On top of some mountain, Yosemite National Park, America, 2019

Pirates
Mermaids
Dragons
Santa
Unicorns
The tooth fairy
Other Fairies
Rainbows capped with pots of gold
Ice-cream for dinner

Somewhere in the Atlantic, Saint Pady’s Day 2014

We used to believe in everything.
We used to trust everyone.
We used to believe that all things were possible.
We used to dream.
We used to believe we could do everything.

Finally arriving in Mongolia, 2009

And then we had to go and grow up…

And somebody taught us that being a grown-up is all about striving, rules, bureaucracy, seriousness, sophistication, climbing corporate ladders, and eating celery.
Somebody told us that we had to become boring.

Fleeing Australia 2011. My friends did not want me to be mistaken as a bore (notice the impractical gifts strapped to my backpack).

Recently I’ve been re-visiting my childhood dreams.
I wanted to be a pirate, a stunt-double, an Amazon explorer, a treasure hunter, and a surfer girl.
Instead of looting the planet, I aspired to be a Mother Theresa-ly Robin Hood, spreading love and happiness while discovering ancient artefacts in distant lands.
I wanted every day to be an epic adventure. And I wanted to milk the maggots that fed on the marrow that I was sucking out of life.

I’ve accidentally accomplished some of my dreams, but the grown-up within has always yelled out for me to be more responsible and cautious and successful. And others have warned that I need to stop playing and get a real career and invest in my future. (All good advice, but everything needs a pinch of salt and a slice of chilli added to it).

A busy day at work earlier this week. Portugal, 2021.

Invest. Build. Create. Work hard.
But play even harder!
And enjoy!
Life is too short to be taken too seriously!

The good news is that adulting doesn’t have to be boring.
And the even better news is that all things are actually possible!
The world is our playground! (No matter how old we are)

So, what do you (and your inner child) want?
Go and get it!

Panama, 2014


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