There aren’t that many places in the world that have experienced conflict within my life time that are now deemed relatively safe to travel to, on the scale of which Sarajevo experienced. The scars of which can still be seen today.
A few years ago, I wrote Glastonbury: The Unofficial Survival Guide. This was something I shared with a couple of friends who were going to be coming with me for their first ever Glastonbury who asked for some information on what it was like and some tips on how to get by. It must have done its job as they both survived
An ex-colleague, and member of my beach swim club alerted me to the fact that the yoga studio that she attends around the corner from me was doing a day of free trial sessions. I had done yoga before and thought it was alright but preferred Pilates. Partly because it felt like a workout while resolving my flexibility issues, partly because a friend is an instructor and therefore have to prefer it and partly because previous yoga instructors I had been in contact with fit the stereotype of hemp wearing vegans who could feel the universe flowing through a haemorrhoid if the planets were in alignment. I thought I would give it a go anyway. A free class is a free class after all.
Like half of the population, I dipped a metaphorical and literal toe into the world of cold water swimming during lockdown. The reasoning for this was partly because a couple of friends and people I follow on the gram participate, partly because the health benefits are well documented, it was free and partly out of boredom and needed a new activity to involve myself in.
Today marks a year since the government announced its first national Lockdown. In some ways it feels like the longest year ever experienced by anyone ever, in other ways it really does not feel like it’s been that long at all. It is funny thinking back to that time when no one will have predicted that we would still be here a year later.
I travelled up to Luton the day before and stayed at the esayHotel, the easyJet hotel brand. The room can only be described as a prefabricated box with just enough room to swing a hamster but it was clean and comfortable. The evening was spent having a cheeky Nando’s and several drinks at the White House Weatherspoon’s getting to know the four ladies, Jayne, Debbie, Leanne and Fiona, who were to become my trekking mums over the next few days.
This time last year I was at Glastonbury (although it was a Wednesday). I have been lucky enough to experience the Glastonbury three times in a row from 2015-17. And while this may not grant me Glastonbury Veteran status I think it allows me to bestow on you tricks, tips and advice on what to expect and how to survive this festival of festivals. Even for regular festival goers “Glasto” can be a daunting prospect for your first time. So, if you battled through the pain of hammering the refresh button into a ticket position for the first time, these next few points may come in handy.
On this day 10 years ago, I returned from the travels of my gap year in S.E. Asia.
I booked a 40 day group trip with Intrepid that would take us from Bangkok in Thailand through Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos before finishing in Chiang Mai back in in northern Thailand. This was three separate trips that you could do as one. When the group trip finished I did a month’s solo travel through the rest of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore before flying home. A recent check on the Intrepid website suggests that a similar trip to mine called the South East Asia Loop is still available going through the same countries lasting 30 days and starts and finishes in Bangkok.
Today is the start of Mental Health Awareness Week. The aim, the bring about more awareness about different conditions, how to help those who are suffering and to break the stigma that surrounds talking about the topic. This is my story.
I work in an industry that lives off health and safety, thrives on it even. There is a form and procedure for anything and everything you could think of. We have the:
· Poolside Daily Matrix (Ops-F5)
· Cashing Up Sheet (FIN-F48)
· Record of Conversation (CON-DISC-F-1)
· Witness Statement (OPS-F23)
· Birthday Party Terms and Conditions (Ops-F25c)
As a man and an official member of United Kingdom Zombie Defence League on Facebook it's only natural that I would have a zombie action plan. I formulated one for when I was at Uni in Swansea which consisted of raiding the Tesco that was conveniently opposite the marina where I planned to commandeer the lighthouse boat and party it out in the middle of the bay until it blew over and hoped the flesh-eating critters didn’t learn to swim. This is of course dependant on the realistic probability of zombies being real and whether they are Shaun of the Dead style or World War Z type of zombies.
The beautiful word play in the title describes this book perfectly. If you want the detailed ins and outs of the countries of South America, get a guide book. But if you want a fun read about a solo female traveller’s exploits in foreign countries on a journey of self-discovery and improvement, you have come to the right place.
Last week I entered a competition with World Nomads to win an all-expenses paid road trip to either America or Europe. The choice is yours, so I went for America as I have never seen anything other than the inside of Miami and Huston Airport. The winner and a second person of their choosing will get return airfare, 4-week campervan rental, travel insurance, some travel gear and $6000 spending money. Thinking about this reminded me of a road trip plan long forgotten.
