The joy of the simple things.....

If you look at beautiful or interesting things all the time, you stop seeing them. When I used to jog through Hyde Park in London on my way to work, I found it odd that tourists were fascinated by squirrels. In the UK, grown-ups seldom notice wonderful robins are (though I had a great relationship with the one who used to help me garden in Etchilhapmton). In Australia, parrots, cockatoos and kangaroos are not that special. If you see them everyday for most of your life, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge may no longer things to marvel at. They are just there. I am sure that if you spend enough time in the Antartica you may get bored of penguins, though this is less likely.

The wonderful thing about travelling is that we get to see so many things for the first time and see the full wonder of them. We can get excited about the little things. Driving through the Colombian countryside, is incredibly special, as was driving around Corsica, floating down the Nile and seeing the Douro Valley outside Porto. Seeing hummingbirds, watching skilled horseman taking their beasts to the boozer of an evening, witnessing just how much Colombians love Christmas, sitting outside an ordinary café talking about very basic things in very basic Spanish to a stranger, these are all things that after a while are simply normal but for us are incredibly special.

We get many wonderful benefits from travelling, and the icing on the cake is getting daily joy from the simple things. Travel more.