Out Of England

ECS Summer Camp

2009-09-09T17:33:56Z

(photos to follow when I can be bothered).

Since November 2008 I hadn't worked a day due to some yummy money I earned in Korea. It's now September 2009 and the only work I have done this year is a one month Summer Camp teaching English in July. This camp evened out the figures so I could get my working holiday visa for New Zealand that I leave for tomorrow.

The camp was the usual blend of craziness and close confounds with strangers that you miss come the end. The grounds were lovely and the students were a mixture of princes, athletes and spoilt rich kids from all over the globe. Some were a nightmare, some cute as buttons, some bad sports and others were really cool.
The owners of the camp were nice people and despite troubles with the dreaded swine flu, Fire engines, torrential rain and kids getting chunks of their forehead ripped off by tennis rackets, it was the best camp I've ever worked in.

As you would expect in these situations there were many trials and tribulations between the staff and a little romance but most of the time we had a great time ripping on the students, playing sports and going down the pub when we could to play pool.

All in all I would do it again anytime but for now, I'm off to Kiwi land. Wish me luck.

ECS Summer Camp remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Coast to Coast

2009-09-09T17:33:02Z

Above is the route I chose after much umm-ing and err-ing. I really wanted to cycle Lands End to John O'Groats (E2E) but with New Zealand coming up and my dodgy knee I didn't have the money nor the confidence. I also had the conventional C2C route planned with a friend but they pulled out so as I was alone and out to prove to myself I could do it, I chose a route that started in Barrow in Furness on the west coast, cut through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Yorkshire moors and then along the east coast to end in Scarborough.

My beloved bike to do this on I spent a lot of time researching. I needed something strong, adaptable, not flashy and of course not too expensive. Touring bikes are damned expensive reaching a grand easily and then upwards. I managed to get a discounted Raleigh Royal and fitted some extra components to make it both uniquely mine and ready to take on the world. I call it 'my monster' and the second pic above is of my guardian angel that stayed on my monster throughout my trip and I never came to harm.

My self-appointed rules:

Follow cycle routes at all times (mostly worked out, lost the route only a few times)
Camp Wherever is suitable whenever your done for the day (worked out very well)
Re-stock supplies when passing through larger towns (I never went hungry)
Fill up water bottles wherever possible for free (never paid for water)

My diet:
I tried to buy things that would keep in my panniers but that had lots of carbs for energy and salts to replace what I lost sweating. I always had a small bottle of concentrate juice to keep my water tasty. I tried to have one cooked meal a day but all other times I ate:

Trail mix bags containing: Oat crunch cereal, mixed fruit and pretzels (good stuff and kept me going)
Bananas (whenever I could get them)
Baby Bell cheeses
Rivita Wholegrain
Baked Beans
Tuna
Rice Yogurts (bought in the morning)
Peanut Butter

*****************************************************************************************************

My route:
*Day 1: Huntingdon to Barrow-in-Furness by train.
Barrow -in-Furness to Ulverston by bike (13 miles)
Ready and rearing to go I set off from home and cycle to my station. It was my first time taking bikes on trains and with my big fat panniers I was getting a lot of stares but at least not in a bad way. In fact I've found while cycling in whatever country I've been in (even England) people respond very positively to cyclists.
I had to use 4 trains to get to my start point but only had to book one of them. This meant fingers crossed for most of the day but all was well in the end. The train I had to book between Peterborough and Leeds was actually the worst because they rushed me to put my bike in the bike cabin and so I couldn't secure it properly. I found it on it's side in Leeds but luckily not damaged. I did sit in First class which was a bonus.
In Leeds Station I prepared some food bags filled with a self made tail mix to eat as I cycle to keep my energy levels high.
At my last train change-over a couple recognised me from somewhere along my travels and told me which train I needed to catch and asked about my trip, which was really random because I hadn't noticed them before so I don't know where they saw me or how they knew where I was going but it was nice all the same.
In Barrow, in the early evening, it was time to start my journey eastwards. I cycled to my first camp spot I had researched before I left. Of course I couldn't find the blasted place because it wasn't on any maps and no-one had heard of it. But through some locals pointing me in the right direction and a foreign lady showing me an OS map I eventually found it. Of course the owner wasn't there. Still I pitched anyway and put my bike in his garage.
I thought very carefully how to pack all my items and in what order they should be placed in the bags. I even thought of the most organised way I could place everything inside my tent. This was all worthwhile and made things a lot quicker and easier during the long packing and unpacking every evening and morning.
Time for bed, oh no wait it's only 7pm... better read some more.

*Day 2: Ulverston to Greenholme by bike (55 miles)
Twas a typically early start of about 7am. Throughout the trip getting ready, loading my bike and eating took just under an hour so I was always aiming to be on the road for 8am. The hills started pretty early on and I got a good taste of what the cycle route was going to be like for the next 200 miles. The route, marked my small blue stickers with a number, follows any path or road it can to avoid traffic and give some pleasant scenery. The rain was on and off all day but it was fine as I had a cool rain poncho.
While I was stretching outside the first co-op I came across a small middle aged woman shuffled over to me and said "do you feel better now". I was a bit confused but said "well I haven't started yet". Expecting her to shuffle off she just blurted out "my daughter was raped last night in Manchester" and broke down in tears. I tried to comfort her and asked if there was someone to call or go home to but she just ignored me and kept rambling. When some other guy walked past to his car she started asking him something but he politely shrugged her off. Her problem was that she reaked of fags and booze and she wasn't really asking for anything clear. I felt bad that I couldn't help her but what could have I done really.
The hills were bloody steep. A loaded touring bike is like any other bike except for a clear difference in weight, balance and braking distances.
I had my packed lunch outside a pub, which became an odd tradition each day.
Despite the rain and hills the scenery made up for it big time. Towards the end of the afternoon I was spent though and by chance in a village, on-top of yet another long hill, I saw a woman cooking with her kitchen door open so I gave it a knock and asked her about my camping options. Luckily she knew a farmer a few doors down that lets people camp in his field, which he did, for free. Good eh?
There was a service station not too far away so I had some meat and 2 veg there and then went back to my tent and slept soundly.

*Day 3: Greenholme to Kinninvie by bike (51 miles)
At 6am I woke with that 'where am I feeling' as I could here sheep, birds, a light rain and the distant noise of traffic. It turned out to be a lovely sunny day once I got up and although I was a bit sore after my first day of cycling up and down (but mostly up) steep hills, but I was still smiling from yesterdays luck and that feeling you get when you know that there are many lovely people out there.
I went to a post office in the next town for some water and bananas. When I got out I found my bike on it's side and that my right bar end was bent. Luckily everything still worked as it holds the brake/gear lever which was also bent.
I think this day was the best cycling throughout the whole trip. I got the hang of keeping momentum and speed up and down the hills, the scenery was gorgeous, I made good timing, the weather was great and before I knew it I was where I wanted to reach for the day.
Having had such a nice day and being in the quaint and pretty town of Bernard Castle I decided to call into the tourist info and find out the nearest camp-site and then have the afternoon off.
The tourist info ladies were lovely and a nice shop owner looked after my bike for me while I got some fish & chips, walked around town and re-stocked.
The camp-site was a few miles away and a bit bland especially after what I had the day before and it was 10 quid. The first camp-site was 10 pounds too but the owner was nice and we got on well so he only charged me 8 pounds. The woman at this camp-site was nice and barmy but no discount.

*Day 4: Barnard Castle to Kildale by bike (58 miles)
In contrast this was the worst cycling on the trip. Being in high spirits after the first two days this day was dull dull dull. I made some great pace but the landscape was just flat countryside and it was windy and my walkman died on me. By lunch I was feeling a bit meh.
During lunch I was plagued by a wasp and the woman running the pub was a strange cow. She wouldn't let me put my small tuna can in her garbage and had to think if I could use her bathroom. I didn't even bother asking her for water, which meant I ran out later on and had to knock on someones door and ask if they could fill me up.
The road became a little more interesting but by the time I had gotten to where I needed to be that day I was more than ready to stop.
However the reason I love this kind of travel so much is that you are never far from kind people or interesting events. I stopped in a place called Great Ayton and a nice museum owner gave me some great advice about places to camp and even offered her garden. I also had time to watch the Cricket while I had some lovely rice dish in a pub.
The place I needed to camp was on my route and for 4 pounds I had a pitch in a nice place, with wonderful owners. They even charged my Ipod for me.

*Day 5: Kildale to Scarborough via Whitby by bike (50 miles)
Scarborough to Huntingdon by train
I awoke ready and willing as today I was sure to finish my journey. Not that I was keen to finish but I was eager to feel that great sense of accomplishment after an uncertain start.
The start and indeed most of the way to Whitby was insanely hilly and so steep I had to walk my bike fairly often. But I passed some great scenery again and some nice guys advised me about the rest of my trip.
When I was the sea just outside Whitby I cracked a huge smile that didn't drop all the way downhill to the city centre.
As far as I was concerned I had made it! I had reached the other coast. To celebrate I asked a guy to take my photo of my in-front of my bike with a nice backdrop of an old wooden boat. However he was the worst photographer ever and it camp out crap. Still I didn't care because now I could go get some fish & chips and then head down a disused railway track all the way to Scarborough.
The track was pretty cool and takes you right into the city centre. The views of the coast are quite nice and you pass lots of walkers and cyclists. It's a gentle uphill for 10 miles and then a gentle downhill for 10 miles. All in all a very grand way to end my trip. It was a bit of an anti-climax though as you roll into the crummy end of Scarborough and into traffic.
At 4:30pm I was pleased to have completed what I set out to do and to save a bit of cash I decide to try get a train home straight away. I did and ended up home for 8pm with a chinese take-away to celebrate.

