My top five key moments in my life so far.  

The highs and the lows I consider to have been important to me.

Sights or views that have left me wanting to return to see again 

There are two places in the world that I have been fortunate enough to see at least once that are above any others in my opinion. One of these is man made the other a natural wonder of the world. The natural wonder is the Grand Canyon, I visited this site once and would love one day to be able to return again. The man made structure is the Great Wall of China, this summer I made a return visit to this fabulous structure. I have now walked along and climbed up two of the sections open to the public and my second visit was just as impressive as the first one.

A personal achievement and something that I am proud to have completed. 

I used to do lots of cycling events, I was not fast (or young) enough to have been a racer but I enjoyed taking part in long distance cycling events and it was not unusual for me to cycle 100 miles or more in a single day. In 2003 I cycled the length of Great Britain on a solo ride, many people complete this personal journey each year, some have done this multiple times, for me was once more than enough as I cycled the 950 miles in 12 consecutive days.

In every life there is some low point. 

For me a personal low point was when I discovered my marriage had come to its end. It was quite a shock to me and it took me a long time to pull myself fully together and fully functioning again. On the outside I tried to appear strong but inside deep down I was hurting. I have progressed past this point now and enjoying myself once again.

I don’t scare easily but 

My most scary moment I think was during the two major earthquakes I have found myself in during the past few years. They both happened during the month of May, the first was in 2008 and I was not too many miles from where I am located now. I was beginning my afternoon classes when the buildings started shaking violently, some students immediately left the room, others choose to stay where they were rooted to the spot. I chose to remain in the classroom with those that remained behind. It was clear from the first moments that this was a major one and someone somewhere was getting it worse than we were. Until that moment I had not realized I was in an area prone to earthquakes, in the next 15 months over 9000 aftershocks struck that area, I left for safer ground after just 3 months. I was lucky where I was but many thousands closed to the epicenter were not so lucky. A year later I was in Central America when overnight an earthquake struck offshore near Honduras, the building I had been sleeping in shook violently, this one although less powerful was in my opinion more scary because I had been woken from a deep sleep.

To know my writing is finally in a real book 

I have been writing for a few years now and although I have been writing on various internet sites and blogs during that time it was nice to know that my efforts are now concentrated in print in a book. This I hope is the first for me of many. I have my second project under way and hope that is completed sometime next year.

Finally my hopes for the future are as always centred around travel and although I am fortunate enough to have visited many countries in this world there are many more I would still like to visit, and one day I may even find somewhere to stay.