Suzanne Harrington: Life is short and now, thankfully, so is my hair

"Just a trim, I whisper. Actually, the truth of it is that I want to shave my head like Britney as part of a menopause downsizing mission to get rid of anything that needs my care."

Irish Examiner journalist, Suzanne Harrington at home in Brighton

The two great phobias of my life are spiders and hairdressers.

Mostly I manage to avoid both by not living in Australia and doing my own hair, but the day before heading to a Thai national park with its very own unique species of tarantula, I find myself sitting in a chair in a brightly lit salon with someone standing behind me asking me what I want.