Feeling thankful flying over the sea...

I find being on an aeroplane is a great time for contemplation..

These european hops are full of solo travellers and business suits so no one is talking, its child-free and there is white noise aplenty. Thankfully this flight has no WiFi so I'm alone with my thoughts during what feels like my first real bit of pre-trip pressure free down time.

In Uganda last year I had the privilege of visiting a Queen Elizabeth National Park on a safari where we stayed in tents on an area of land where hippos roamed freely at night. We ate delicious food, ans spent nights chatting and singing Toto round the campfire under a star-encrusted sky. We visited Victoria Falls where the mighty River Nile reduces to 6 meters wide. It was an amazing force of nature that was profound to hear, see, smell and feel. One of the guys from my group broke our awed silence and announced "We're the luckiest people in the world right now".

Never was a truer word spoken. We just hadn't realised it.

I'm so lucky to have been born in a stable country relatively full of opportunity compared to many...to have had an education and various jobs which mean I can take time out and enjoy life without a fight for daily survival. This itself instills a feeling of responsibility in me towards my fellow earthlings, to not take too much (or indeed take too much for granted), to be mindful of what I buy, who is making it and under what conditions.Read more