Well, someone has to be lucky? [25th May 2025]
Occasionally, luck is on your side...
Howdy there!
Sometime after you read last week’s edition, I took off from Perth and landed in the UK. That part isn’t the story. The story is: everything went weirdly, improbably well.
More on that below, but first, how have you been?! Messages and emails have been on the low end lately, so I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to?
General housekeeping: 90% of the newsletter is completely free. Any links with * are affiliate links. If you’ve enjoyed any of my random creative endeavours/like giving to charity/want to support Substack as an awesome platform, consider subscribing. They take a cut(I can’t actually pay for this awesome service) and I tend to donate most of this to charity, but I do use it as a yard stick to know that people find the content valuable. It should work out to <$2/wk!Everything went…right?
Back to the story of the day when things went right.
After departing Perth, the flight landed in Heathrow nearly an hour early—so early, in fact, that Heathrow had barely opened (it was 4:40am!). I was out of the plane and through the exit in eleven minutes flat. Three of those minutes were me looping back and forth between customs queues because no staff were around and I thought I’d missed something!
Because of the early landing, I unexpectedly had nearly five hours before my connecting flight. The trains had just started running on their regular schedule, so I hopped into the city for a quick wander. While walking near Tower Bridge, I texted my brother, who lives in London—too far to visit his flat on such short notice, or so I thought.
But it turned out he was headed into the office that morning. And his office? A 15-minute walk from where I was standing!
So, we grabbed coffee at the cafe in his office building and caught up for 20 minutes. Completely unplanned.
And the luck kept rolling…
By now I’d been traveling for over 24 hours and was somewhere in the mix between bone-weary tired and deliriously awake due to jetlag. This last leg of the journey was on the cheapest ticket I could find and sure to be crammed at the back of the plane. I’d added my frequent flyer number, mostly out of habit, hoping it might mean boarding a little earlier so I could snag some overhead cabin space for my hand luggage.
At the gate, the scanner beeped and flashed a little surprise: I’d been upgraded to domestic business class!
After all that travel, to be able to stretch out and relax for the final short flight? Amazing!
Looking back, that stretch of my trip was probably the luckiest sequence of events I’ve ever had while traveling. I wrote it all down to share with you this week—not just because it was delightful, but because the contrast struck me. Less than 24 hours before, I had been dreading the long haul ahead. But here I was, full of good memories.
The weird thing? I’d almost forgotten all of this.
Even though it’s only been a week, it already feels like a distant blur.
Isn’t that strange? We tend to hang onto the bad stuff—delays, rude agents, missed connections—but when things go right, we’re often too stunned in the moment to savour it. And then we move on.
I guess it makes evolutionary sense. Bad stuff might have killed us. Good stuff just meant we didn’t die. But in this modern world, noticing the good—really noticing it—feels like a little rebellion. Like we’re reclaiming joy.
This week, I’m thankful for early flights, chance encounters, and free upgrades. But more than that, I’m thankful I remembered to write them down.
And since I’m not there at home with the cats, I am getting updates from the brother-in-law, so here’s one of the pics he’s sent…
Creative update
Travelling has meant less time sitting and editing, but that doesn’t mean it’s been nothing. I edited these on the train from Austria to Italy about being in a creative rut with photography.
Instagram - Creative Journey Update
Cool finds
Travel has meant less time seeing things on the interwebs. Instead, I’d like to point out some of the things that have been super useful during the travels so far. A lot you’ve already seen but these I’ve been super thankful for this trip.
Insta360 Go* - this camera has been so impressive! I love that it magnetically attaches and can be remote controlled. It’s an awesome trave camera
Meta Raybans* - Sunglasses but also great to capture moments on the go without being distracted out of the moment
Trainline app - in Europe, this is awesome! Just book all your train trips in one central app. Also recommend paying the €3 or so to book a seat if it looks like a full train. I got lucky on the train from Zurich to Innsbruck, but others had to stand for the 3hr+ journey!
Noise cancelling earphones - Galaxy Buds3 Pro* - I’ll link mine but man are they great for these long trips to drown out the noise from transport and other passengers. I’m still amazed when I take these off and realise there has been young children crying near me that I had no idea about! I prefer the earphones to headphones since they take up much less space in your bag, but find ones that are comfortable for you
Weekly Update
This week was a hectic lot of travel! Here’s some of the highlights since the last newsletter:
(Very) quick London stop + catch up with my brother
Belfast, but make it Business Class! Thanks British Airways!
Explored Belfast city and went to the conference
Took the train to Dublin for a day trip, making Ireland the 37th country I’ve visited!
More conferencing followed by a flight to London and then Zurich (no upgrade this time, but I did manage to check out the Singapore Air Lounge + the United Lounge in LHR)
One of the most scenic train rides going from Zurich to Innsbruck
This was the surprise highlight - if you’re ever in the area, highly recommend taking the cable car to the mountain at Nordkette (see the pics!)
Day trip to Liechtenstein and hike to Vaduz castle - I’m always fascinated by micronations and how they came to be! This makes it country number 38!
Another scenic train ride from Innsbruck to Verona, Italy - country number 39! Nearly at the goal of seeing 40 countries by the time I’m 40.
There’s a mini colosseum just behind our AirBnb!
Quote of the week
This week is not a direct quote, but a paraphrase from someone you see on Shark Tank…
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