Side Trip of a Lifetime. UNDERstatement.

One month ago I had just landed in the Sultanate of Oman.  The first thing that attacked my excess baggage of preconception was the smell.  No.  The aroma.  Oman smells beautiful.

About my preconceptions?  Not so much preconception as lack of expectation.  Oh wow did that get shattered in a big way...
About excess baggage?  well... yeah, I'm not a light packer.  I am talking about luggage now.  This isn't a metaphor.

Here we are, upon arrival.  WE are from left to right; Meagan Patroni (former PR for Tourism Oman), me, Brooke, Amy, Daisy and Ben.
That's my luggage in front of Meagan and that's Brooke's bag in front of her. Uh-huh. Brooke took a 7kg bag. For 9 days.  I took 27kg with me in The Pink Beast, my suitcase that has made taxi drivers quake the world over.  Which one of us is the good packer depends on your point of view... I like to be prepared for every eventuality.

"WE" are Social Media Ambassadors, bloggers chosen by Tourism Oman for our reach on social media, skills, abilities and travel experience.  Brooke, Amy, Daisy and Ben are seasoned travel bloggers.  This was my first 'famil' but not my last.  Hopefully!

Tourism Oman very generously sent us to the Sultanate of Oman mid-March to experience Oman firsthand and share our experiences with our audience via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our blogs.  I can safely say I speak for all when I say Oman had a lasting effect on all of us.

Oman is not really considered a destination, it is a "side trip of a lifetime", a stop over on ones way to or fro Europe.  WRONG.  Oman IS a destination and yeah, you know I'm going to say it... it's a journey.

It's taken me a while to decide HOW I want to write about Oman.  Do I pick a day, topic or an experience and write at random?  Do I condense my 9 days of bliss in 3 big posts? How does one do that??
I decided to start at the beginning, to share with you what I experienced, how I experienced it. In my voice.  Day by day.  This means there will be a lot of posts.  A lot of looong posts.

I felt a profound connection to Oman.  The tendrils of Oman's beautiful aroma curled around my senses and bound me to this country...

Stay in the zone... this day hasn't ended... we checked in to our 'homebase' the Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa (Al Husn Hotel) around 2am after a 19 hour flight (including a 5 hour stopover in Thailand) and I did not sleep.  This is why... I knew it was worth staying up...

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Side Trip of a Lifetime...

Hello lovelies... well... I have been away for a while... physically from theDUSKzone but mentally I'm always in the zone... and thank YOU for being in the zone with me.  It's boring without you :)

I truly do have so much to share... I have been tripping the light fantastic... and have just come back from the most AMAZING trip... I am hanging out to share my experiences with you... my stories, my images... my feelings!  Yikes!  Feelings!

It was a "side trip of a lifetime"... BUT... really, this was a TRIP of a lifetime and a major destination...  click to begin your adventure... then come back!

Before I start sharing the real good juicy stuff... you might want to peruse (or skim) the images on my Instagram or my Facebook page.

See you soon...

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Editorial : 'Exotica'

Another assignment whilst in Fiji was this... an editorial for Republika.

This is a self clicked editorial... readers of my blog already know that I am Dusk, Queen of The Flying Selfs!
...I did have some assistance from the awesome Karen Fulton, one of my closest friends, a soul sister and designer of Zipporra.
Zipporra was the featured international designer at Style Fiji 2012 (see previous post).  Needless to say, Karen and I had a BALL!  SO much fun!  More posts about that soon.

I'm wearing 'Exotica' kaftans... designed by a fellow ex model, lovely friend of mine.  Zelda was a designer in the 90s as well as a model (small countries breed multi-taskers!) and as testament to her amazing talent, I still have many of her designs, 20 years later!
...currently Zelda makes kaftans only but...watch this space...

...spot the remote!

Life. Style. Fiji.

I am woefully behind in my blog posts... if you are pals with me on facebook (here, here and here) and/or Instagram, you will know that I was in Fiji a few weeks ago for some major good times!  Not quite a holiday but let's face it... photographic assignments on a tropical island is hardly hard work!

I have been getting my act together and I will have some travel story posts up soon.  I have mentioned in my previous post that this blog will be changing its, hmmm, purpose... actually maybe finding a purpose.

Anyway... the main reason I was in Fiji was to attend, photograph and participate in a charity fashion event, Style Fiji 2012... even though I have not lived in Fiji my entire life and was brought up and educated in other countries and I haven't been back for 16 years, Fiji is... where I'm from.
I hesitate there because instinctively one would write "home" but it's not my home.  I never quite felt at home there, not because I don't love that place -oh I DO! SO much! I had the BEST life there the times I lived there - perhaps it's just because I would rather be a small fish in a big pond (and grow) than vice versa and for a while, I was a biggish fish.
I was one of the first newsreaders on TV there, I was on radio, I was a singer, event producer and I was a model.

