Time. It's a concept I have always had issues with.
I'm a constant checker of my watch – but not because I have a fancy smart watch, just an old-school analogue watch that tells me what time of day it is.
Working in the garden is a big part of village life for locals in Korul Village, Papua New Guinea. Photo / Rosalie Willis
Walking along the small path through fields of knee-high grass, I feel like Maria von Trapp from the Sound of Music up in the Swiss Alps, skipping and dancing along the path as thoughts of deadlines, calendars and what time dinner is fly away with a breath of fresh air.
Scheduling my life to the max -call me old fashioned - I still use a physical diary to plan out my week.
Laid out in front of me on paper, each week I can see that I have band practice Tuesday nights, netball training Wednesdays, football, church, catching up with friends and a hundred other things, let alone working a nine-to-five.
They say being organised and on-time is a good thing. But sometimes I wonder if I have gone the other way. I stress out if I'm running late for something, I feel bad when I have to pull out my diary to schedule a coffee date with a friend rather than just being able to say, "sweet as, whenever works for you".
Time. I'm ruled by it. But was life always supposed to be like this?
Korul Village, Papua New Guinea. Photo / Rosalie Willis
I've experienced island time before and I always find it a good challenge. Can I relax and be content to wait for my meal that little bit longer than expected, or sit around waiting for that bus that was supposed to be here half an hour ago?
The good thing with island time is that when you're experiencing it you're normally on holiday on a tropical island and you can work on your tan while you wait. Challenge accepted.
But standing in the middle of Korul Village halfway between Goroka and Mt Hagen in Papua New Guinea, not even island time can be used to describe the feeling of this place.
Westernised culture is about productivity but here, it's about living in the moment.
You get up when its light, you work in the garden for a while and then when you're tired you go and sit down. You eat when you're hungry, chop a branch of sugar cane down from the tree and eat it on the spot.
As we walk through Korul Village our guide Batman (his actual name is Ben, but that's another story) does just that.
Cutting down a piece of sugar cane he offers us a piece as we amble our way through fields of grasses that lead from one hut to the next.
Bomal, chief of Korul Village being fed and watered by one of his three wives, Papua New Guinea. Photo / Rosalie Willis
Walking through the valley it's as if the colour saturation has been turned up.
The land here is fertile and bears much fruit. Working the land is a way of life. I'm told some of the villagers here have never gone into town. They have no need to.
Living off the land, growing their own vegetables and animals for meat, villagers only go into town for three things.
Salt, cooking oil and soap. No wonder time stands still here.
As Batman takes us through the village it opens out like a patchwork quilt with every turn featuring a different aspect of village life.
This is where you want to go if you want an authentic Papua New Guinean village experience.
We watch as the villagers tend to their gardens with just their bare hands, pulling up potatoes, spring onions, taro, sweet potatoes and peanuts - the first time I've seen them straight from the ground.
Batman takes us through village life. The feeling of freedom is paramount here as kids run around barefoot with nothing to entertain them but the company of each other.
We walk past men building huts and fences wearing nothing but the basics - no steel-cap boots or hard hats here.
Women sitting outside huts smile as we walk past and upon approach, welcome us in, as interested in us as we are in them. They open up their huts and their hearts to us, and time stands still as we talk about our vastly different lives.
Working in the garden is a big part of village life for locals in Korul Village, Papua New Guinea. Photo / Rosalie Willis
I find out that pigs are still predominantly used as a bride price and money is only required when going to the market in town. The villagers don't have plastic cards that they swipe everyday. Money comes when they trade a sack of vegetables at the market.
Not being ruled by consumerism and time is a whole new world.
A visit to Papua New Guinea might not be quite the same as your other island holidays but a visit to a village like Korul will leave you feeling refreshed and change your perspective on time, one of the world's most precious commodities of all.