So that's it. I'm keen to do many more Bike Touring trips and am hoping I can do some in New Zealand. I did come to the conclusion though that even though I enjoyed it greatly I was always aware that I was doing it alone and that with a friend of two it could be even better.

Coast to Coast remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Iceland by Thumb

2009-06-14T15:15:58Z

Iceland.. WOW!! or Iceland eh... Why? They are the kind of mixed responses I got while boasting about my new upcoming trip to the 'Land of Ice'.
But that's where I went and I had been wanting to see this place for some time. Another factor leading to this trip was my recent recovery (just about) from a knee injury, so I was more than ready to start climbing mountains again.

I'd heard Iceland was good for hitching so being money conscious and keen to talk to real Icelanders, I never used public transport (except a taxi at the start and a short bus ride at the end that were both understandable and forgivable).

So here's where I went:

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

Here's What I saw:

and here's my story:

Day 1: To take advantage of my need to be in the Heathrow area I had the good fortune to be able to stay with my mate Tom for a few days, which was lovely and put me in the holiday spirit. It was a dull, dull many hours wait for my flight at the convenient time of 21:10 and I was expecting a dark and sleepy arrival at 23:10 Iceland time. However as we started to fly over the barren and lava shaped landscape towards the airport I could help but notice it was as light as a cloudy afternoon in England. Turns out that Iceland is light for a full 24 hours even in early June. Good eh?
Sleeping was a bit awkward having just arrived and it being light out but my hostel was comfy and my dorm room just to myself. It was long-sleeved top type warm aswell.

Day 2:I started off my first day in Iceland with a typical European breakfast buffet that at the time seemed reasonable at 1000 ISK (about 5 GBP) but I later found that you could buy much more and save it for lunch and other breakfasts for this much. Well we all make mistakes at the start.
I did intend to move on to Reykjavik (Capitol City) via the Blue Lagoon (Outdoor Spa Pools) but I spotted a bike for rent and ended up booking another night and planning a loop of the tip of this peninsular. Well as much as I enjoyed it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
To start with this bike was SHIT. It looks like an ordinary mountain bike on the photos but to ride it is to kiss goodbye to your arse, legs and will to cycle ever again. Still the route was promising, passing moss covered lava fields, the Blue Lagoon and a few small towns. However it was a bit windy and the roads were fairly hilly so riding was a bit tough. The Blue Lagoon was beautiful but at 20 Euro for a swim I gave it a miss. The next town was simple enough and provided me with my first stroll around a Icelandic Supermarket and get some lunch.
My mistake here was to not finish my water bottle and re-fill. Instead I finished lunch and pushed on with my butt hurting, the wind blowing and the roads rising and falling.
So I resorted to survival tactics but pointing at something of interest on the map and just trying to make it there. Through this I ended up at an amazing terrain of sulphur gas rising from vents, brightly coloured soils, and a rocky coast.
With that traversed and a few scary moments where my shoe disappeared into the warm earth, I found some strength and pushed on to a Bridge that crosses over the continental plates of Europe and America.
Now I was really thirsty and my energy levels were rock bottom yet there were no cars around to bum a lift from and no towns in sight. I did make to one small town after a heroic effort and as it had no town I had to ask some kids playing for some water. And boy did I need it. To follow the water I ate 3 breakfast bars I had bought earlier in succession and made one last effort to make it back to town.
I can't tell you how pleased I was to see Keflavik popping up on the horizon and then enjoyed a sweet downhill decent into town.
My efforts and strength that day warranted a nice (but not too expensive) meal in town but after walking right through town and finding almost nothing I settled for a Basic Pizza, some Apple Juice and an early night.

Day 3: So onwards and eastwards. I walked my way out of town to try out my first Hitch in Iceland. Several Icelandic people had already recommended it, which is surprising but it's perfectly true. Hitch-hiking in Iceland is fantastic. Friendly people, free ride and you get to ask questions and learn about this rarely understood country.
This mornings Hitch was an (really) old couple who were just on their way to reykjavik for some shopping. I learned all kinds of things like about Industry, The Cod Wars with England, The Americans etc.
My Hostel was quite modern and big and despite this or because of this, I didn't like it. Still it was in a nice area of Reykjavik and I continued my no public transport policy by walking off toward the centre or town.
Iceland has a total population of 350-ish-000 people and Reykjavik the capitol has about 150.000 of them. Not big numbers and not a bit city. Still it has it's charm and I'm never a big fan of large cities. My day walking around town however wasn't too interesting to say the least The highlight was probably eating their version of fish and chips-fries and smaller pieces of battered fish to dip in cocktail sauce-and having a free re-fill coffee with a view of an every 5 minute Geyser.
I eventually looped back to my hostel and met two Aussies sharing the room, who at first were very friendly and talkative and were a great help during map planning time but during the night were the LOUDEST fucking snorers of ALL TIME. You always think that your dad is the loudest snorer you've ever heard and would probably fancy your chances at winning a snore-off between yours and your friends dads but one of those Aussie... my god! It goes to say that I only slept 2 hours that night and was pleased to get out and away.

Day 4: For me this is where my real Iceland vacation started as I was heading eastwards and more inland 'into the wild'. So I followed the tried and tested hitch-hiking routine of getting out of town and finding a nice place to stick my thumb out with a desperate but friendly look in my eye.
And so started one of my strangest hitches of the week. He was a middle-aged, firendly looking guy with a hammer on his front seat... who pulled over only a few km's down the road, put his hand on my knee, lit a cigarette and asked me how old I was... heart beat rising and alarm bells ringing I was utterly relieved when he stared introducing a nearby home as that of a famous Icelandic Writer. Of course such a strange guy didn't stop his antics there. Further down the road at the wonderful freshwater lake of bingvelir (thingveleer) he started to ask a random tourist on the way back to his car (containing his family) if he wanted a photo of him in-front of the lake. Needless to say the guy didn't and was surprised to get moaned at for his decision. I tried to explain he probably already had one taken but my friendly driver for the day wasn't having it and seemed genuinely perturbed by the whole thing. Still he managed to corner an Italian couple and talk to them while I took some photos, so all was well.
Just up the road was the site of ye'olde Viking trading and a Gorge formed by the shifting of the continental plates. This is where we parted ways and the scene of another escapade.
This area was nice to walk around and explore so left my pack with the guy at the information centre who told me I had just under two hours before he left for lunch so I'd have to pick up my bag before then. No problem I thought. And so I set off for a bit around the area, which was nice enough, and spotted a little tunnel a few other tourists were passing though and ending up a little further up the road. Now that's my kind of adventure and proceed to walk around promising myself to go through it on my way back. Less that an hour later I was done and ready to take on the rock tunnel. Off I went along this wide grassy area expecting to meet an entrance any minute now. 10 minutes later I began to wonder quite what the F**k was going on. Onwards I walked in this eerily quite area with the rock faces either side of me climbing ever higher. All I could do at this point was to turn back or push on. I have learned over the years of my travel that I detest going back the same way I came or giving up on an interesting route. This became a theme of my trip to Iceland and the cause of many spots of bother. Twenty odd minutes later I'm running and looking for a way out of this channel of rock I'd found myself in and spotting a steep but doable climb, I got myself out of there and onto a path. Sadly this was on the wrong side of the gorge so on I ran and ran and ran. A dirt track finally bent of towards the main road and over the george. It was clear that I was miles away from the center now and had only 20 minutes to get my pack back. So I hitched a lift with a young fisherman. And that would be that if he had taken me to the wright place but before finally getting me to the centre in time he went passed it and took me to another tourist centre further up the road... bless him.
I kicked up a quick conversation with the Scottish guy who looked after my bag and he ended up giving a lift up the road to a cafe where I could eat a well needed hotdog, fill up my water flask and get another hitch out of there.
My last hitch of the day was a lovely guy named Gunnar who was a Carpenter and a happy fella. The road to my next hotel in Laugarvatn got pretty gritty and bumpy and Gunnar's way to smoothing out the ride was to gun it and fly over the bumps. It was quite fun and the road took me right outside my hostel. Awesome.
The hostel was nice and quiet and immediately felt like home. The staff were cool and it was imbetween a lake and a mountain. After a good old rest and shower I took advantage of the 24 hour daylight and walked up and down the mountain. The way up I was uncertain of the route but it turned out okay and I added a rock to every rock pile I passed, a tradition I have seen in many countries. Up at the top I enjoyed a spectacular view and then, as per my nature, I proceeded to take a different and much harder route down : )

Day 5: Getting bored of writing this now so I'll cut it down a tad. Day 5 was all over the place regarding highs and lows, starting off with a rainy, dark morning trying to hitch to the Geyser (the that all others were named after) with no luck. I was starting to think I might have to try and walk the 25km's and prey for a lift back but then a kindly group of Belgiums came into my life and took my not only to the Geyser but also the Hue Waterfall Gulfoss and took me back to my hostel. Loved them guys and it was a shame to part ways.
This left me with a good part of the day still to fill so I seeked advice and ended up following a dry river bed up a mountan nearby in search of a cave. The expedition ended up like so many by choosing the wrong route and ending up crawling very steep gravel, clinging to larger rocks that would sometimes give way and roll down in the way I imagine my body would any time now. Still I pushed on until I eventually admitted defeat and found a much safer way down on some grass.
To sooth my woes I enjoyed one of Iceland's many outdoor pools with accompanying hot baths. However I think this transition from deliciously warm water to nipple pinching cold air to luke warm water and then back again, was repeated once too often as I became ill that night... luckily I was alone in my dorm room as my constant nose blowing wouldn't have gone down well and I may never have survived the night.

