James O'Brien

Once again my thoughts have turned to travel. I think it’s the end of daylight saving that’s brought it on. Whereas last week I was still arriving home in daylight, it’s now well and truly dark by the time I walk in the door. That means only one thing: winter is on the way.

I’m not averse the cold, as lots of photographs on this site attest. In fact, I really love snow, and a year ago this week I was visiting Iceland where I experienced four seasons in one day. What started off as a bright sunny day turned into a fairly heavy snowstorm on the beach.

In contrast, winter in Sydney is very mild, and I shouldn’t complain. But there’s something about the long stretch from April until the end of July that causes me to become a little grumpy, and a little reclusive and make me want to head somewhere a little further north.

I’m heading to China for a couple of weeks in May, and so hopefully that will help. Deep down, though, I’d like to do something in the cold heart depth of July.

The wunderlust hasn’t been helped by the fact a close colleague is now counting down the days to her three months of long service leave. To make matters worse, she’s actually going to Sweden at the end of July. To the far north of Sweden, in fact, in what looks like an incredibly beautiful area, to attend a wedding of another colleague of ours. I’ve been invited to the wedding also, and at the moment, I’m erring on the side of financial caution, though I might assess my finances after China, and you never know, as the wedding is just days before Stockholm Pride. Hmmm…