Best Job in the World

Ok, so now I've applied for the best job in the world. The video is here. This blog is a little post in support of my application.

This is for the things that i couldn't show you in the one minute of video that I was allowed!

First a little bit of my history. I'm from a town called Guiseley, in the north of England. I've lived there for most of my life, though I've had stints of living in Wales and Scotland as well as travelling round the world.

I got a degree from the University of Edinburgh and I've worked in many roles from selling candy in Edinburgh Zoo to delivering post for Royal Mail and designing things for a design consultancy firm.

I have many and varied interests. My most recent passion is salsa dancing, and Latin dancing generally, though I have always loved any kind of dancing... Apart from the dancing, I love to scuba dive, reading is a real passion, though i struggle to fit it in these days. Also all of the usual stuff, movies, TV, socialising with friends, and seeing the world.

I love to travel, and I love the outdoors. There is nothing more rewarding to me then climbing up a mountain in the middle of the night to see a sunrise (one of the reasons I loved living in Edinburgh), or even sitting by the sea watching a sunset, or trekking through a jungle to find an unspoilt village, or finding some new, possibly insect, delicacy to eat. I like to spend as much time with the locals when I travel, I find that it gives me a much better time, and allows me to find things that I'd never find on the usual tourist trails.

I like pushing myself to try new things. When I was younger I tried abseiling and rock climbing, also as an air cadet I got to fly both two person planes and gliders. Other things I have enjoyed have been canoeing, kayaking and white-water rafting. And surprisingly... bamboo training!

There are many things that I haven't tried yet that I'd love to give a go. I'd love to have a go at parachuting. Also bungee jumping, though I think it would be scarier then the parachuting. Going for a dive with sharks sounds fun as well... with or without a cage! I was thinking that some of these activities may be available around the great barrier reef somewhere....

If so, bring it on. As you can see I am ideal for this role, I even have previous media experience! I can't wait to hear back from you all!

Sydney Salsa Congress!

I have to say that the Sydney Salsa Congress was definitely the biggest one that I've ever been to. In some was it was the best as well...

The shows were excellent, the quality of the teachers was amazing, and there were lots of other people there to meet and share the salsa with. On the other hand it was almost too big. The classes were very large, so you didn't get the close attention that some people needed. The shows were amazing, but unless you had bought a VIP pass you weren't going to be very close to them, and you weren't allowed to take videos of the evening shows... which I thought was a bit tight...

I don't want to sound negative though. Overall the event was amazing. The venue was superb, with the largest dance floor I've ever seen for a salsa venue. There were over 80 shows on over the 4 nights, 75 workshops over the 3 days, 2 salsa bands and thousands of people from all over the world... I even met a few from the UK!

After all of this, by Sunday night I was happy that it had come to an end, salsa fatigue had set in and all I wanted to do was to sleep for 48 hours straight! Unfortunately this wasn't an option as I had to check out of my hotel the next day, but resting I have been, and I might even be able to go out for some more salsa towards the end of this week!

There were also other styles of dance represented at the congress... In addition to the usual salsa and bachata, there was cha cha, and zouk, both of which I tried for the first time. Zouk is particularly interesting, as I had never heard of this before I left England. Zouk is a Brazilian dance and seems to be very big in Australia, so I think I'm going to pursue this new style of dancing, and maybe take it back to England with me...

This video gives a good idea of what zouk is all about. As you can see it is a very passionate dance, and flows beautifully...