Day 6: Finding myself a bit weak and fragile I didn't fancy hitching this morning but then busses are almost none existent out here and sod em anyways. I hate busses.
So I was picked up soon enough by the oldest man alive who would occasionally slowly veer off to the side of the road and then slowly bring it back again. Still he was an interesting man and I was glad for the cheering up. However we arrived as far as he could take me at Selfoss and various awkward events led me to be sitting next to a French couple in a mini van to catch up with a recently departed bus. When met with the driver I tried to find out the cost to my next destination, Vik. But he saw to the Frenchies first who took bloody ages to sort themselves and pay. A decade later I finally got the answer to my question... bloody expensive. I just walked out of the bus and stuck my thumb out, the way it should be done.
Within no time I was waving off a cheerful Icelandic golfer, eating a celebratory biscuit and saying hello to my new Hitch and his dog. As I've said before all my hitches have led to a wealth of information about Iceland and I really wouldn;t have wanted to travel any other way.
The last guy took me as far as he could before dropping me off and I stuck my thumb out for the fourth time that day. A cheerful family of Icelandic/Americans picked me up and we chatted away as we passed along the south coast with beautiful mountains, grass and waterfalls to my left. Within no time at all I was in Vik and was more that ready for a break and a bite to eat.
I settled in to my hostel and went to the supermarket. On route, low and behold, I bump into the French couple who took the expensive bus. It seemed they had just arrived. So not only did I save money but time as well. HA!!!
My attitude towards being sick has usually been to go out and ignore and today was no exception. I had Vik to explore. My misson that day was to climb the nearest hill but that mission developed into climbing down the other side, crossing a beach with a weeding going on in a cave, climbing some big rocks trying to make my way around the coast, realizing it's not possible despite what my map said and then having to go back the way I came back to the hostel, which was no mean feat believe me.
So I basically sweated out my illness. And to follow todays adventures I had a delightful chat to a wonderful and cut English girl at the hostel and then sold out and went on a Glacier tour.
But todays excursion took it's toll and an old heel injury and my more recent knee injury came to say hello during the night.

Day 7: Nothing happened at all! I was sick and injured so I took it easy, read, ate, slept. I did talk to some lovely people at my hostel though.

Day 8: A bit battered and worn I opted for the easy option today and headed to the Gas Station to catch a but most of my way to the Airport. A few facts to know: about 200km from Airport, Flight at 4pm, current time 9am. No problem eh?
Wrong! Despite telling the lady working there I was waiting for the bus and standing next to where I needed to be, it somehow pulled up, failed to see me and left????? This is the Icelandic bus service.
Not sure quite what happened but apparently the busses there are often not bus shaped : ) and the rest of the blame goes to an ignorant Gas Station lady and an idiotic bus driver (a foreign looking guy with a pack standing next to the bus, might he be a customer?... nah, let's drive on).
So hitch-hiking it was. Not a problem, just more risky. First guy who picks me up after a 30 minute wait only took me 5km down the road, next guy 10km... ahhh... I waited in the middle of knowhere surrounded by beauty but unable to enjoy it as I had been sat there an hour. The only option was to walk on. So on I walked for another hour or so and started to do the math: 180km + 4pm take off = No chance. But I didn't give up and I remained surprisingly optimistic and eventually my hero pulled up in a 4x4. Both him and his friend though I had no chance but he didn't give up either and maintained a steady pace and thought of the best way for me to get from Reykjavik (his destination) to the airport. The answer was the Fly Bus that runs between Reykjavik airport and Keflavik Airport. He drove me right to my bus stop and the time was loking tight but doable. Moments after we said our goodbyes and he pulled away the bus came and took me to my destination with minutes to spare.
After a rush through the Airport check-in and all that malarky I had a comfortable 5 minutes to sit and wait for boarding. What a hero. THANK YOU!!!

So that's it really, I scoffed down a few sandwiches on the plane and landed safely in Heathrow. I loved Iceland and I will definitely go back again. Hopefully with a few friends who can drive so we can rent a 4x4 and do Iceland right.
I managed a whole week of Hitching and in the end it proved to be more reliable and sometimes quicker than public transport.
Hope you like the photos and managed to read until the end.

Iceland by Thumb remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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My Photography

2009-04-12T18:14:48Z

Above are my new Nikon D40 and one of my favorite shots from a trip to London.

'I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY' and yes I AM the guy that holds everyone up on a simple walk while I hover from the top of a park bench trying to photograph a piece of litter that has caught the sun.
But that's passion and passion is a very important thing (even if it means looking up from your last shot to find everyones left).

So, photography... Yeah... I've never had any training in it really or until now had the money or will to buy a DSLR but I've always loved capturing moments or the beauty in something that others have missed. On the other side of things I also love looking at other peoples photos of the same place I have just been and seeing how they perceived it.

I'm still learning slowly but due to my occupation (teaching English abroad) I have a lot of opportunities to get some nice shots. I prefer Landscapes and macro texture shots but of course I do try everything I think might work.

Some great photographers take a good shot and move on but I DO believe in documentation aswell as good photos. If I go on a trip or walk I like to shoot at fairly regular intervals so that you can track/see where I've been and what I did, who I was with etc. Not all photos have to be great.

I started using disposables and learned the hard way about thumbs and destroying film and so on. I never really took any decent shots until My family bought a Cheap film camera but even then, they weren't that amazing, just a way of my photographing subject matter to use in my Art studies.
But then Digital photography came about and in Uni I could afford my own camera. I got a Sony and followed that with a better Sony a few years later. Sony's are quite nice but I hate their 'exclusive' memory cards. Next up was a Samsung NV10 with a great user interface but (as I found out on Lake Baikal in Russia) a hatred for the cold. After fixing that and having it break again grrrrr... I got something I could still carry around but expand my photography skills, a Nikon P5100....

...Sorry if this is boring you, go on skip ahead to the photos, I don't mind...

which I dropped into the sea in Thailand. It was only for a second or two but it was as dead as a doornail when it surfaced. My cameras have a habit of dying on me in wonderfully scenic places. But then again they are usually quite sandy, cold, wet and other conditions that kill cameras.
I bought a little Nikon somthing or other to fill the void until I got home that was crap and then after much research decided on two cameras that I am using today:

Nikon D40
For artsy shots and anytime I can be bothered to lug it around

Panasonic TZ5
For parties and when I can't be bothered to take the Nikon

Panasonic combined with an Aquapac
For when I'm in camera killing environments like Sand, Sea, Rain, Snow etc.

So I though I would just give you a few examples of some recent photo's I took on a trip to Ireland. I have chosen some that might reflect how I choose my shots. They are not a representation of my best work but just of how I work and I hope my explanations don't sound too pretentious.

Just as a reference on the 8 days I was on the road and after ones I deleted I had 700 or so photos.

For tall objects I like to get low (real low) and fit it all in and if there's a plaque I try get that in too. I like dramatic angles.

Light and texture example from a rock in a shop window at a Mine visited.

A nice landscape but was dull without the tree which also added colour

Loved the dramatic light mostly and chose to have more sky because the road I was standing on ruined the effect if put in the foreground.

A combination of reflection and the cool sand texture caught my eye, then it was just a case of framing it and getting low so the lines ran from foreground the the back of the photo

Who doesn't love a sunset? Just made sure the white balance and exposure were right and cropped/zoomed out any unnecessary objects.

Went to the beach during sunset to catch the wonderful reflections and colours. Then took advantage of my friend as subject matter to break it up a bit and have a focal point

Same location enjoying the silhouette made by my friend. Got low so he seemed further from the ground and made sure the reflection was in frame and all was in proportion.

I love low cloud on mountains and with this shot I used quite an orangey WB to contrast the other colours

Saw this mass of signs and it reminded me of how I felt often on this trip... lost. Shot out of the car window I blurred it to make it feel like I do when I'm lost.

I like to photograph signs and to give them context so I framed it so both the landscape and sign worked together

Loved the texture and colour of the rocks in this area and for this one just dramatized the angle to get more of the texture pattern in shot

Got lots of shots of the surrounding cliffs but the soft grass was distracting from the texture and colour of the rock so I just took this to remind myself how it looked (Documentation!).

Maybe not the best example but scale is always important. Plus I like the hard perspective lines

I could take pics of trees all day long. For this one I leaned my back against the trunk looking up to get the texture and a strong perspective. Upside-down is not wrong, just different

The ground can often be overlooked but I like to picture any parts that grab my attention for documentation.

mmm soft and green. A look at colour and light.

The view from this mountain gave a good view of the land below but the ever moving light between the clouds was more interesting to me so I tried to capture this.

Lot's of horse and carriage rides going back and forth so just crouched out of the way and waited ready.

Several different view of this mountain were on offer but I liked this one best as it had a bit of everything in layers

Just loved the way the road split in direction and height with the signs in the middle

This was actually a full rainbow from end to end but as I was in Ireland I figured I'd focus on the where the pot of gold may be

On a boring walk found a church and snook inside and saw this. Black and white made it softer.

