Blogs from Ware, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

As I awoke from an impromptu siesta I started thinking about the Christmas weekend I have just experienced, and how it was so very different from last year... December 2009 Two days after school finishing for the holidays and only slightly hungover, I was making my way to Ezeiza, the international airport here in Buenos Aires. The temperature? A balmy 33º. My destination? Madrid, Spain followed my a connection to London, England: home. I was going home for the first time in 18 months. Fastforward about 18 hours, and after the most turbulent-hit flight of my life, an extremely sleepy Emma hears over the tannoy as we land in Madrid "bienvenidas a Madrid, dónde la temperatura es menos ocho y las condiciones.... " I never heard what the conditions were, as my brain went into overdrive. ... read more

Well the training has been done, the bags are packed and we'll be heading off to Penzance on the 1205 from Paddington this afternoon. It's got to be said that I feel some trepidation now but I suppose that's normal. We had a last minute check of equipment and the towel has been jettisoned. Gareth pointed out that it was a) heavy, b) would be used and have to be packed wet, c) would then be even heavier and d) it would smell like a camel’s arse after a couple of days. So - no towel then, I just hope the places we stay have all the usual facilities. So here we go - updates will follow along the way (they may be from an intensive care ward but still) and thanks for reading! ... read more

Things are really starting to build -up now. My last day at work was on friday. We went down to the pub for a couple of drinks where the rest of REC gave me a couple of presents. One of which was a bum-bag (just after we, or at least I, had slagged off bum bags). I purchased my travel journal in Hertford today, and also finalised my financial arrangements. I also noted an updated edition of South East Asia on a shoestring. I bought ny copy so long ago now; it feels like I've been planning this trip for ages. In four days time I'll be somewhere up in the sky looking forward to my first evening in San Francisco.... read more