" Why do we have all this life if we don't live it? Why do we have all these hopes and dreams

if we don't fulfill them? " Shirley Valentine

Before I began writing seriously, I could never have imagined the joy it would bring me. It's provided me with many successes. It is a constant reminder  that in listening to your heart, and taking that first step into what feels right, an extraordinary adventure and passionate life is your reward.

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Today, I combine all my loves of writing, food, travel, painting and photography into projects that nurture my spirit and fulfil my desire to grow in every chapter of my life as I look forward with a heart full of gratitude.

In sharing my loves, I hope I inspire and motivate you to grab hold of your life, shake it up, stir it about, and plan exciting futures for you too. As Shirley Valentine once said ...

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"Why do we have all this life if we don't live it? Why do we have all these hopes and dreams if we don't fulfill them?" 

My 22 healthy-eating cookbooks (the 'Taste of Life' series) that sold more than 2.2million copies worldwide, not only changed a generation’s eating habits, they changed my life too. Through the 80's and 90's I opened healthy eating restaurants and collaborated with food and appliance manufacturers to produce some of the best appliances in a new health aware market. 

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My self-help title, ‘Stepping Out’, published in 1990, procurred speaking opportunities on the lucrative speaker’s circuit. 

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Not wanting to be pigeon-holed as merely a cookbook or motivation author, I wrote my debut novel: ‘Seagulls on the Ganges’ (loosely based on my life) was published in India, in 2018. This book not only encouraged my travels to Dubrovnik, Paris, and Varanasi - (destinations where the book is set), it encouraged me to take up photography and painting too; and, it later dared me to adapt my story (born of personal experiences) into screenplay... now, to get the movie made!

You are always only ever one step away from writing a book that has the potential to change your life ... and the lives of others too ...

I love travelling solo...

It allows me to find the true size of myself, for isn't that the meaning of life ...to find the true size of yourself.

Having visited more than 30 countries, I still love the sound the zipper on my suitcase makes as I'm about to embark on another solo adventure and the thump of a new stamp in my passport.

My adventures remind me that there's no language barrier in a hand shake and laughter fixes most things. And, best of all, in conversations with the least likely people, I have found some of my best life lessons.

Solo Travel has challenged and stretched me, but it has mostly taught me a greater sense of observation, interconnectedness, tolerance, patience and abundant gratitude.

I wonder what else it has in store for me.

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We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us ... for travel can make you speechless before it takes your breath away ...