness had claimed the room without me realising. Suddenly, I was forced awake by my bed shaking violently. In my traditional Tongan Fale, with coconut palm poles, I had no idea what to do.
Read more "Earthquake in Paradise"