'Tis the eve of my departure and the mind numbing details of travel trivia overwhelm me. My beloved friend Yvette, kindly visited this afternoon to make tea and supervise the mini makeover sessions that are part of every girl's pre-departure ritual. Now I enter my usual obsessive compulsive disorder period where I check, re-ckeck and check that I've re-cheked all items that need to be checked. Can't wait for the time when we can insert a software program into our ears to take care of this maddness.

Am I getting too old for all this international travel? Staying home and becoming a grumpy old woman sounds so much more enticing. ...and to think I'm about to leave just when Big Brother starts. Anyone feel like taping 5 weeks worth please???

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Oscar Wilde

Welcome...

I am about to head of to the stunning climes of Stockholm to participate as a juror in the Stockholm Challenge Conference and awards ceremony (click here to visit the site and click here to see my profile) .

The pre-journey pandemonium of packing is in full flight. Anticipation and adrenalin charges every waking and sleeping moment but the thought of glorious Sweden tempers the panic. I harbour the wish of most travellers which is 'just get me there'. But I am also aware that to wish time away is to wish life away, so I pull my head in and return to this glorious sunny Melbourne moment.