Overseas Travel, Big Family Style

A piece I wrote for university a few years back, about travel with my family!

Travelling light

The alarm rings and I blink myself into consciousness. Bright September morning trickles through the blindfold. It throws light onto my suitcase on the floor, onto toiletries on the dressing table ready to be thrown in.

Canada!

Despite my excitement it is still a killer to exit my warm bed. It’s the Christmas dilemma: I want my presents but I want the extra hours sleep. My minds reasons with my tired body and eventually I make it out of the blanket. I grab my towel, laid out in late-night preparation a few hours back, and head to the shower for my awakening.

Where is the Respect for other Relationships?

My post for TigerPrint – published April 04, 2012

Image from quotepix.com

So I’m checking out some celebrity news and am drawn to a quote by Anne Hathaway, speaking of her new fiancé: ”We hit if off immediately but it took us a pretty long time to get together. He thought that I had a boyfriend and I thought that he had a girlfriend, so I thought that I’d better keep my distance because I didn’t want to be that girl.”

How to Orchestrate a Successful Set-up

My post for TigerPrint – published July 30, 2012

Image from moremashup.com

The art of the set-up is a tricky process. If you’ve watched one take place, you probably saw emotions ranging from acute awkwardness to utter obliviousness. Every so often it goes great though, like the family friends of mine who are now married after being invited to lunch and then left a while to change a light bulb together.

How to Get the Man of Your Dreams

My interview with Jonathan Doyle on his latest book – written for MercatorNet and published on September 26, 2012

How to Get the Man of Your Dreams

Relationships have never been easy to navigate. In our highly sexualised culture, which insists on putting the self before others, they have become even more complicated. On top of this, most of the media push perspectives on relationships that are neither sincere nor fulfilling. So what’s a girl to do?

Well, she could read Jonathan Doyle’s book, How to Get the Man of Your Dreams, in which the Australian teacher turned author and motivational speaker calls on his experience and research to offer young women practical answers. It seems like a big promise and I had my doubts, so I pitched Mr Doyle some tough questions. He fielded every one.

The Beloved Country – Crying Out For Leadership

My piece on South Africa – written for MercatorNet and published on July 05, 2012

Soweto, Johannesburg

Last year I spent five months living in Johannesburg, South Africa. I left Australia with warnings still ringing in my ears – the concerns of friends who told me about Joburg’s crime rate, the murders, how you couldn’t even stop at a red traffic light for fear of being mugged. But what an amazing country I discovered.My first impressions: the unbelievably cloudless sky (which continued throughout winter), beautiful leafy suburbs with massive gated houses, and a real sense of community among locals. Twenty-four hours in and I had seen the most brilliant sunset ever, eaten typical African dishes, and met South Africans with accents varied enough to represent the 11 official languages. I was even living with a dog that had a Swahili name – Mrembo (beautiful). Awesome.

Karibu!

So the only other language in which I could remember how to say “Welcome” is Swahili. Which is pretty awesome.

My point is, welcome to my first post! It always feels weird just jumping into it, so here’s an introductory post that will say nothing much at all, but it will comfort me in some subconscious way.

I promise (well, really really hope) that my next post will be juicier.

(Insert cool sign-off here),

Tam