Updated by: May 11, 2026
The Best Gift I Ever Gave
There are gifts you buy. And then there are gifts that change someone’s life for a few days in a way that nothing you could wrap in a box ever could.
A few years ago I was fortunate enough to be offered something extraordinary by PONANT — one of the world’s great expedition cruise lines. A journey through the Kimberley. One of the most remote, ancient and breathtaking places on earth.
I gave it to my parents.
I made them a small card — a laminated photo of the ship, tucked inside an envelope. Not much to look at. Everything to give.
They went with their closest friends — a last minute cancellation had opened up a second cabin and the timing was perfect. Four people who have known each other for decades, waking up each morning to a new corner of the Kimberley they had never seen before.
Montgomery Reef, one of the largest inshore reefs in the world, revealed as the tide drops in a rush of water that looks like the ocean breathing. Mitchell Falls — ancient tiered waterfalls cascading through sandstone country that has looked exactly like this for 350 million years. The Kimberley sun. The expert guides who knew every rock and bird and current by name.
My parents came home changed in the subtle way that only extraordinary travel can change you. Full of stories. Full of each other.
I have given a lot of gifts in my life. None of them came close to that laminated card.
Paul Mercuri
Wake Up Here Founder