Ahhh I cheated, sorry. This is actually a crop from a larger photo but this was my intended shot, just didn't have a good enough zoom lens.

I like shots form the ground looking up and this tower had those big blocks of light and I thought I'd get in there for the hell of it after instructing my friend what I wanted.

Another documentation of the bus load of French teens going to kiss the Blarney Stone.

Just for the drama of it. I'm in black and white this day as it was cloudy and I like castles in B&W

A quick change back into colour to get this shot of the grounds and towers. I put the moats leading from the bottom left corner for effect

There was a break in the flow of people for a few seconds so I took this of the stairwells curves and shapes.

A torrential downpour while driving on a bleak afternoon so took this as documentation mostly and I also like the raindrops.

Took a bit of time to frame it right to highlight the water and get the castle in shot but got there in the end. Patience is a virtue.

This was the best way to beat the sun from blocking his face and the tower detail and has nice perspective.

Finally just an example of my love of water reflections. Portrait got all the tree and reflection in shot.

Bit long I know and I'd love to put a whole bunch of my favorite shots over the years up but I'm lazy and I think putting my shots of one trip together helps explain how I see potential shots. For other photos of mine check out the slideshow videos of all my trips on the other pages and my recent shots of my guitars.

My Photography remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Me my Guitar and Uke

2009-04-12T19:24:49Z

After having this blog for a few years or so now I realized only today that it's really only been about my travels abroad so Over the next few days I hope to update this blog to reflect some of the other sides of my personality starting today with my love of music and musical instruments.

In my collection so far I have a Yamaha Guitar, a Mahalo Ukulele (a new addition to the crew), a Lee Oskar Harmonika, A Chinese Violin and Flute... I think that's all, I'll check later.
I'm not saying I play all these that well but I love them and they are mine.

I do play my Guitar and Ukulele as much as possible and here are some photo's of my collection and maybe a video or two of my playing them if your lucky/unlucky.... you decide.

This is my Concert Mahalo Ukulele

This is my Yamaha FG-402MS Acoustic Guiar

This is me playing my Uke

These are my other instruments

***More to follow...maybe

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Craig & Bob Do Ireland

2009-04-12T09:48:40Z

Top of the morning to ya,

Me and my good friend Bob (or Rob as everyone but me calls him) have been practicing our Irish accents for a pleasurable eight days while driving the crap out of Ireland but now alas it's over so here's a little about our trip.

We started off packing the boot with provisions mostly involving a canned substance be it edible or alcoholic. Mr Bob wasn't so hot on the idea of cold beans but soon turned during our tour he he he.
An early morning drive took us to our first ferry ride and our first sight of hills in a while provoking giddy childish sounds as we live in the flat, flat lands of East Anglia. The ride was over nice and vomit-less and it was time to enjoy the never moving and confusing traffic of Dublin.
2 years later and after a quick fight with our dominatrix sounding Sat-Nav (who we grew love love in a weird kinky sort of way) we arrived at our first stop.
We spent 2 days in Dublin aided by an interesting and helpful Couch-Surfing host Rory. Couch Surfing is basically a website organization that allows you to find and contact someone from anywhere on this planet so that you can arrange to stay with them at their place for free. The thing behind the thing is that it's a very social and interesting experience with the added bonus of being free. So that's what we did with Rory a native Irish man.
While our host snored the morning away we set off for our second port of call Galway. There's not much to say about Glaway or the ride up their to be honest just that it's on the west coast and is quite quaint. However the west coast is where all the road trip magic happens as it's wonderfully scenic and could occupy me and my trusty new camera (Nikon D40) for many months.
But before I could continue my consistent picture taking we needed to find a place to camp so we followed the coast to a quiet beach/camp ground and made home. Luckily for me this also turned out to be a photo taking haven. We loved making the silhouette photos by the way.

mmm... morning. Time to wake up and ignore the fact it was freezing and that I barely slept and make myself some muesli while Bob contemplates why he didn't bring any sugar for his wheatabix.
Never mind eh, a few minutes later we were back on the road and what a road it was. Just fan-fucking-tastic views all round reminding us of Scotland and Wales. We were on our way to the Cliffs of Moher pronounced 'Cliffs of Moer' in a musical Irish brogue. The cliffs were ace and were the first real walk of the trip as they stretched out quite far and led to a little castle. My good friend is not mad about heights so he had to put on a macho brave face and get on with it pausing only to change his pants : )
We then headed off and then came back to get my shoes (whoops left them outside the car). Actually they were Robs shoes I left behind as my shoes were bust drying in the boot after I nearly got sucked into a bog the day before. Rob did a great job putting up with my photo taking, bog jumping, cold soup, singing and cold tent so hats off to the man, cheers Rob.

Our second camp spot was in Kilarney on the Ring of Kerry and only took us a few hours and to the edge of our patience to find. It was a long process of asking someone, going there, finding it's no good, asking again, going there and so on...
Anywho the place we did find was nice enough with a typical cheery camp owner.
The Ring of Kerry is what it was all about for me. Just a ring of road around a peninsular on the lower west coast on a map but when your seeing it for yourself it's wonderful. I got to see every breathtaking view as they appeared round each and every corner while Rob dodged cars and tried to sneak glances of the most recent view I was wetting myself about. It was lovely.
Another night in the same spot and some more cold beans later and we were ready for Cork and a night with our second Couch surfer. First it rains, then we enjoy the oddity of Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney Stone. But then it all goes a bit pear shaped. We call the couch surfing guy but there's no answer, then we get a text... he's not back till morning the next day... balls! So what to do now? Another night in the tent, in the pissing rain? NO!! We ring up our Couch Surfing host in Wexford on the lower East coast and ask if we can come round earlier and stay an extra night. Despite the short notice and a little trouble with her husband we end up staying with her good friend for the next two nights.
The drive there was awful as it was an Arch worthy downpour, again hats of to Bob for his driving, and we were a bit disappointed about the other host and of course tired. Never mind though, as soon as we met our host and her friend we cheered right up.
We met in a great little pub that we watched some live music in later that evening. Our host Eli was really nice and her friends Julia and Lawrence were great too. The last day was sunny and quite enjoyable but really for me the time with Eli and Julia made for a great end to our trip and the rest was just history.

The drive home was REAL long and including the Ferry, which was a bit rough due to gale winds we were on the go for 12 straight hours only pausing for some Fish & Chips in Wales.

Well there you go, that's the most I've written for a long while so I hope it was worth it and you read it this far. It was a great trip and I'm happy to finally tick Ireland off my map.

Craig & Bob Do Ireland remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Greatness and Hell

2009-03-24T19:31:05Z

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

I've never been a man to follow trends, go with the crowd or lie around in the sun but neither have I ever been a man to turn down an opportunity of adventure. So with Korea over with and money in my pocket I flew to Singapore to start what for me was more than just a backpacking trip.

Everyone and their aunt goes to SE Asia backpacking so it was never going to be 'into the wild' but despite my many travels to date I had never been backpacking as such. Upon leaving I set myself these rules:

Pack light: I had one 40 liter Ruck Sack and always had space
Embrace different methods of transport: I did including Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Buses, Tuk-Tuks, Bicycles, Elephants, Canoes, Bamboo Rafts, White Water Rafts, Long tail boats, Cable Cars, hitch-hiking etc.
Sleep in different ways: I enjoyed Hostels (of course), Tents, Cabins, Guest Houses, busses, trains, and most enjoyable of all Couch Surfing.
Give a little back: I brought along a Baby Acoustic Guitar, which I enjoyed playing in camps, with new friends, on the beach, while hitch hiking. Sadly I lost this on my last train arriving home as I was so knackered (so close yet so far).
Be prepared: I always carried toilet paper (essential) and water. I never felt like I was missing something. My silk bag liner was a great buy and I consistently swapped books.

So here's my trip:

Singapore

I really enjoyed my time in Singapore mainly for two reasons. One was that I 'Couch Surfed' round a wonderful Singaporean woman's house who rocked.
Two was that after another year in Asia struggling to communicate, I could finally speak almost fluent English to everyone, everywhere and yet I was still in Asia.

Malaysia

Malaysia was pretty cool and my first real taste of South East Asia. All the different cultures and the great transition from beach to Jungle. The Camron Highlands were great. Lot's of trekking and Jungle and cooler weather. I travelled with a Kiwi/Brit I met in SIngapore all through Malaysia and it was great to have company to share the weird and wonderful with but after 2 weeks or so I realized I was not doing things quite how I would like so as we parted just before Thailand I was ready to try a new tack.

Thailand
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Thailand is one of those places that turn out to be just what you expected. And I expected sun, sea, sand and a billion other backpackers spoiling it. I really did enjoy it, especially Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai and Ko Phi Phi. I met some lively Swedes on Ko Phi Phi, a cool German guy in Bangkok, an interesting Italian guy in Kanchanaburi and a fun Polish guy in Chiang Mai. Many new friends and many good times but Thailand will always be too Mainstream for me.

Laos

What made Laos such a wonderful time was the way I did it. I was traveling with the Polish guy I met in Thailand and travelled more on our own wits that just following the crowd. Learning the language, wild camping, bargaining, doing it cheap, walking, hitch-hiking etc.
I did some of this in Thailand and in Korea but never on a daily basis and I honestly found it more natural and genuine. It was still nothing new or 'into the wild' crazy but it felt better and much of it was to the credit of Michal (The Pole).

