Welcome to my online travel memoirs/blog – the Diary of an Aesthete – pictures, film, poetry and storytelling from my life travelling and living in various parts of the world. From London/South England, I am an Art Conservator by trade, and my interests include history, culture, craft, archeology and the natural world. Please connect in the comment section below, or with the links at the bottom of this page, and find stories from my travels in the headings above. I’m so grateful for your visit!
– James

“The voice of God can be found amongst the highest mountains, and between the smallest grains of sand… if you only have the ears to hear it. The essence of a pilgrimage is to move, yet, at some point along the way, you realise you do not move at all ~ the pilgrimage moves you.”

I will be forever thankful to all those who have been a part of this journey, both on the road, and here, on this site… This is my Pilgrimage ~ my story of life, and the people and places which become a part of my story along the way.

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This pilgrimage has taught me many things. It has taught me to love more, to let go… to seek more, to forgive more… to move more… and most importantly how to be still (which is a constant battle). The greatest illusion of this world: that others are different from us.

“Know the world in yourself. Never look for yourself in the world, for this would be to project your illusion…”
– Ancient Egyptian Proverb
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“I have looked in many places, behind many doors, and into the eyes of many people. The only lasting thing I have found, of any value and perpetual comfort to my soul, is an undoubted belief in God. ” – 2019

Thank you for joining me!
I love to read and respond to your comments.

Follow the Journey

A bucketlist isn’t freedom for me. The ability to travel unhindered is not freedom to me. Living between boundaries of fear is not freedom for me. Freedom for me is beholding the night’s sky, walking barefoot at dawn, raising my hands in worship, chanting from the depths of my soul, the wind in my hair. Freedom for me is my undefinable, unbreakable belief in the Great Spirit of Life, in One Divine. No matter what happens, these things can never be taken from me.

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