25 years on

This bottle felt aesthetically pleasing as I departed the Maputo office today. I am returning to Tanzania with a level of relaxation that I haven’t felt for quite a long time, mainly in terms of my relationship with work. I was chuckling with a friend recently that I first did paid work in 1998. Only 25 years later am I correctly applying the principles of work-life balance. Nothing like a quick learner.

Testifying to this new phase is the fact that my cuticles are in better condition than perhaps ever. I feel this all bodes well for the never-ending quest to be chill. The only issue to report is an overwhelming garlic and onion hangover thanks to yesterday’s indulgences.

As I transited in northern Mozambique my phone thought I was in the Comoros. Cue lots of excitable googling as a potential holiday destination. It’s surprisingly close to Mozambique and Tanzania.

By evening time I was back in Dar es Salaam and meeting up with my friend Claire, passing through for work. Over dinner, coincidentally she told me she’d booked an upcoming trip to the Comoros. Fabulous!

A surprising development came when I picked Claire up from the house of another work contact, Kathryn. I somehow came away clutching a graphic (adult only) jigsaw of a fish pleasuring a cat which Kathryn had managed to keep hidden from her kids and wanted to get shot of. I guess I’ll do the jigsaw one slow weekend day between travels…

Bedtime saw me chasing a stray grasshopper around my bedroom as it kept leaping on me when the lights were off.