Author Archives: Julie Paterson
Essential Films and Books for Understanding India
ndia is such a vibrant, colourful, chaotic and exciting country, with tons of different languages and ethnic groups, a deep and complex history and culture. Before you dive into the mayhem, I thoroughly recommend taking the time to watch and read a few books, movies or documentaries as it will give you a far better understanding of this incredible country.
The Power of Ritual: Connecting Through Meaningful Experiences
From the Christmas gift-giving to the simple tea ceremony , each ritual holds the power to connect us, provide meaning, and affirm our shared humanity.
Ego Tourism and the Selfie Generation: A Cultural Reflection
This week I was sitting on a beach on the sophisticated and swanky Isle of Capri in Italy, watching mostly young women pose like models for selfies, then checking the pictures, deleting, and retaking to get the perfect shot. I found it quite bewildering, all this “me me me” behaviour. I asked myself what social […]
Easy ways to make your travels sustainable
Let’s face it, travel is not sustainable. All that gallivanting around the globe, gobbling up fossil fuels is really not helping. There is a constant stream of news showing out-of-control bushfires, horrific floods, heatwaves, polar ice melting etc. It’s all a bit depressing really! Yes, I know you have a bucket list and you missed […]
The normalization of an untamed Shrew
A snippet of my life in 2020 when I was a corona refugee in my birth country and not impressed by it!
Reclaiming our senses: navigating the disconnect from nature.
We have lost touch with many of our five senses. How can we reclaim them and be more in touch with nature in a modern world?
The world’s best undiscovered hike, revealed…
Hiking with Bedouins across the undiscovered South Sinai desert is more than just a journey though an amazing landscape. it is a cultural, physical and mental experience that will make a deep impact on you…
16 easy planet-saving ideas for the new green normal
We are in our second lockdown in a year and a half now, and I am rather enjoying it, having changed down a couple of gears to life in the slow lane, and ticking a few jobs off my list. I’m enjoying the peace outside and the chance for the earth to breathe again. One […]
The Meaning of Time
Time. Westerners are time-poor (money is time), Middle-Easterners are time rich (time is measured in human interaction). Living in a foreign country you have to adapt to a different way of life – if you fight it you will only drive yourself crazy. This has been my experience living amongst the Bedouin of South Sinai […]
Travel before the internet – why it was such a great time, and how to escape again
I feel really fortunate to have grown up in the 80s and 90s before the internet and mobile phones were a big thing. OK, so we had awful hairstyles and bad fashion, but at least we knew how to communicate. But we were also able to disappear off the grid if we wanted to. And […]
Adventures of Venus 