Our experience of travel and a break from the rat race was the catalyst for GO! Smell the flowers with the full how-it-all-started story covered in the about section of this site.

Summer 2005 - Winter 2006 : Round 1 of travel

Our ten month journey of adventure (see brief photo highlights on the right) when we took the time to ask ourselves what we wanted from life and as a result got to know each other better and saw some of the places we had always wanted to see before we die. Places from our bucket list, if you will:

From our base in Dubai we headed to South Africa’s garden route and returned to the UK to catch up with friends and family before cycling around Provence. Climbing Peru’s Machu Picchu brought with it the unexpected as did R&R in the Bahamas, a Full Detox in Thailand and Shark diving in Bangkok!

We left our corporate comfort zones, enjoyed falling head over heels in love and smelling the flowers along the way. Maxing out our credit cards was a small price to pay!

Winter 2006 Back to Dubai - Married  - Back to earning a living!

After a Machu Picchu proposal and a Thai beach wedding we returned to Dubai as Mr & Mrs with new skills, large debts and a new outlook to put into practice back in the ‘real world’ of one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

Back in the commercial world based in Dubai our primary objective was to inspire and be inspired. Qualifying as life coaches, Jim returned to the construction Industry (not as a rat) in addtion to coaching clients 1 on 1 whilst Emma embarked on starting her own coaching practice whilst being commisioned by companies to inspire teams of employees.

From addressing the banking floor of HSBC Dubai and keynote speaking at conferences to magazine features and live T.V work it’s been quite an experience spreading the flowers - a real passion! Our book, GO! Smell the flowers was finished, edited and polished as we focus on finding our manuscript and concept a suitable home to inspire as many people as possible.

Summer 2008 - Round 2 of travel! 

Summer 2008 finds us on another flower smelling sabbatical - this time for 6 months covering Thailand for a visit to the Spa, Canada, Cuba bits of Europe, India and the Middle East as we align ourselves with flower smellers all over the world connecting and constantly learning from others along the way.

We’re using the time to meet potential agents, publishers and media houses as we find a suitable home for the finished product, GO! Smell the flowers with 3 more books in the pipeline. 

What we’ve learnt

Some of the highlights of what we learned along the way during out time out of travel to date:

• Most people we’ve met are hospitible and welcoming - despite what the media would have us believe.
• Variety in life helps the clock tick slower
• In life coaching the client has the answer!
• You can make a difference in your immediate environment RIGHT NOW.
• Laughter is the best medicine
• When travelling - Eat what the locals eat
• Detoxing is well worth it
• BIG Spiders aren’t that scary
• Bungee jumping is a great way to conquer your fear of heights.
• No four wheel drive can beat the Peruvian horse
• Amazonian Mosquitoes are invincible
• Cubans make the best Mojitos and keep cars going for 50 years
• Colonic irrigation in a Thai Spa is worth considering
• Allow 4 times more than you anticipate when writing and editing a book
• Western horse riding is more fun than traditional methods - especially in the Rockies.

Life can be exciting with the inevitable peaks and troughs and we’re determined to Go! Smell the flowers whenever and wherever we can as we inspire and become inspired by other flower smellers from all over the world.  

And since starting the GO! Smell the flowers blog & community:

What strted as a website sowing a few travel photos off developed into a blog that is now blossoming into a thriving online community. The word getting out there, people finding the courage to have their day and get involved and us aiming to bring cyberspace something truly unique!

Better still and more recently is the realisation here at our blog is that every garden needs the thorns, the manure, the rough weather and the compost heap if it is to grow into anything worthwhile.

It is about duality. His n Her, Right n Wrong. Mr & Mrs!

GO! Smell the flowers the community is a work in progress and as you join in with us we welcome you to the garden as the Jim & Em storyboard website moves to a far more engaging garden full of flowers and thorns from around the world!

What about YOUR experience? - Share it with others

Our tale of flower smelling is just one aspect of this wonderful phrase - there are many, many more! We’ve a few flower smelling stories to get you started  and we’re looking for more - from all walks of life!

Maybe you are a flower smeller with tales of travel and inspiration to share with us? One way to find out if to post comments, join in and start your own discussions over in forums and get involved in the community in these early stages as we blossom together!

Whatever you do - be sure to smell the flowers along the way - we enjoy learning from others all over the world as ‘one jourey - many discoveries’ becomes our reason-to-be.

So, that’s our experience of smelling the flowers - we’d love to find out more about YOU so feel free to get involved and smell the flowers while you still can! Life really is too short not to.