China

This was where it all went wrong. Originally after Laos I would go to Cambodia, then Vietnam and end in China. However after a long break my Chinese ex emailed and we ended up agreeing to travel together in the South of China. So I went straight to China and saw a few places while I waited. Things weren't going great for me in China as I love the landscape and some times the people but mostly it's a place I find myself immensely frustrated (like many other). Then things didn't work out so well with the ex and I fell onto my knee on a sharp rock and took myself out of action. Not feeling great and unable to do the action packed stuff I had planned I bailed on China and went to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong

By the time I reached Hong Kong I knew it was the end. My knee was getting worse and worse and I was getting a bit fed up with all the naive and 'trendy' travelers surounding South East Asia. So I booked a flight and I went.
Before my flight I saw as much as my knee would allow and quite enjoyed Hong Kong regardless.

That's it! A great trip in which I learned an awful lot about how to travel and how I like to travel. Sadly it was cut short but I saw a lot before it was so I can't grumble too much.

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An EPIK Adventure in Korea

2009-04-12T09:51:58Z

In 2007 I was Penny-less and broke (1500 pounds in the red) but with a newly achieved TESOL certificate in hand I packed up and left for KOREA (South Korea that is). While there I did venture to the infamous border one day, helped by a lovely family who ran a store, and glanced upon all the secret wonder of the North. I saw some trees and a big hill looking oddly similar to the trees and hills behind me to the south yet I couldn't take a single picture on pain of death.

But that's just one of many stories during that year. It all kicked off with about two weeks of Orientation: meeting my new friends, drinking, an awesome (and paid for) Japan visa run and then moving to my new home in the beautiful, peaceful town of Inje.

From then on it pretty much went like this:

Teaching in a Middle School and two Elementary schools in a rural town.
Rocking out and rolling in the mud at a mud festival (best time to do it).
Soaking up culture at the Busan Film festival.
Bunjee Jumping
White Water Rafting
Running 10km and 21km marathons
Enjoying many great, fun friends and parties
Biking and Camping my way around Jeju Island with two great friends
Water-sports
Hiking
Trail running
Freezing my but of in a Fish Festival
Living the highlife in a Kite Festival
Lot's of Football, baseball, basketball, cycling, Cheokgu
Traversing a mountain pass on a bike
Hitch-hiking
Kicking buts in Taekwondo
Swimming in the sea and walking on the beach
Getting down with my Buddhist side on a 3 night Temple Stay

What a fun filled year I had (gloat gloat). But it wasn't all fun fun fun, with any year away comes the inevitable ups and downs of life in a different world. Saying that, I really liked Korean culture and the Language (best alphabet ever) and working in public schools was a really good experience. Challenging for sure but overall it was great.

For sure I learned that I enjoy money and time : D but also that I prefer the simple fun of teaching elementary school students over the teenagers in middle schools.

I would go back and I would work for EPIK again. And all the times I had and friends I met I will remember and miss always.

An EPIK Adventure in Korea remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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A Word On Blogging my Blog

2008-05-10T02:31:24Z

Pie!

Does anyone ever try mixing up their greetings and farewells from the exhaustion of repeating the same one over and over again, year after year, time after time.
Over the span of my 24 years I wonder how many times I've said 'Hello'?

As an English teacher overseas, living in a small Asian town, I do get a wee bit weary of repeating myself. So I tend to mix it up a bit and start; emails, blogs, Facebook messages, telephone calls, conversations in general and all the other communicative obligations in my life, in a variety of different ways.

A similar feeling of repetition has tainted my desire to write this blog. Thus I have not written anything since New Years, 4 or so months ago.
This feeling is supported by the fact that so few people use this tool to keep up to date with my goings on now that Facebook has arrived. If I was an interesting writer with great insights, stories and pictures then I could see the worth in it but I'm not.

So instead I will keep this blog as a summary of each adventure I have had since University to show my friends, new friends and students when the opportunity presents itself.

So take care and if your interested I have started writing a few Guides as a resource for those doing similar things as me like Teaching, learning Korean and Japanese and maybe guitar but I'm not so sure about that one.

Shnazoo

http://teachingepik.travellerspoint.com/
http://korean.travellerspoint.com/
http://japanese.travellerspoint.com/

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I don't want to leave

2007-10-03T09:05:15Z

Welly well well,

Prague is AMAZING!! I could almost leave it at that but I guess I should mention what I've been up to. Right now as I'm typing I am thinking of adverbs, conjunctions, determiners and so on..... This is the result of 5 weeks of intensive study of the English Language and how to teach it. After this afternoon (fingers crossed) I should be a fully qualified teacher (but dont expect my spelling to improve any).

I really love this city with its beer (that doesn't give you a hangover), huka bars (that can realax even the most stressed out TEFL teacher), delicious food (thats damn affordable) and some of the most amazing architecture you'll ever see.
I could ramble for hours about the city itself .................. but I won't, however I will mention that I really enjoyed my time here and met some great Czech people, spent many nights drinking and singing and if I wasn't so broke I would stay.

So that leads me on to what now?
Well I'm going back to England for as shorter time as possible and then I will go back to asia to teach English.

Good bye Prague :' (

I don't want to leave remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Right, I'm off!

2007-09-01T07:56:14Z

This morning I leave for a slightly different kind of adventure (an educational adventure).

I will do an intensive 5 week teaching course in a college in Prague. At the end of it I should be able to teach English as a Second Language wherever I please and improve on my current teaching abilities.

I'm a little nervous and it's going to be tough but I've had my fill of England for the time being and am ready to go.

So off I go...........

Right, I'm off! remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Summer School

2007-08-23T16:16:57Z

One morning upon waking in my friends flat in London feeling like shit as I have no job and an ever-worrying bank overdraft, I get a call from a sporting agency inviting me to attend an interview for a summer camp. In fact I had previously spoken with him through email but I buggered up my phone number several times and thought up until now that he had given up on me. So with a little more to live for, I got my smartest broken shirt out of my cupboard and got ready.
Skipping a long story short I had an interview, was called up that evening by the school and given a job just outside Blackpool teaching Spanish and Italian kids (8-17) in a huge summer camp.
A small point to make at this stage was that I had really enjoyed my time in London and had about a week left before the phone call that evening informing me that I had but one day left instead.
So in true London style I got fucking hammered with my mates and went to bed in the early hours.
I woke again feeling like a very different kind of shit to find I was already an hour behind schedule and would probably no definitely miss my train. I pack the last of my junk in a panicky, slightly drunk, very hung-over state and got on a bus for the station. Of course this was too much too soon and I had to get off early and throw-up and then once more when I finally got on the train.

A typical day involved getting up at 7:30am, shower, brekie and into the staff meeting at 8:30am. We would have a quick whinge about being unprepared and then head off to the classrooms and spend a good 6 hours teaching. There were two level groups to teach each and every day. There were 5 teaching days and one day of excursions and one day off, although I was often busy with something on my days off anyway.
After teaching was done we would have activities until 10pm involving sport or games of some kind. So most days were over 12 hours and a few days (testing days) involved 16 odd hours.
But as I was trying to teach my kids, its not about the bare ins and outs but about details and these are what made the last two weeks so unusual and eventful.

There were 3 teachers and 3 sports coaches. Everyone was fun and we got on well except for one guy who was a fucking nutter! He fancied himself to be Captain Jack Sparrow and although he does look like him in a rough around the edges sort of way and does do a good impression, he is in fact just a bit scary. The kids liked him because he was interesting but the ones who worked with him day in day out grew tired of him quickly and we a little put off by comments like “if I don’t get paid for this I’m gonna come back with an AK47 ……. I’m serious” or the constant contradictions in his philosophy. During the first few days I was working 16-hour days after my horrible hangover and was a little stressy. He was quite calm and told me to chill out and I did, so I am grateful for that but not long after he stated getting all stressy and angry himself. Eventually the school got sick of him and told him to leave.

Anyway, the summer school ended and I made my way back home after 2 weeks of teaching, stressing out, playing games, doing sport and getting a bucket of water over my head.

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About Me

2007-08-23T15:40:10Z

Citizenship: United Kingdom
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: ESL Teacher
Age: 24
Current location: Prague

Rather than an essay here's a few key points about me:

Huge Music Lover - Walkman glued into my ears, play guitar, enjoy music festivals and concerts. Music is a great friend to me.

Creative - Love designing products, making pictures, taking photos and thinking up new ideas for just about anything

Travel - I have been to a fair few countries at this point and I want to see many more like a ravenous moth eating a map of the world

Outdoors - I love to play football, run and cycle but in truth will try anything as long as it gets me outdoors and off my arse

Reading - I like a good novel like Grits or Norweigen Wood but I also love to learn and talk about social issues, travel and people so I read alot of non-fiction too.

Overall I just want to get through my life having learned somthing about the world in which we live and having enjoyed it in the process.

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Japan

2008-01-29T06:34:54Z

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

It seems to me that there are certain points in your life that REALLY shape your next move and possibly the rest of your life. Japan was one of these moments.

Towards the end of my final year studying Product Design at Huddersfield University I was talking endlessly about travel, China and what I should do now? Well it seemed like I should travel to China, right?
That was the plan and I had an interview with the British Council to teach English but although I passed the interview I was put on a waiting list and I had no desire to go home and wait around so I jumped on the Internet and found it………..NOVA.

