I think it's easy to take the wildife in our local area for granted when we see it everyday. On wintery mornings, I tend to ignore the frosted leaves and spiders' webs glistening on my neighbour's holly bush. Instead, I frantically try to clear the ice from my windscreen without being late for work. I march blindly past green shoots beginning to pop out of the ground in my front garden, and I am oblivious to the sounds of birds overhead.
Travelling offers a chance to change this attitude and learn a new appreciation for nature. I should know - I've just got back from a brilliant five month trip through Australia, New Zealand and south-east Asia. Each country offered new birds, insects and mammals, and everything in the natural world became a novelty.
September in Western Australia brought kangaroos with joeys in their pouches hopping onto campsites and across golf courses. They came out at dusk, with their yellow eyes flashing in the dark. I used to love watching 'Skippy the bush kangaroo' on television when I was young. To see these creatures in the wild for the first time was exhilirating as an adult and I remembered how excited I used to get about wildlife when I was a child.
The Karri forests south of Perth were silent and massive. The photos I have don't do these trees justice - you have to see them to really appreciate these silvery giants.
October in New Zealand brought possums creeping through the bush and cheeky keas strolling through carparks, pecking at tourists' cars and shoes.
November to January in south-east Asia, with its sunshine, beaches and jungles, was teeming with wildlife. In Thailand's Khao Sok National Park, I was transfixed by huge butterflies bobbing through the jungle. Monkeys squabbled in the trees overhead, and snakes balanced on branches, curled into scaly black and yellow bundles.
Returning to England this month, I am grateful for many things, especially wine, the NHS and cheese sandwiches. But my travels have also renewed my enthusiasm for my local wildlife, and now I take time to say wow! to the frosty spiders' webs before de-icing my car. Back at work, siskins flit between the feeders at The Lodge, and I remember that there is plenty of great wildlife to see on my doorstep. It's just a shame that my doorstep isn't a Thai beach!