marianshinn
marianshinn
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Jul 11, 2011 (15 years) |
- | 1 | 0 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
Jul 11, 2011 (15 years)
- Last activity
- -
- Topics created
- 1
- Replies created
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Bio
I’m Marian Shinn. My home is in Cape Town, South Africa. I was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. I have earned a living as a journalist, media relations consultant and Member of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. I am now a pensioner determined to live a happy second childhood.
In 2015 Charlie Ward, the photographer with whom I shared my life for 43 years, died. In 2016 I did a solo road trip around South Africa to scatter his ashes at our favorite places. I traveled 5 002kms in three weeks through the provinces of the Western and Eastern capes, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Free State.
I listened to audio books, music, my memories and musings of my life so far. I played ‘What-if’ games with my life choices and their outcomes, appreciated what I gained from my life with Charlie and reflected on the compromises and dreams deferred that are part of every relationship.
I decided, somewhere along the road, that I would spend the rest of my life doing what brought Charlie and me together – traveling to places of natural beauty: nature and wild life reserves, and exploring new places.
Our relationship was cemented early on when we resigned from our newspaper jobs in Johannesburg and spent six months living in a Land Rover as we ranged through South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Rhodesia (as Zimababwe was then) and Botswana.
Most of our holidays throughout our relationship were spent in South African game reserves, predominately in Kwa-Zulu Natal, but we traveled the country fairly thoroughly.
But Charlie was not keen on long-distance flying. He was quite happy to hang out of a doorless helicopter to take photos, but getting him into a jumbo jet was another matter. In our time together I managed to get him to take three overseas trips: the Far East, including Taipei, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore; London, Paris and Tuscany, and finally London and the Suffolk home of his cousin.
My work travels have taken me to Italy, Germany, England, the United States of America and Japan – in one trip that was a prize for editing an IT magazine; Vilnius (Lithuania) for a UN conference, Mauritius (for an internet governance conference) and Israel – via a delayed stopover in Addis Ababa – for a study trip.
Since Charlie’s death I have taken 2 overseas holidays – one was a gift from friends who decided I needed time to myself for a while and sent me to a delightful small hotel in Mauritius, and then a friend and I went in 2017 to Venice, Vienna, Prague and Budapest.
Since then, I’ve been compiling a Bucket List of places to visit. And, keeping an eye on a diminishing pension, I plan to steadily tick off the list but either traveling solo or with a friend or two before my soul flits off to the stars.
Please join me.
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