Testing testing: Young Americans

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Hi folks,

I've just spent a lovely 30minutes reminiscing about my fabulous travels around South East Asia just over 5 years ago. And what a difference 5 years makes. Quick summary from Cambodia - present:

- Spent another 2 weeks in the islands down in Thailand with Danielle, lazing on beaches, getting crazy bumpy boats in between the islands, having daily massages, ice-creams and mani/pedis.

- Worked in a school for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties (all of whom were blind or had a visual impairment) for a school year.

- Completed a 2 year MSc in Speech and Language Sciences, qualifying me to practice as a Speech and Language Therapist

- Practised as a Speech and Language Therapist for 2 years, working with children aged 2-8 in the community (clinics and schools) in Merton (south west London)

- Lived in 2 different flats - one in north London and one in South London

- Been to Glastonbury 3 times, Latitude 3 times, Galtres Festival once and countless gigs including Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Jason Isbell...

- Met a lanky Yorkshireman, got engaged and booked a date for the wedding.

I think that gets us up to speed...





In the past few years I have had several holidays: a long weekend in Venice with Robyn and Wendy, a long weekend in Barcelona with Bailey, surfing in Cornwall, Melbourne for Danielle and Oli's wedding, Ireland with the UCL girls, the aforementioned festivals, Berlin and Poland for Sinan and Kinga's wedding, a beautiful family christmas and mad road trip around the north island of NZ followed by Matt and Miranda's wedding; camping in Dorset and on the Yorkshire coast; South of France for Margaux and David's wedding and a beautiful week in Malta with the Fogartys where I said 'yes'. But anyone who has come within a 5 mile radius of me and/or Fog in the past 8 months will have heard of the biggest trip of all that is rapidly looming on the horizon. No, not the wedding (that's a whole other journey/blog) but our huge road trip through the deep south of the USA. On 15th October John and I will set off, along with John's dad Leo, on a 21 day trip starting in Washington, D.C. and ending in New Orleans, LA taking in the Blue Ridge mountains, Nashville TN, two scenic routes, Memphis TN and Clarksdale MI. What started as a scenic trip to view the changing of the leaves in fall has evolved into a musical odyssey. Anyone who knows my future husband will know of his passion for music and, in particular, anything which falls under the remit of 'Americana': traditional country, folk 'mountain' music, bluegrass, country gospel, blues and, now, big band jazz of New Orleans. Since booking our flights in January, he has spent many an hour trawling through the internet, researching the areas we are travelling through with meticulous perseverance. We have 21 days packed with activities, including music events on most days. We have a playlist tracking the history of the development of music in the deep south, incorporating some of the most incredible musicians. We have all flights, car hire, accommodation and some concert tickets booked. This is, for want of a non-cliche, going to be the trip of a lifetime. So I thought I'd resurrect the old blog to document the trip. And as it's a musical trip, the plan is to incorporate music, bien sur!





So, my first entry, an introduction to what is to come and a test to see if I can still publish and share through social media for anyone who is bored/interested enough to read up on what we're doing. And the song for my first blog: