I’m sitting in Brisbane airport again with an hour to spare before my flight to Fiji.
I used to run around like a headless chook to make the plane on time but now I plan to arrive an hour early so I can sit quietly amid the airport announcements and savour my good fortune. Coupled with my ritual Subway six inch, a latte, the newspaper and the prospects of the assignment ahead, this – for me – has become a blissful moment.
It isn’t for everybody – this travelling up to eight months a year – but it’s a lifestyle I’ve chosen and one I continue to enjoy as I’m drawn by the variety of experiences, the people I meet and the associated challenges of arriving in a new destination. On top of that, I have a purpose – to produce better photographs than those I’ve captured before which again suits me as I’ve sat under enough palm trees to realise that paradise without purpose just ain’t paradise.
As a result, leaving home and travelling widely is as much a pleasure for me as it is to return home. The fact that the extremes are so close together, and frequent, merely enhances the appreciation I have of both worlds.
…and for this opportunity, I am eternally grateful.
Anyway, boarding shortly; time to set the away message on my phone again: “Sorry, you’ve missed me. I’m away on a cruise assignment photographing Fiji’s remote Lau Islands. Back in two weeks.”
