Five years ago today I departed for the warm confines of the south seas – Fiji to be precise. It had been three long years of work, and nothing much but. Three weeks of R&R wandering through the islands of Fiji not only seemed appropriate but necessary.

Shortly after the events of 9/11 – less than a month, in fact – I travelled to France for the MIPCOM convention. Television production conferences are always fascinating affairs. Wheeling and dealing, and eating and drinking go hand in hand with hobbing and nobbing amongst delegates and decision-makers from all over the world. Place all that activity along the La Croissette of Cannes and the week becomes a place where business and pleasure meet.

However, this particular event, taking place as it did so close to the calamity of the Twin Towers, meant that fewer Americans made the trip. Fear of flying and, by extension, concern over security and safety in a foreign locale kept thousands from travelling. As such, European and Asian buyers and sellers ruled the day and dominated the week, possibly for the first time ever.

What does this have to do with my trip to Fiji? Absolutely nothing, other than to underscore the experience of travelling through foreign countries with people who are constantly looking over their collective shoulders.

My ‘South Seas Memoir’ fits perfectly into this series. This was my first adventure into the ‘true’ South Pacific (I’ve returned a couple of times since), but this trip held several adventures and many experiences that were a result of their time, and definitely of their place. There had been a coup in Fiji barely a year before and some things had changed – tourists had been slow to return. Also, because of 9/11 Americans were scarce, practically non-existent in fact, so my experiences with other travellers were with Kiwis, Aussies, Latins, Asians, Brits, and yes, French.

“I’m Canadian, actually.”

I was a bit of novelty among them myself. Constantly being mistaken for American, and constantly correcting, I found the conversations that ensued nothing short of fascinating and often illuminating. But enough set-up.

For the next several weeks each and every entry in this ‘repurposed’ series will appear unedited, warts and all, with no excuses or apologies, exactly as written at the time, five years ago.

It seems to me at least an interesting time to look back – has much changed in the world? Fiji experienced yet another coup just a few days back and America is embroiled in a war it can’t win. A war that is a direct result of that tragic day in September 2001.

Every post on this site is ‘tagged’ with one or more ‘content tags’. If you’d like to read every one of the entries about ‘Fiji’, simply click on the tag ‘LOFT‘ (Livin’ On Fiji Time) on any single Fiji-oriented post, and all shall be revealed. Here is Day One of Livin’ On Fiji Time to get you started.

And so it goes….