2014 Frequent Flyer (Rehab20)

What a big year 2014 was. I thought it would be interesting to do a quick summary of the year. It wasn’t the worst year in terms of number of trips, but it’s up there. Fingers crossed for a better average in 2015!

My first work trip was on January 17th, to our nation’s capital (Canberra). And the travel continued throughout the year, with my final trip (to Sydney) ending on December 19th. Over those 11 months, I did 38 flights, for a total of 71,379 miles. That doesn’t include my trip to New Zealand (Virgin Australia) as well as a few non-Qantas flights that I had to take.

A big thanks to the Qantas flight and ground staff for such excellent service throughout the year. In April, I flew to Melbourne to quit my job of 9 years so that I could take up a new opportunity with a smaller, family-owned company. I was nervous on the trip down, because I had been so comfortable in that role for 9 years, it was daunting to move on from that. There was a lovely flight attendant (is that the PC term?) on my flight who asked me about my day and easily made me remember that this was a positive trip – I was making the choice to leave behind a position where I was no longer appreciated or valued. She popped up to Business Class and brought me back a beautiful bottle of champagne (for congratulations and for dutch courage). This was actually my most memorable flight of the year, because of her kindness and because it became such a liberating experience. It was the best decision to make – I am so much happier in this new place.

Throughout the year, I visited Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, many times over. I also went to Chiang Mai in Thailand for a Sales Meeting, to Cambridge in the UK for training, and to Queenstown, New Zealand for a holiday right in the middle of the year.

Chiang Mai, Thailand. 17mm f/1.8 1/1000s ISO200

Queenstown, New Zealand. 17mm f/2.8 1/320s ISO400

Cambridge, UK. 17mm f/6.3 1/125s ISO400

Chiang Mai, Thailand. 60mm f/2.8 1/1000s ISO200

Queenstown, New Zealand. 17mm f/22 1/800s ISO2500

Melbourn, UK. 17mm f/9.0 1/30s ISO1600

Overall, a full year, in terms of travel and work and learning. I shared some wonderful experiences with my family and with my dearest friends. I learnt so much about life, about science, about photography, and above all, about myself. It has certainly been a year of growth and a year in which I have come to understand my own value and worth. I have also learnt who my true friends are and I am thrilled to have more time to spend with them and with my family.

So to end, here are a couple of shots from my final flight of the year – a short timeline of my flight from Sydney home to Brisbane. I seem to have found it a nice way to pass the time on my flights – I love to watch as we pass through the clouds on our ascent and then find out whether we have a fluffy layer to glide across. And then, what colours can we expect in the sky? What types of formations. As I said recently, it is almost a magical feeling if you let it be – you could be anywhere in the world when you’re above the clouds, it looks the same no matter where you are.

Sydney from Above.

Softness.

Home Sweet Home.

I haven’t posted anything in a few days and I apologise for that. I have been hanging out with family and friends, something that travel can interfere with throughout the year, so I have enjoyed taking advantage of my “no-travel-fortnight”. My friend and I are both gearing up to do some painting and putting up shelves and photos and things, so we have been shopping at hardware stores and furniture stores and IKEA, getting ready to dive in to our projects in our respective houses, and we will help each other out. I am looking forward to getting started tomorrow and I’m hoping that I have time to get it all done before I start back at work! I will be back to my usual posting schedule in the next few days.

Best wishes for 2015.

x desleyjane

PS Flight photos taken with my iPhone6, all others with my Olympus OMD EM5.