The company has its bad corrupt corporate side and I don’t argue with the criticism it gets in forums but at the start they organise your flight, Visa, accommodation and everything. To work there you don’t need experience and it’s a wide-open window that leads to Japan. What you do after you settle there is up to you but I managed to last the whole year of my contract with no regrets, a love for teaching, many great memories and a love of Japan and it’s people.

There are a few reasons why Japan seems to hit my button:

· Its small with varying landscape so you have many places to travel to
· The transport system (especially trains) are great so its easy to travel
· I felt safe and for the whole time I was there I never saw a fight, I was never threatened and never had anything stolen.
· Most people are polite.
· The customer service is exceptional
· The weather had clear seasons (snow, rain, heat, calm) but was never unbearable
· The Japanese culture fascinates me
· I find the language challenging to learn but not impossible and I love the sounds and writing
· The economy is strong so its easy to save, travel out of the country or to vist home
· Although being modern and hi-tech Japan has retained a lot of its original cultural identity

Naturally Japan is not so amazing that its free of problems, every country does but from what I have seen I have the least problems with it.
As time changes the country will change; kids are less polite, western culture is becoming a very strong influence and not necessarily for the better, they have an aging population problem like all developed countries and suicide rates are still high.

All said and done, I have never been as comfortable and enjoyed the humdrum of everyday life, travel or food as much as I have in Japan.

Why leave? Well a lot of people asked me that as I prepared to move to China and my flatmates would joke everyday that I am making it all up and that I’m not going anywhere, even when I showed them the tickets and packed bags they just shook their heads smiling. The truth is that it was hard to leave but I didn’t move to Japan to stay, I want to see more of the world and that is what I did and am still doing.

Check out the map of the places I have been. Each place had its own feel and unique memories.

**************************************************************************************

To study Japanese and keep up with my Photoshop skills I made a Phrase Book. So if your going over there or just fancy learning a few phrases then feel free to check it out. To see a more readable size just follow the link below each page. From there you can print it out if you wish.

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China

2007-08-23T14:12:55Z

It’s hard to know what to write about my stay in China as this is just a Blog. I have mixed feelings about the country and it’s people but I did enjoy my time there despite only a little travel. So what I will show you is two parts of a book I am writing about my stay in China that I will finish one day (he kids himself). If you manage to read it all and want more then I should have a full Photoshoped version I can send you.

I’m sat at a desk in my room watching TV and eating cake here in China. But as I’ve discovered both here and in Japan, it’s easy to forget you’re in a whole other country. Although it doesn’t take much to remind you where you really are.

This piece was written after a 6 month stay in Tianjin, a city an hour and a half train journey south of Beijing. In brief my stay here is best summed up with the phrase Culture Shock. I will try to write with this in consideration and not fill it with mind numbing banalities.
I will start this report with how I started off here in the P.R.C. This is the first email I sent in China after I got settled in Tianjin.

The Email
Hello to all, this will be my last group email, after that I will try email you all individually.
I’ve finally got the Internet in my apartment so I have updated my website. Please take a look at my new photo’s (nothing exciting but it might help).
I guess I will start with my current situation. I live alone in a big apartment about a 15 min walk from work. It’s quite nice inside with a double bed (no futons in this country). The time difference is still 7 or 8 hours, so it's half past 9 now. I have a big Sony TV and a DVD player. There is a kitchen and living area too. I met my landlord the other day and he nearly killed us with a fan. I pointed to the ceiling fan for him to show me how to work it and he turned the dial on the wall. It was a bit wobbly and I tried to tell him so, but he kept turning the dial. Suddenly it just fell to the ground with a big thud about a meter in front of us. I was shocked and he just casually walked over to check it didn’t damage his floor!!!!!
That pretty much sums up the Chinese work ethic (its not about the people or service, its about going to work and getting through the day). In Japan this situation would be followed with apologies and an "are you ok" and some gesture to replace the fan. This guy just said "bu fan" - "no fan" basically meaning "oh well... tough luck"
Also the shower is right next to the toilet so everything gets wet, the water pressure sucks really bad, and the drain is small so the floor also gets very wet so you have to wait for it to dry before you can go back in and there is the most awful smell that emanates from the drain in the shower which fills the apartment with the smell of what I assume must be half the whole apartments human waste.
The buildings in a good location for things I need and has a nice river next to it but the building itself is dirty and you have to jump on the floor in the halls to get the light to come on. It’s also noisy.
All the same I’m happy with my apartment. I’m living in Tianjin (a big city) with lots of history. I haven’t looked around much because I've been very busy with work and setting up my new life here. But what I’ve seen is both great and awful. I can’t seem to make any judgements yet as it’s too early to say but they are mixed if I have any. Chinese cities are dirty, in disrepair, smelly (really smelly), crowded, and smoggy BUT, there are some really cool buildings, good facilities, efforts to make newer cleaner and more modern areas. I think there will be a good future for China.
The people are amazed by the presence of any foreigner even in a big city like this one. When I walk I must check I’m not naked or have an alligator on my head because that’s the impression you get as everyone gawps at you. They still spit as often as they wish (all the time), everyone drives like their only son is in the car bleeding to death and they must get to the hospital at all costs (in other words they're crazy) but the pedestrians are the same. The red and green stop signs are just a guide and are not taken seriously AT ALL!! I age one-year everytime I try to cross one of the many huge roads here. On the other hand they are friendly. One woman rang my doorbell to point out my keys were still in the lock on the outside and my students are really nice and helpful. In fact we just had a party at my school to celebrate autumn day and I played guitar for them and lots of other people sang and played games and we ate lots of moon cake.
There is allot of bike theft and I think crime in general and there are allot more security measures than in Japan. Speaking of Japan they do not like the Japanese (with good reason) but I think they must try a little harder to move on and forget the horrible past (same goes for Japan).
The currency is difficult to grasp for me. The highest note isn’t that high and there are many notes and coins (including old and new versions). They check notes very carefully to make sure they are not counterfeit (and I mean REALLY carefully).
Restaurants don’t really serve meals for one so you can’t go alone unless you want a big plate of one thing. The food I’ve had is great.
My school is called Witty international and it’s a Private language school like Nova (which means more money and better facilities). I’m paid well but work full time (40 hours). The schools much better than nova as I have more control of the lessons, I have my own computer in an office to prepare and organise myself, The building is really cool looking, the staff are great and the students are wonderful, we can see students out of school (which I’ve already done) and just chat to them around the school as they often stay there and study on computers or in the Conversation room. There are about 8 teachers altogether and some of them are part time. I am the youngest teacher by about 8 years but they are all nice. I plan to be there for 6 months and then change locations.
Oh, and I also get 2 free cooked meals a day and we have a water cooler.
I have 4 days holiday for the moon festival starting this Sunday but I'm not sure what to do yet. I’ve seen the older part of the city and it was great, with many cool things to buy. I also did my first bit of bargaining the other day. I bought something for 25 yuan and the start price was 60. But this is not even that great, so I need to get practicing. I have tried tai chi and its REALLY REALLY hard to remember the moves. One of my student’s granddads taught me and some other people. It was fun!!
My first few days were a bit crazy as some of you already know but I will break it down for you:
Tuesday afternoon: fly to Beijing (4 hours) old plane and terrible food
Tuesday eve: picked up from airport by agency guy (Chinese) who was a really fun guy (but he was 2 hours late).
Tuesday night: taken to apartment in Beijing (really cool but under used) watched run Lola run, drank Qindao beer and slept
Wednesday morn: went to train station and travelled to Shijiazhuang (long journey). Had some trouble on the train but my Chinese agency guy sorted that out with some scary eye work. The station was crazy busy also.
Wed afternoon: taken to agency office, am there for 20 mins before going by car to some place an hour or so away for a wire mesh conference.
Wed eve: arrive at conference building and take a look around and meet up with many people doing likewise.
Wednesday night: go to nice hotel and have fancy banquet dinner and sleep
Thurs morn: taken to conference building for official opening as VIP Guest of honour. I wear a badge and flower and we got a tour of nearby factories and stand on stage for long speech.
Thurs aft: go around conference pretending to be a wire mesh sales rep and get a thousand and one brochures and business cards (was fun).
Thurs aft: go to another big banquet meal and eat duck tongue among other things and drink bai jou, which is pure evil spirit wine.
Thurs eve go back to agency office and start looking at contracts and speaking to schools
Thurs night: eat my own weight in dumplings, sleep in a dive of an apartment on a wooden bed
Fri morn: decide on witty school and am sent there by bus straight away (took 4 hours).
Fri aft: met at station by 2 lovely witty reps and shown apartment
Fri aft: taken to witty and sign contract
Fri eve: buy stuff for apartment, drink beer, and collapse from exhaustion
Sat aft: start work.
So that’s what the definition of busy is!!! It was allot better than it sounds and I was always safe and looked after by someone. Along the way I met some really nice people and fell in love with a French Canadian girl who I went to the conference with.
I can see why people cant live here but I think I’m gonna be ok. I’ve already had allot of fun and there still so much more to see and do. I will get many great souvenirs, climb the great wall (its in my city), make many Chinese friends, become a better teacher, learn Chinese and try understand this complex culture. I could easily ignore the bad things and tell you the easy nice version of what’s going on but I want to give you the entire real story so you can picture the real china. The same goes for my photos, so far they are the edited nice versions but soon I will start taking photos of everything surrounding me "the good, bad and real ugly".
I am still using this email address and my home phone number is: 0086-22-28275837 (I’m not sure if it works so give it a go, but remember the time difference). My address is:
Hexi Qu Long Du Hua Yuan 9-45-522 (but don’t use this as its not so safe) please send mail and goodies to my school address, which I will give you soon when I get it translated into pinyin (English alphabet).
Ok that’s it then, please stay in touch and send me English stuff for my students to see. zai jian.

