Working Wednesdays: Feature in the Ards Chronicle, Newtownards, Northern Ireland

This week has been a really, really busy one in my travel lifestyle. Last week I got a tweet out of the blue from a journalist from my birthtown of Newtownards. She writes for the Newtownards Chronicle, a weekly paper which oddly I once worked with the sister company/newspaper while doing my media course in Belfast. In fact, the week of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, I was helping out with an election campaign for Ulster Unionist candidate Jack Beattie and he was interviewed by the paper when I was with him. Fast forward to the week of my 34th birthday, last week and not only am I interviewed by the newspaper, but I was delighted to get a full page feature, entitled “Where’s Jonny? ‘Business Backpacker’ on mission to visit his 100th Country”

Working Wednesdays: Where’s Jonny? Business Backpacker on a Mission to visit his 100th Country.

If you’ve read my extensive Jonny Blair Media Appearances post before, you will know I’ve appeared quite a bit in the press, but this is a special one for me. As it’s in my birthtown, it’s a newspaper I love, it’s now in colour, it’s a full page feature and it details my entire travel lifestyle condensed nicely into one interview. Head out to your local shop in North Down (Ards and Bangor area) in Northern Ireland and pick up a copy if you’re interested in following my story and the local news. If you can read the small print, I’ve also scanned it in below. The article is copyright of the Ards Chronicle and the photos copyright Jonny Blair.

My Interview in the Ards Chronicle, Northern Ireland this week (March 2014)

I’d like to thank Gillian Halliday from the Ards Chronicle for the interview opportunity. Hopefully I can help encourage others to live a travel lifestyle, especially those from my hometown and homeland. You can also read the article online: Ards Chronicle Interview.

Here are a few other articles I have written on Newtownards, the town where I was born:

– Coffee in Knott’s, Newtownards
– Top 10 Backpacker Sights in Newtownards

And if you need some travel inspiration on this working Wednesday, here are three books I recommend:
1. The Cargo Ship Diaries – Ace Irish Traveller Niall Doherty’s story of how he has travelled the world for 2 and a half years without flying! Amazing inspiration.
2. How to Live a Life of Travel – Long term traveller (since 1999) Derek Earl Baron shows you how to do it properly as an expert.
3. Nomadic Matt’s How to Travel the World on $50 US A Day – Yes it’s true you can do it. Matt’s book is awesome!