Intermezzo V

Five month ago I came home in high spirits, seeking as always to find a trial fast to top up my bank account. But things never turn out the way you have planned it and though I found a trial quickly, it got cancelled almost as speedily. And than? Nothing! That was it for a long time. At first I thought I would find something else, but as May turned to June my hopes of a quick buck faded, since the summer is a slow season for trials. What to do? Well, I didn't mind too much, I needed a long break and I got one. I used my time wisely, visiting friends, lounging at the pool and working on some mysterious business which I can't tell about, because than it wouldn't be mysterious. But it has to do with diversifying my income, as trials are not what they used to be and hardly a secure form of earnings. It is a long term plan though and I shall not divulge anymore than that.

As for my time in Europe, well as I said, I decided to enjoy myself and make the most of it, keeping in mind my meagre budget that is. First I stayed in Brighton with Ornella and her daughter Luna. This was while I was still waiting for my first doomed trial. I did what I do best when staying over, which is helping out as much as possible. I never feel good free loading and doing nothing. When I left, Ornella's house was spotless, and if she had had the inclination she could have eaten from the floor! The weather was beautiful and I found myself spending all the time that I wasn't cleaning the house, outside strolling around the town and the beach. Eventually however it was time to leave.

I had promised to visit Aline and her son Abel in France. Looking back I seem to have been on a single mother tour of Europe. It was my birthday when I arrived and I was treated to a nice dinner and some good wine. The fine weather had followed me over and apart from spending time in Rennes, where she lives, we also visited Mont St. Michel for a day. We were not alone! It is one of the busiest tourist spots in the country and the streets were thronged with various nationalities squeezing their way through the small alleys. The abbey was nice, the throng less so. A week passed and another followed as is the case with weeks. As the end of the second approached, so did my time with Aline. Back home I went, because by now I had been informed that the trial was cancelled.

And home I stayed for the remainder of the time. Again I tried to make myself as useful as possible, since home in my case means staying with my parents. It is a wonderful place as I have said many a time before, but there is always a guilt involved with staying for such a long period for free with my parents. In order to ease it, I helped out in and around the house as much as I could. This had the added advantage of keeping me busy. In the meantime, Eelko came over, one of my best friends. He is living in Perth these days, so I don't get to see him a lot. In fact, we had managed to miss each other for two and a half years, me being on the road every time he came home. But this time I wasn't! Drinks were had in abandunce during his stay home, and I got to meet his girlfriend, a none to shabby drinker in her own right.

Next up was my brother, who is living in Peru. He came over for a short but fun filled week, in which I spent a lot of the time teasing my nephew and nieces as well as catching up with my brother. After he left it was time to witness three of my friends finish their University degrees, all in two days. It was tiring, but I was amply rewarded with a lot of free booze.

And than my money more or less ran dry and I remained cloistered up around the house. Not a bad place to be cloistered up, and not far away was Robin another good friend. Bicycles don't cost money to run, and visiting Robin was only a half hour excersize. So as can be seen the summer has been good, in fact it was one of the better summers I had. But now as the end of the summer neared, and the dry trial period ended I finally found another well paying test and it wasn't cancelled. In a couple of days my bank account will be filled up enough for another stint of travelling.

Where will I go? Well for that you will have to tune in again. Next blog in approximately three weeks!

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Part of trip: The great journey east!

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