The walk to work
I step out into my apartment hall, call the elevator and lock my brown metal door. There are 3 elevator shafts and two of then arrive at my floor (the 5th). While I wait patiently for one of them to arrive I can see the old dirty concrete floor and the broken white powdery walls. There are old rusty bikes in the halls and dusty air with the faint smell of cigarettes.
The elevator squeaks its way to my floor and stops with a clunk. I step in to find a few people, one with a bicycle who is smoking, so I have to squeeze my way in and choke on the rancid air. It’s a short journey down but it always seems longer.
I get to the bottom floor, make my way around the people waiting at the bottom and step outside. As I take in the sights of the new day I often see bikes piled against the plastered walls around my large apartment block, red plastic bins over-spilling with garbage pushed against the walls next to the entrance. The next thing you notice is the overpowering sewage smell from the canal alongside my apartment.
I walk out of my apartment block passing the usual parade of people young and old and a small stall selling seeds.
As I exit my block I walk through a small car park with broken, uneven paving slabs onto da gu nan lu. This is the main road that leads to work.
Before I reach the main road I have to cross the small road next to the canal being very careful not to be hit by the cyclists and walk through a small concrete area built for people to relax in a few months ago that was never finished and is never used.
As I reach the main road I cross the canal where you will often see some men simply sitting, doing nothing, for seemingly no reason. You may also be hit once again by the rotten smell from the canal.
The canal actually looks quite nice, with a few arch bridges and the reflections of the apartments on the waters surface. During winter this freezes and again has a nice quality to it.
I walk alone to work mostly and it takes about 15 minutes. I often have my small black bag over my shoulder to carry lunch, flash-disc and most importantly some toilet roll as stomach troubles are common and loo roll is not supplied in any Chinese toilets be they public or inside an office or restaurant.
It’s about this time I can fully assess the weather. Just past the bridge over the canal it’s possible to see my office building. I know from experience how clear the air is by how clearly I can see my building. The sky is often blue and there is very rarely rain during winter. This illusion of seemingly beautiful weather is ruined, by the thick smog that hugs the city day and night and rarely lets up.
As I continue walking I pass a 24-hour teashop, wu fu pastry, a few restaurants and reach KFC. KFC’s are widespread across the city and act as useful landmarks but the food leaves a sickly feeling in your stomach.
I continue further and will pass many people all on their way to work, school or to see a friend or family member. The age range is a mix of old and young but the habits are the same.
I keep an eye on the ground to avoid stepping in the many pools of spit on the pavement, broken paving, rubbish and large holes in the uneven sidewalk.
This pavement was not there when I arrived so the few hundred fellow pedestrians walked alongside and dusty metal fence poorly nailed to the road. This meant mixing with bikes and cars and stepping over the crooked fixing mounts. To increase the uneasy feeling this situation provided, some people would travel in the opposite direction, so you had to pay full attention making it a long and tiring journey.
Now the path is finished to some degree and is shared by pedestrians on foot and cyclists. It is made from small, grey, paving slabs that are constantly being pulled up and put back poorly, leaving deep dips in the walking surface. On the side is a wall with space for flowers and trees, which have yet to be planted, leaving just dry dirt. The wall itself is made from larger slabs and is quite badly damaged already and parts have been stolen.
As I get about half way on my left I can see the busy chaotic road and to my right rows of small shops and restaurants.
Another thing I keep my eye out for are mini tornados. They swarm all over the sidewalk and pick up the dust in ready supply and swirl it around blinding you, forcing you to cover your eyes and mouth. The dust comes mostly from the areas outside the rows of shops as they are not paved and are in fact just dirt. This is a major problem on the rare occasion it rains, with cars spinning their tyres and people ruining their shoes.
As I look down at my own shoes that I cleaned just this morning I can see that they are dusty already. But I’m used to this now and continue to sing along to my Walkman as I briskly walk on.
After a while I come to a wide crossing that I cross like everyone else, ignoring the lights and slowly making my way through the bikes and cars until I reach the other side.
I pass the xie wa fang subway entrance and carefully pass the bus station exit.
A short while later I pass some young school kids playing football with a cheap broken ball and come to a narrower stretch of sidewalk lined with shops. The most noticeable are a dumplings restaurant, a salon with towels drying in the dusty air outside on racks and bikes and another food outlet dispensing out of a small window. The smell here is revolting and you can see them mixing the dough outside the shop on this busy dirty street although business is good and they are as busy as always.
I’m close to work now and I pass another wide crossing opposite a large bookshop and a few more stores before turning right onto a small street with a primary school. This I know from the noise of screaming kids and mothers waiting outside, but to look at the old, black stained, plastered building you wouldn’t have a clue.
I’ve reached my building now and carefully cross. I now must decide which entrance to use as they change often or are closed. I choose the underground car park entrance and make my way down a ramp. I enter corridor with a low ceiling and go up a flight of stairs into the main reception area with the elevators.
It’s filled with people waiting and a few of them put out their cigarettes and spit in the bin as they do so. There are four elevators and two of them go to the 27th floor where my school is, but one of them is broken today so we are forced to compete. Everyone crowds the doors as they wait for it to come down and rush in before the other’s have a chance to get out.
I came too late to get in this one and must wait a few minutes for the next one. But I cant just zone out now as I have to get in a good position near the doors or my spot will be taken by the constant steam of over office workers trying to get to work on time.
I get inside the elevator and am pushed to the back. It’s new and clean but the sweaty smell of the other people and the rudeness displayed make it tough.
Eventually I arrive on my floor and walk into work.

China remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Transtrip

2007-08-23T14:28:50Z

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

Feeling a little restless and wanting to cram in at least one adventure before I returned home from China I decided to Take a train from my temporary home in Tianjin to my real home in Huntingdon. I was a bit fed up with Beaurocracy at the time so I left most of the planning in the hands of a great company based in Beijing called ‘Monkey Business’ (Beijing@monkeyshrine.com). This meant that all my accommodation, tours and often food were taken care of before I arrived at any of my destinations. Also there were a few groups on a similar plan so rather than travelling on my own I was often in good company. There were 2 British guys and an American couple. They were a lot of fun and the trip wouldn’t have been the same without them. Along the way I met several other people like the Aussie couple I shared my cabin with on the way to Mongolia, who were great company.
The great thing about these sort of trips is the people you meet, trying, experiencing, seeing all the different foods, landscapes, cities and cultures at a glance just enough to leave a good impression and great memories.
Like most of my adventures I have written a book based on a travel diary so to give you a small taste of this amazing journey I will give you the basic itinerary of the trip with a few quotes from my diary to illustrate what it was like.

“I will travel through many countries, walk on water, drink with monkey’s, ride horses, have good times, even greater times, have sad times and shit times.
Do please read on.”

* Tianjin to Beijing – 1 hour 30 minute Train journey

“Loaded to the gills with luggage at my home for the last 6 months, Tianjin, I denied my girlfriend Rose to see me off at the train station despite the pain in my heart and the pain coming through the phone receiver, then I picked up my last pay from work and headed to the station to embark upon the very start of my epic train journey.
Next came an average and short 1½ hour journey into Beijing, with the odd bit of kindness and patience displayed by a few fellow passengers. I rolled into Beijing main station and then started the gruelling 5 minute walk to my Hostel : ).
The weather was drab and dark, in stark contrast to the excitement I felt about my trip, but I guess more reminiscent of my feeling having just left Rose.”

* Beijing – One night in Hostel

“My night in Beijing was nothing short of just a practical solution. The guys sharing my room at the hostel were good chaps. I shared a durian (stinky, slimy fruit) with an American with a cold, discussed British and Dutch Social and Economic policies with a guy who had travelled up and down China (on a bicycle!) and shared the odd conversation with another American and a Japanese guy.
Good times!”

“As you can imagine, budgeting the trip and attaining all the different currencies needed was not easy. In the end I went for a simple approach to the problem. I changed most of my money into dollars and the rest was changed into whatever currency was needed at that time. This worked well (score one for the traveller!).”

* Beijing to Ulanbaatar – 1 night on train

“So, you want to know about the train.
Well it’s a big, big train and seems quite clean and surprisingly comfortable. Outside the scenery rolls by. Round peaked, stepped mountains, the Great Wall, yellow-earthed plains, factories, quarries and the odd yellow-bricked town.
I will not be getting off this train once for the entire thirty-hour journey and we’ve only been moving 4 hours so far (26 more to go!). But still, the time is passing ok and my head feels fine (reference to a 5 month long re-occurring headache). Although my stomach as predicted is a little rocky.
There is a bathroom at both ends of the carriage and is so far clean but pokey (as you would expect). At one end of the hall outside my cabin are a samovar (free hot water) and the train assistants inside their own cabin.
So far all is well, lets read on and see how things develop.”

“sometimes the longest journey of all can be over the shortest distance, yet the shortest one can be over the longest. This is my current feeling as hour casually passes hour talking to my new friends.”

“I’ve eaten, which as it turns out, a journey unto itself. It takes a lot of time, patience and ingenuity to make a good edible meal on a train, only a second to fuck it up, but still only takes a few minutes to scoff it down.”

