Shades of me

I’m 8 years old, struggling to understand French, gasping in horror at the blood that gushes from my rare steak onto my plate; gleefully eating baguettes and pain au chocolate and remembering Eurodisney for ever more. I am hooked on travel.

I’m 18 years old, craning my neck to gape up at the magnificent Bavarian Alps, smiling at the sight of men in lederhosen and women in dirndls, laughing when I hear cow bells go by my window and imaging I am Heidi after all. I learn to question infatuation and lust.



I am 20 years old, summering in the US, working two jobs and observing a different way of life. I



I’m 22 years old, towering over most of the Japanese village I live in, deciphering three different alphabets and learning to bow and smile. Naked hot spring baths, tender raw fish, burning saki and fragile beautiful cherry blossoms. I bring home a kimono and new way of looking at the world.



I’m 24 years old, learning to live in the large, buzzing, exciting, overwhelming, lonely city of London. I trot through the city in my high heels, staring at the mix of ancient and modern, walking alongside the Thames on my way home, passing St. Pauls and the Tower of London with a frisson of excitement every time. I’m part of the buzz.



I’m 27 years old, settled into full time London living, a home owner, a routine haver, an explorer of forgotten parts of the city, a multitude of cuisines, a lover of culture, a constant whirlwind. I take a deep breath and..



I’m 28 years old, sweating gently in the sticky heat of the tropics, gaining yet again another view on the world. Life slows down; sunshine stays; I float in warm waters and ponder; I look at life through a camera lens and record; I breathe in the spices and dust; I love deeply. I travel and see more than I used to see. I breathe



I’m 30 years old, feet planted firmly in the old country. Re-experiencing times past, noting changes, exploring my home; putting down roots wrapped deeply and firmly around my family, my oldest friends. Shades of France, Germany, USA, Japan, England and Tanzania colour my view of Dublin, of Ireland, making it mean more than ever. I breathe in and exhale my being back into my home place.