There’s no ‘I’ in team
I recently received negative feedback about certain members of my beloved team. But I didn’t pass the buck. Instead, I apologised and said that I take full responsibility for the mistakes made by my team members. When EL was first created, it was just Turuu and I as driver and guide. It was easier then […]
Making A Positive Difference Through Tourism In Mongolia
Any ideas? Any ideas what the image represents? This is how our group spent a day recently in Ulaanbaatar – the capital city of Mongolia – at a felting project run by the Buddhist NGO Asral. The group learnt how to clean the wool, process the wool, colour the wool & then how to create […]
Writing Emails Like a Woman
I am guilty of writing emails like a woman. Yes, I am a woman but it seems I am unconsciously using certain speech habits to soften my email communication. It was my Mum who pointed this out to me – looking over my shoulder one day as I was writing an email and reading the words […]
The Power Of Books
I recently read a BBC Capital article on why ‘microbreaks’ when working can have a powerful effect on your body and your mind – basically tiny breaks that help to ease your body and reboot your brain. What was interesting is that I read this article during such a break when I spent a few […]
Chasing The Sublime – Why Winter Swimming Is Good For Running A Business
Anyone that runs their own small business will agree – there is never (in reality) a moments rest. That’s why I swim – as a way of giving myself a challenge outside of running Eternal Landscapes Mongolia as a business. And I’ve come to believe that winter swimming is good for running a business. I have […]
One reason I love Dartmoor National Park
When people ask me about my love of Dartmoor National Park, one quote I like to give is from the book Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. Although first published in 1936 and actually about Bodmin Moon over the county border in Cornwall, I feel the following quote provides an apt description of ‘the moors.’ […]
Work Like A Woman By Mary Portas
“Here’s to strong women: may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.” Mary Portas I recently went to a talk by Mary Portas where she discussed her new manifesto and book – Work Like A Woman. People seem to have a similar relationship to Mary Portas as they do with marmite. […]
Swimming In Mongolia – Swimming In A Land Locked Country
When you think of Mongolia you might not automatically think of swimming in Mongolia. It’s the second largest landlocked country in the world for a start, more than 30% of its landmass is covered by the Gobi Desert – the world’s 5th largest desert and the number of swimming pools outside of the capital city […]
In Love With Mongolia
One of my favorite quotes about Mongolia comes from Steven J. Bodio’s book *Eagle Dreams*. In just a few short lines, he perfectly encapsulates what draws me back to this incredible country time and time again. He writes: “Each time I return I see constant changes alongside the things that never change. I love its […]
Girl Power – Why We Employ Only Female Trip Assistants
Girl Power – a phrase from the 1990s and early 2000s and, as I’m always slightly off-trend, one I continue to use. I use it in relation to my trip assistants – all of whom are Mongolian women. Do I provide opportunities to Mongolian women to tick boxes the equal opportunities box? No. It goes […]