“Alrighty, its 1:30am and we have just entered Mongolia. We (my cabin mates and I) watched the changing of the Bogies, which was quite interesting in an odd sort of way. The Mongolian engineers lifted the entire train with us still on it and then slid the whole underside of our carriage out and replaced it effortlessly with bogies of a different gage. This is because, rather conveniently, both Mongolia and Russia have different sized tracks to the rest of the world.”

“If my writing has taken a turn for the worse its because I badly need to pee. The toilets have been locked since 8:30pm. They lock the toilets 30 minutes before and after stops and border checks to stop any unauthorised or unpaid for use of the train.
Border checks are a painful but necessary part of travelling across half the world on a train. They stop on both sides of the border and you must fill out a range of immigration forms and then have your Passport and Visa scrutinised by stern looking officials in pointy black leather boots. Your cabin is also given a once over by the official. During this time you must remain in your cabin and be seated on the lower bunks. They take many, many hours. I guess this border check took about 6 or 7 hours in total but I have read the Russian border check can take over 10 hours, so I shouldn’t complain.”

“I had a peaceful yet short sleep last night after we arrived in Mongolia at about 2am and I FINALLY got to pee (2nd best pee ever - the best pee ever was in Tokyo on new years 2006).
I awoke this morning at 6am and instinctively looked out of my cabin window. The view took my breath (and sleepiness) away. I saw the Gobi desert endlessly stretching past the window covered in snow and bathed in the light of a beautiful sunrise.”

*Ulanbaatar – City tour + One night in Ger Camp

“Even though I’m a little cold and tired, I have just taken my first shower since I left my apartment in China 3 days ago. So as you can imagine I feel pretty good right now.”

“I stayed in the surprisingly roomy and comfortable Ger with the two Brits. The décor was simple with the beds and tables painted with strong oranges and blues.”

“We spent the night playing some hilarious drinking games and running across the camps frozen plains to the small toilet. It was a wooden shelter the size of a porta-loo with a hole in the floor above a great big dug out and a mountain of poo.”

“This morning we did some archery (I was crap at fist but got the hang of it), played footie with a flat ball we found and walked up one of the many grassy hills to find a bullet ridden burnt out car on top.”

“What better way to take in the endless grassy plains, hills and blue skies than to ride around them on a small horse.”

* Ulanbaatar to Irkutsk – 2 nights on train

“There’s no dining car ahhhhhhhhhhhh but I am prepared with a few packets of instant noodles, a few cans of Tuna, some powdered fruit juice mix and some biscuits. Let the feast commence.”

“What’s the best way to pass a two day journey on a train in a small hot cabin, well the answer is sharing it with three beautiful Russian women playing cards, reading and having frequent visits by two adorable Mongolian children.”

“It’s coming up to 7am and we have stopped near the Russian border. I had just woken after a short sleep and stepped outside to find a toilet only to discover the great big train I had got on yesterday has been reduced to one carriage, where the fucks the train gone? And why is that scary looking Alsatian starring at me? To ease my worry I had a early morning toast of Vodka with an old Russian guy sat on the platform.”

“I have found the best way to express your gratitude to foreign hosts is to give them a postcard from home and when one is returned then all the better.”

* Irkutsk – 1 night home stay

“After so long in Asia, Russians scare me! With their large build, quick pace, shaved heads, beer bottles in hand, 90’s clothes and harsh sounding language. So as I walked the streets I was always on guard and felt nervous every time I had my camera out.”

* Irkutsk to Balshoe Goloustnoe – 2 hour mini bus journey

“I am happy to be re-united with my fellow monkeys”

* Balshoe Goloustnoe (Lake Baikal) – 1 night home stay

“Staying in a beautiful wooden house, in a beautiful village next to an amazingly beautiful frozen lake with a stereotypically huge Arian host and loving it.”

“Had my first traditional sauna with the guys and despite being slightly hellish and hot when your in there, the minute you cool down you want to go straight back in.”

“Jesus can walk on water and so can I. Yes, today I walked on the largest frozen fresh water lake in the world and I was pretty bloody nervous to start but after a while that all slipped away and I took in the breathtaking remote views surrounding me.”

“last night we continued our traditional monkey drinking game of ‘ring of fire’”.

* Balshoe Goloustnoe to Remote resort – 9km walk

“Not content with a remote village I have booked a night at a place so remote it doesn’t even have a name. But to get there I have to walk 9km on the frozen lake with only the company of my stern Russian guide.”

* Remote Resort – 1 night log cabin

“This place is fantastic. It’s peaceful, beautiful and there are no tourists or other people to take this feeling away from me. I’m off for a sauna next to the lake.”

* Balshoe Goloustnoe to Irkutsk – 2 hour mini bus journey

“Harsh 70’s sounding Russian disco music and a puncture, thank god for books and walkmans”

* Irkutsk – 1 night home stay

“After our steak meal and Guinness at ‘Bier Haus’ Martha ended up talking to a guy we had just ignored and regarded as being a nutter. He insisted on taking us to a bar so we followed him but as time bore on I started to get a bad feeling. He kept saying just a little further and when I was just about to suggest we flee we reached a dark alleyway leading into a dingy looking court yard. I thought this is it, now we will pay the price for being stupid tourists but as it turned out he had brought us to a rather nice bar with a live band and we had a good night. Just goes to show how pessimistic and judgemental I can be.”

* Irkutsk to Moscow – 3 nights on train

“I was just thinking about a scene form the film ‘about a boy’ that I think applies well to this trip. Hugh Grant is talking about filling his jobless and familyless days. He says he breaks up the day into units of time (one unit = about 30 minutes). This is what I do on this train. Reading = 3 units, trip to the dining car = 1 unit, watching a DVD on my laptop = 3 units, cards = 1 unit, nap = 4 units, writing this journal = 1 unit etc.”

* Moscow – 3 nights hotel

“I had forgotten how much I love European architecture and this city is packed full of it”

“I have seen so much walking around Moscow and riding its huge ornate metro system: Red Square, The Kremlin, The Preserved body of Lenin, The most amazing Cemetery and everything in-between. Yet I feel there is still so much left to explore.”

* Moscow to Prague – 2 nights on train

“Some trips are not about the journey itself but the people you meet and on this journey the kindness of strangers has been more than I could expect.”

* Czech Republic – 1 night Prague
1 night Friends Uni town
1 night Friends home town

“This leg of the journey has been a great change of pace. My tour guide in the Czech Republic has been Misty (A Czech friend from University) who has shown me around Prague drinking all the way, taken me to his University town drinking all the way and taken me to his home-town with a little drinking involved. Over the last few days I have seen the most beautiful city in Europe, played on Paddle boats, watched 300 at the cinema, enjoyed Czech food and beer, met Misty’s girlfriend and family, downhill biked and so much more. I have to give credit to Misty as he has been a very relaxed guide and great company.”

* Prague to Brampton – 1 night on train

“Compared to the Russian trains this German train is like staying in a 3-star hotel”

* Brampton – The End

“The first thing I heard as I arrived in London was ‘there are delays on the…..’ and the first thing I had to do was pay £4 for a single tube ticket. I am home wherever I like it or not”

That’s it hope you made it to the end of this story (I’d like to see you condense it anymore than I have) I enjoyed the trip immensely and have no regrets.

Transtrip remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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London

2007-08-21T16:22:31Z

This is London the multicultural hub of England.

Recently I had an offer to join my good friend Paul in London for a month. Faced with more time kicking my heals at home I packed and I was there before he hung up the phone.
I wanted to find a teaching job there but although I had a few interviews no one wanted a teacher with no CELTA qualification, which is fair enough. So instead I spent 4 weeks hanging out with Paul and his friends, drinking, partying and walking round central London taking photos like a Japanese tourist.

I had a great time in London and may return there one day with a CELTA in hand but until then I am glad I got to experience living in such a diverse and interesting city despite the expense.

London remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Home

2007-08-21T16:03:08Z

When I’m not travelling or visiting friends you can find me in Brampton (a nice, quaint but terribly boring village) located in the South-East of England.

This is my home

When I’m home I tend to run and cycle allot as there are lots of fields, a lake and a wood nearby. I also read and it gives me a good chance to finish projects like this website as there’s F**k all else to do.

The nearest town is Huntingdon, which is mostly residential and has a history linking it as a stop over on the way to London and with Oliver Cromwell.

London is about an hour’s journey southwards by train but when you can’t make it to London there’s always Cambridge. Famous for the University and overall a nice small city with a few good shops and a market, Cambridge is always a place worthy of a day trip.

The longer I’m away from home the less it feels like home but it’s great to have a base to return to, relive a few memories from your childhood, see a few old friends and of course my Family.

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Baby Steps

2007-08-21T12:53:24Z

I've always been big on the idea of travelling and exploring and although as a child I got to go to places like Ibiza, and Tunisia with my parents I didn't get a taste for it until I went on a 2 week up and down trip to Italy with School. I loved it and saw many great places.

Many years later taking a break from University I Visited Edinburgh......

Paris......

and Barcelona......

It really opened up my eyes to how easy it can be to get out there and that I shouldn't be afraid.

Then during my final year at Uni I went on a road trip with some mates up and down Scotland stoping at Edinbrugh, The Highlands, Northern Coast, Loch Lomond, Inverness and Glasgow. It was a great trip and meant alot to all of us after a really tough year.

During my last year of University I had alot of good foreign friends and a real passion to break free from the norm and get out into the wide world..................out of England!

Baby Steps remains copyright of the author Follow Me, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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