Jetting Educated

Recently I took an 18 hour journey involving a bus, two planes and the tube to get from Lapland to London. The short season was complete and the reindeer that worked for us had gone on holiday! They've earned it! I'll miss the reindeer. They were gentle, shy and beautiful. Oh wait- the reality of 'holiday' is that they are being slaughtered and made in to reindeer burgers. Of course the children in Lapland were more than happy to hear that their furry friends were going on a cute vacation; as intended, they did not understand the euphemism. Meat industry aside, I was happy to be back in my Dad's house in Blighty. My new pal Holly and I were going to have a chilled night in after the long day travelling, before she headed back to a place (that I rarely go to as a good Southerner) called 'The North of England'. Needless to say that the weather in the UK was very mild compared to the Arctic circle. Joyfully there was no snow and the tem...

The smallness of the world and the way that people come back in to each others' lives in unexpected circumstances is something that has fascinated me before, and is a phenomenon that has been on my mind particularly in the last week. My interest was rekindled when I got a message from my friend Holly, whom I met last year when travelling.         She was coming from Oz to London in the brave capacity of wanting to live here despite not having a job lined up. It was a semi-coincidence, as I had been out of the country for 5 months yet she arrived in London the same week as I did.  I say its only a sort of coincidence, because, ultimately, she knew that I was from London and people who meet on travels will often call up out of the blue to see if you're at home.           Which for me, is one of the greatest things about making friends abroad. You have no hesitation about contacting them when coming to their city, and y...