Blogs from Channel Islands, Europe

So, I have survived the first 10 days on the island and tomorrow I'm flying back to London for my first trip back! Very excited about the imminent wedding of the special Miss Smith, I cannot wait to see the dress etc! Also looking forward to a lovely dinner in Teddington with the Jepsons on Saturday and popping into John Lewis at some point. Amazing how quickly my withdrawal symptoms have developed. Hopefully those of you who have had a look at the first entry may check back in to see what's happening. A full intro to island life will probably follow next week as there is lots to tell you all already, including the possible new house I've found to live in, hurrah! Enjoy your weekends, I'm definitely looking forward to mine.xx... read more

After a long time saving I am finally ready to leave my home land of Guernsey, friends and family along with it and start my adventures in the big wide world starting in South America. I have now finished work, my car is being sold, all my leaving do’s are done and my bag is packed so the only thing left to do is get on a plane and live the dream. Tomorrow I leave with my first stop being London to meet 2 of my best friends Rammo and Rob for the weekend before getting my lovely 11hrs 40mins flight into Rio de Janeiro (better be some good films on that’s all im going to say). Thought I would attach some nice photos to remind me of Guernsey although will definitely not be leaving a ... read more

The UK’s Channel Island of Jersey was our spring weekend destination. Scott, Myles, Adam and I set out extremely early for Gatwick, 5.30am to be exact, yawn. We were soon on our way for the short flight south and landed to a crisp, sunny morning. After picking up the smallest car on the Island, 3 door Fiat, and all squeezing in we were off and soon at the main city; St Helier on the South Coast. Every town is ‘St’ something, and apparently each parish issues different drivers licences – so many odd things still going on in this part of the world. We all couldn’t check in to our hotel so decided to go for a burn across the Island to the North Coast. It only took about 15-20mins. The country side was very pretty ... read more

So its all really surreal that I leave to travel the world with my crazy sister Lindsey on Monday morning. Its almost as if im just popping to London for a weekend. But no here I am sat with my travel blow up pillow around my neck for one of the last times in my amazing double bed, with crumbs in and the duvet back to front and my cat laid next to me purring with the constant sound of the merton swimming pool generator next door. Im writing what will be my first blog entry, yet my last home entry I know in a few days il be sweating one out half way across the world. I am trying to take it all in, home comforts ect, spending time with the family and close ... read more

Left Dartmouth on July 26th at 6.45am (later than anticipated due to Mike having to pukll an all-nighter to sort his tools and store them!) with sun shining brightly on the flat sea. Our nerves about meeting a tanker were soon tested as we found ourselves on a collision course with a freakin huge one just outside Dartmouth and had to stop to bob over the huuuuge wake it left behind! However, when we actually got to the shipping lanes, all we could see were these huge leviathans on the horizon - who'd have thought our closest encounter would be less than an hour out to sea?! We dealt with a few hairy moments on the crossing - some pretty big rolling waves were hitting us side on for a few hours causing a lot of ... read more

Hello again - long time, no blog.... So, my plan of writing a piece every month for Simonseeks hasn't quite gone to plan, but I've finally found time to finish my Guernsey guide. I think it was worth the wait - it's probably the Simonseeks contribution I'm most proud of and spent the most time researching/writing, and it's been well-received by readers so far. Like all the other stuff I'll be writing from now on, it's nowhere near as long as my previous epics, so please have a quick look if you've got a spare couple of minutes. Any feedback is appreciated - let me know what you think! Click here - Guernsey - an island escape on the UK's doorstep Enjoy! ... read more

Some old pictures from Guernsey and other Channel Islands... read more

Well, that's me two weeks into the next chapter of my life....my time out travelling is but a distant memory. I've been pretty rubbish keeping in touch (no Facebook or Googlemail access at work, laptop still at home and need to change mobile tarriff) so hence this blog. Arrived on Guernsey (aka the Rock) 26 Feb - it was sunny and looking it's best. Popped into the office to see my new colleagues in the flesh as we'd only had one telephone interview and one video conf interview, so both sides were keen to meet each other. Invited to join the Quiz team that night. Behaved myself, had lots of wine and staggered back to B&B about 1am! Agency had put me in touch with an Irish guy, Gary who had relocated here about a year ... read more

Finishing work at 5, picking up washing (£40 just to dry it! f**king joke!). 5 onwards, packing, sorting out Iphone with music and films, frantic search for passport, general panic and ditress that have forgotten some vital item (tickets etc...) WOOP WOOP China tomorrow baby! Will post more once i have acutally gone! lol was just testing Travelblog / Facebook syncing properly! ... read more