From dolphins and diving in Zanzibar to a spectacular rib-crunching return home…

I’ve been in holiday mode.

Basking in sunshine with absolutely no responsibilities.

Then I got home… and promptly broke two ribs.

The timing could have been worse, I suppose. Zanzibar had been exactly what it needed to be – a full week of doing very little, eating far too well, and enjoying the kind of sunshine that reminds you just how strong the African UV can be.

It was one of those trips where the goal was simply to switch off, and that’s exactly what happened.

The highlight was diving. I saw my first octopus, which was incredible up close, watching it shift colours and blend perfectly into the seabed was one of those moments where you realise how wild nature really is.

I also saw two water snakes, which was slightly less comforting but still very cool. And just to round things off, a family of dolphins joined us as we were heading back to shore after one dive, which felt like the kind of moment you’d normally only see on a documentary.

Although I’ll admit the diving itself came with a small mental hurdle.

Normally when you dive somewhere new there’s paperwork, safety briefings, checks… the whole routine. Here it was more of a “put this on and let’s go” situation. That made it harder to fully relax underwater, which meant I was breathing faster than usual and burned through my tank quicker than I normally would.

Not ideal, but seeing snakes, dolphins, and an octopus in one dive made up for it.

The trip even ended up being a day longer than planned after our return flight was cancelled, which is usually bad news but felt like a bonus when you’re somewhere like Zanzibar.

The journey home itself turned into a bit of an adventure too, flying from Zanzibar to Kigali in Rwanda, then onward to Heathrow via Paris in what felt like the aviation equivalent of a bus route, with most of the plane emptying halfway through the journey.

Then I got home.

And that’s where things quite literally came crashing down.

In what can only be described as a moment of questionable judgement, I stood on a wooden chair to compress the recycling bin so I could squeeze a bit more into it.

The chair gave way, my foot went straight through the slats, and I fell backwards onto some metal garden furniture. The result: two fractured ribs.

There isn’t much you can actually do about broken ribs, so the past week has mostly involved codeine and patience. It hasn’t stopped me doing too much day-to-day, but training is definitely off the cards for the moment – which is probably the most frustrating part.

Back at work, though, things are moving at full speed again.

Events season is just around the corner, with Retail Risk – On The Move fast approaching followed by Retail Technology shortly after.

At the same time, the drone programme continues to ramp up. Installation number six went live at the end of last week, and we’re aiming to have numbers seven, eight, and nine completed before the end of March.

That pace of deployment is exactly what we hoped to see this year. The momentum is building, the new sites are coming online, and more real-world applications of the technology we’ve been developing are showing their value.

So yes, the return from holiday may have been a bit of a painful landing – literally – but things are moving fast again.

Broken ribs or not, the year isn’t slowing down.