Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to my blog! I've tried blogging in the past, and never quite succeeded. Now I think I have a good reason to make this one happen: over the next 57 days, I will be travelling around the world on a journey that combines the two great loves of my life - The Bahá'í Faith and Aviation. In less than two weeks, I will be in Israel, to start a nine-day pilgrimage to the Bahá'í holy places in Haifa and Akká. More on that in another post soon. Before and after Israel, I will be travelling through Europe, seeking out places where the beloved Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, set foot on his epoch-making journey to the West a little over a century ago. I will then be continuing on that theme to North America, my first time to that continent. Along the way, I'll be trying to see friends who have winged their way to various parts of the world, as well as (#avgeek alert) trying to get a few new aeroplane types into my travel history (yes Nisy, you picked that one exactly right!). I'll do my best to share all these experiences with you as internet access allows.

I would like to dedicate this blog, and indeed my travels, in two directions. First, I would like to dedicate this to the youth around the world who are arising to serve their communities, making many personal sacrifices so that through the healing words of Bahá'u'lláh a new civilisation can begin to emerge. Your efforts, which so invigorated last weekend's New Zealand Bahá'í National Convention, are an inspiration to all humanity. On a more personal level, I would like to dedicate this blog and my trip to the person who did so much to nurture both these great loves of my life and set me soaring on wings of aluminium and carbon, love and spirt; my beautiful mother. How much she would have loved to join me on this trip (crazy itinerary and consequent risk of missing flights notwithstanding!), had she not winged her own flight to the Immortal Realm. And yet I know that every step along this journey, she will be alongside me. I love you mum.