Staffordshire
Travel Blogs from Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Eggs..
Spent two hours in a mountaineering shop today learning the complex intricacies of how to assemble, load, compress, detach, re-attach, un-compress, adjust, re-load and climb into my new backpack. Yes - the time is getting closer now. I'm just glad I ...
A Bit 'O' Background!
I've been on about seeing the world for years. More importantly though, I've been 'itching' to do it for years. When I sit and think about it - if I hadn't have climbed Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) in 2001, I really don't think I'd have had the same drive ...
Goodbye England
It always hits me so late - the fact that I am leaving. The packing was done so far in advance (for once) that I had plenty of time to walk around the house saying goodbye to everything. Mum had already left for her tour to Ireland and my sister had ...
My family and other animals
'Shall we do something today?' "Well it is a Bank Holiday!" 'How about Gentleshaw Bird Sanctuary?' "Why not. Dad get your coat, we're going out!" A family outing! ***** Gentleshaw Bird Sanctuary is a small place fairly near our home. It ...
Bored in the Midlands
Really, being in bed usually suits me fine, but not today, and not yesterday, and not for the next few weeks. Now I am awake enough to move, that's exactly what I'd like to do. It's amazing how much we use that connective tissue between the top and ...
Setting off to Berkeley
At 1:20am, mum, dad and I gathered my things (one average backpack, and one small daysack) and walked down the road to wait for the National Distress (Express) bus to London Heathrow. And so began my adventure. It arrived late of course, and we proceeded ...
Leaflets for Democracy!
On May 5th, Britain takes to the polls to elect local officials..... which means it is leaflet delivering time in the village. Mum is running for council again, dad is not - which cuts the constituency in half. However, running for election still ...
Maybe tomorrow I'll want to settle down
There are some things which seem to happen when I am about to leave. I have begun to regard them as a signal of change. The first is that a spider dies. I don't particularly like spiders that run fast, but I do praise their ability to mop up the flies ...
The best rides are the ones that go upside down!
So - I decided to do it. Everything I own is is currently in the transitional phase of being either sold, stored or buried and then I'm going. I have condensed my whole existence to the size of a small backpack (note to self - get your pack!) To ...
Upright, no longer uptight!
Finally out of bed. A quick stagger around the garden, a quick ride in the new car, a quick slide to exhaustion. The world seems to be happening in an easy plane all of it's own. Damn, where's those ...
Aotearoa - The Land of the Long White Cloud...
Well, two weeks today I'll be flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia as part of my triple-legged journey from London Heathrow to Auckland, New Zealand. I figured that as I'm not in any 'rush' - I may as well spend two ...
Welcome!
Well I hope you're sitting comfortably... Firstly, thanks for taking the time to at least click 'Enter Travelogue' with your mouse. I've gotta say this whole online diary, journal, well actually 'Travelogue' thing is really quite exciting. I was ...
Home Sweet Home
You will be glad to know we made it back at last. The people in Muscat stuck to their word and we were put on, incredibly, a 30% full plane back to Heathrow. It took us 2 days to make the journey but we were both just glad to be back in time for ...
Well here we go......!
Okay...here goes! We are finally leaving for Heathrow in the early hours of tomorrow morning, and to be honest I can't describe what is going through my mind, or what Dan is thinking. We have been building up to this moment for the last few months ...
On our way home.
After a final thorough clean of the inside of the van, we left St Mabyn at about midday. Our journey back was almost a complete reversal of our journey down. Rather than taking the M5 route home, we travelled back via Dorset as we needed to stop off at ...
Stafford and Manchester England
... guess Manchester, rain, cold, sums it all up, but I had to agree they looked miserable – must have been Manchester United supporters. It was wonderful running around the outside of the City of Manchester Stadium the home ground of the mighty ...
Touring with Peter and Maureen
Sawadee krab Whilst in Stafford they started the summer walking tours – so in between down pours of torrential monsoon rain we skipped through the township of Stafford as guests of the historical (that's historical not hysterical) society. Our ...
Up To Jims Yard.
Was up at 4.45am! Yes you read that correctly, 4.45am! Had some breky and got kitted out for the ride. Heated apparel at the ready and off we go at 5.30am. On my way in darkness and bloody freezin! Made it to the blue boys M&S before had to stop ...
Homeward bound... and departing again!
Its certainly been a hectic two weeks, after camping in France we took the costal road back to the ferry crossing. It was strange seeing the places we had visited on the start of our adventure, remembering how excited and scared we were last time we were ...
And so the countdown nears an end...
Blimey, the time is nigh and on Sunday I finally leave the country for an extended travel stint after many months of planning even more years of talking about it..... It feels exceptionally strange as the day finally nears and ...
London and into the Midlands
For my last day in London, I went out to meet some of my cousins from South Africa that I had not seen since I was 2 years old. Alistair and Meghan are both now living in London. We met up in Covet Gardens...a very lively area in central London. We went ...
Last night in England -> one more sleeps
Well this is it, my last night in England. It's 11.30, my family are all in bed, rather sensibly considering the fact that we're all leaving at 7 in the morning to take me to the airport, but i dont have a hope of getting any sleep. This is despite ...
My last few days, Prossy and Stoke City
Hi All, It really isnt long now, and im starting to soil myself! Lovely I know. Wanted to give you a bit of information about what I've been up to in the two days since i last 'blogged'. I spent yesterday afternoon helping a friend out in ...
The farewell tour
We finally moved out of our flat on the 13th of March, which ominously was a Friday. But were not to superstitious so it went fairly ok. On the day we moved out we went to the Lake District for the weekend, the lakes are one of our favorite places ...
Every great journey begins with one small step...
...rather un-glamorously though, mine happens to be into a car in Burton upon Trent, my motherland. As you can see in the picture, the thing that really tickles me about this town is the slogan "Gateway to the National Forest", as if its some ...
Preparations
My preparations for this trip seem to have been going on for months, so I'm ready to hit the road. The hardest decision of all was deciding to quit my job to go travelling, which also meant leaving New York and moving back to ...
