The story behind this trip starts somewhere unexpected. Back during lockdown, with the world closed in around me, I picked up my oil pastels and began painting a turtle.

I never quite finished it.

That oil painting has just been sitting looking at me. I’ve had it framed, and it’s a constant reminder that there are things that haven’t been completed.

Rather than letting it sit as an abandoned project, I decided it was time to finish the story properly, by getting on a plane. I thought about how wonderful it would be to see these creatures in their natural habitat, out in the wild rather than on paper. And true to form, I didn’t just think about it. I booked the trip.

You know, if you don’t visualise your dreams, they’ll never happen. You’ve got to send these messages out to the universe. I strongly believe that.

This year, I decided, would be the year this dream came true.

I’ll be exploring the islands aboard Silversea’s Silver Origin, one of the most intimate expedition ships operating in the Galapagos. It’s a far cry from the vast cruise liners most people picture, built specifically for the islands, with a strong focus on getting close to nature rather than filling a dance floor.

For me, it means getting to see those beautiful creatures I once only knew through paint and pastel, in stunning water and out on the islands themselves. Unbelievably exciting.

It’s on my bucket list. I bet this is on many people’s bucket lists. Or maybe they’re not as action taking as I am. I’ve always had an insatiable zest for life. It hasn’t changed with age or time.

With packing to do and a flight to catch on my actual birthday, you’d forgive me for keeping my diary clear this week. But instead, I squeezed in a guest appearance on Marlow FM, chatting with Carla, who I’ve known and appeared alongside for the past five years.

Carla took me right back to the beginning, how we first met, what I’d been up to since, and that familiar thread running through it all: a dreamer who has always looked over the horizon rather than settling for what’s directly in front of her.

If people don’t have aspirations, they live a very narrow life. It’s about looking beyond what you can see, to what you want to make happen.

We talked too about my career in retail, back when I was one of very few women working at that level in a predominantly male environment. I described my role as the voice of the consumer, standing between the production side and the people actually buying the product, asking the questions nobody else was asking at the time. 

I was the go-between. The whole shift within that market, but we were ahead of our time.

And, of course, the conversation came back around to that turtle. To the painting still sitting there, unfinished, watching me. To the trip that grew out of it. To the idea that this is the year for making dreams come true.

I’m sharing my original oil pastel painting in this post, the one you can see above, the one that sparked the whole adventure. It feels only right that the piece which set me dreaming should be here as I head off to see the real thing.

Happy 86th birthday to me. Here’s to the turtles, the islands, and to never finishing a dream halfway.