...and that's why I was there.  Fiji's 90s 'supermodels' J opened the show.  I have to tell you... I was NERVOUS as hell!  I haven't been on a catwalk for 18 years and hello?  I am a performer still  and dancing on stage is much harder than walking on stage...but, oh wow, I was really nervous.
Perhaps out of vanity?  I am certainly not the size I was when I was modelling... I'm also twice the age!  I don't want to be that small again, it wouldn't suit me, a mature (ha!) mid-forties woman.
...anyway, regardless... if I may blow my own horn section (hmm)... I was fierce. Second nature it seems.  So to were my sister models. And the main reason for that?  We are all comfortable in our middle-aged skins!

So here I am.  Going on with my middle aged bad self.
Images by Josh Hedge
Dress by Retro Station Vintage Clothing
Back harness by  Me - Devi Armour

...and this.... oh dear... I have been debating with myself about publishing this image then I thought... oh sod it. 

I was the signature 'face' for this awesome designer -NAINA- back when it was okay for me to be wearing such things on the catwalk!!  18 years ago I wore the dress (for the collection's finale) that this dress pays homage to... Apparently she still sees me as 'The Naked Dress' wearer!  

...and the lights were not supposed to be this damn bright!!  

It was fun. It was for charity.  It was for deeply sentimental reasons.

...this charity is a charity I was once closely associated with...another post yes?  

Life Is What You Make It. Make Love.

Hello lovelies... how are you?  It has been a while and I have a backlog of photos and posts and experiences and stories and travel tales and anecdotes and vox populi events for feminist solidarity to share with you and oh wow... it has been an incredible year.  But then again, I say that every year.  I'm the Good Year blimp :)

I believe in ending the year thinking about all the positive things that year has brought you.  I believe that by moaning and whining about how bad your year was, you're setting yourself up for more of the same because that's all you expect.  Why?... because YOU create your year.  Or rather, YOU create how you perceive your year.  How dare you blame the year for the way your life played out?
Yes, yes, this is all esoteric territory but I sit firmly between spirituality and practicality and frankly, it just makes sense.  You do things often enough you create a habit.  Good or bad.

I am not one to dwell on any perceived negativity. I don't post "oh woe is me" updates on facebook or anywhere! And I don't bond with people through misery and the sharing of 'weaknesses'.
I don't believe in failure, I believe in lessons.  Yeah.  I'm a walking cliche. But I'm an optimistic cliche and I'm a cliche that lives a life full of LIFE.

Woah... this is getting heavy... but I'm feeling heavy...with a joyous yet poignant gravitas!  And I'm glad the world didn't end but seriously, who expected this??  What has ended - I believe- is a cycle.  

I love New Year's Eve!  I get so excited! Regardless of what I'm doing... I could just be sitting at home and I would still be excited!  We do always have or create something exciting to do on NYE because I love to start the new year off with pomp and ceremony.  It sets me up for the rest of the year.  

There has been much global sadness this year and I refuse to contribute to it by moping.  I cry because tears are needed to cleanse and renew and then I put things in to perspective in my own.  Anything I have ever had to feel sad about pales in comparison to what humanity suffers at the hands of people day after day.  I am blessed and I am grateful, so grateful for my life, and this is what I project to the world. 

I didn't have to call upon my Powers of Optimistic Perception [aka POP] this year.  All I had to do was let my mind smile and allow myself to want the best for me.  Sounds simple huh?  Try it. Actually no. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try. [Thank you Yoda].

I'm sure you have heard of the HOLSTEE MANIFESTO?  Well, many of us, way before this, way way back in time, made the choice to love our lives to max, to our personal max. 

...and then once you are solid in loving yourself, that's when it's time to turn to the important things... because (and I have written about this before) you cannot be truly selfless in your love for others if you do not truly love yourself.  It's about putting the oxygen mask on yourself before your child, metaphorically speaking. 

I wish for you much abundance in every way... much love and warmth and peace... amongst the reality of life, I wish for you primarily much joy and solidarity and truth and fun and laughter and life... LIFE... 

May 2013 be a year where you do live the life you deserve. The year where you do understand that life is complex in its simplicity, why complicate it?  

HAVE AN AWESOME NEW YEAR'S EVE!

...I don't do resolutions but... I choose to be a consistent blogger in 2013... and this blog is taking a new direction.... watch this zone... 

Trust Me. I'm a Jed-Eye...

I have carved a bit of a name for myself photographically and I now get exclusive access to photograph some amazing shows. 

Like this one, Star Wars Burlesque.

...and those of you that know me or are regular readers, you know that I cannot pass up anything to do with Star Wars!!!  The opening of a Star Wars envelope? I'm there!

About my photography...I'm not sure if I ever explained this... I was an avid photographer as a chid and in my teens and I had promised myself that, after fulfilling my other aspirations, I would pursue photography as a career when I was in my forties.

Well here I am and here I do.  And this is what I see...Dusk Devi Vision.

Apparently I have an excellent eye for capturing a performer's energy on stage.

People often ask "how did you do that??"

Dude.  I'm a Jed-Eye....

Click below photograph to see what the badge says...

This is a backdated post.

Outfit worn on the night I photographed the show.

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I am on Facebook here and here.

Neonomatopoeia

Colours so loud they make a boom crash opera!

Welcome Spring... it's been a long time...

MORE IMAGES AFTER THE JUMP!