I (husband Simon) met Karyn at a crossroads in her life when she was ready to make a life change and she felt that she could do more than selling holidays although she had enjoyed the job and had many travel adventures around the world including skiing in the Alps, beach holidays in Greece and a trip to China where she visted the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and Hong Kong. While at Bakers Dolphin in Clifton Village she became Senior Sales Consulant and occasionally Branch Manager. Earlier in 1985 and 1986, Karyn completed her City & Guilds certificates for Travel Agency Competence, often won top sales person of the month and helped the company win an award for skiing holidays, as well as trying her hand at travel writing (see picture). Karyn wanted to study marine mammals and I encouraged her to follow that dream and make it a reality. She enrolled in the Open University's Science Foundation course in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences in 1995. She tackled it with great determination and did very well, enjoying the Earth Sciences component the most. Also in 1995, Karyn completed a 10 session course in Animal Ecology & Conservation conducted by the Zoological Society of London and held at London Zoo.