My Top 10 Football Stadiums From My First 100 Countries

As we travel to countries torn apart by war (past or current), let’s not forget that football is the people’s game, the one happy medium from my journeys through a century of countries. Football brings the people together and in most cases, it acts as some kind of peaceful entity between people. Anyone who has Read more about My Top 10 Football Stadiums From My First 100 Countries[…]

Doing the Maradona at the Hand of God end! Mexico City.

Hand of God and Mexico 86 Memories: Visiting Estadio Azteca, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico

Here goes. This is a big one. A big one for me personally. Every single time I hear the mention of Maradona, Norman Whiteside, Jose Batista, Joel Bats etc. I get inspired. The 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico were my first major childhood memory. Northern Ireland qualified. We punched well above our weight, defying Read more about Hand of God and Mexico 86 Memories: Visiting Estadio Azteca, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico[…]

mexico 86 album

Sunday’s Inspiration: Mexico 1986, Norman Whiteside, Kim Pyung Suk and the REAL Reason Why I Travel the World

I’ve done load of travel interviews in the last few years and almost all of them ask me why I travel or what started me on travel. While there are probably many reasons for it, I can actually limit it to one word: football. Casting my mind back to 1986 on today’s Sunday’s Inspiration. An Read more about Sunday’s Inspiration: Mexico 1986, Norman Whiteside, Kim Pyung Suk and the REAL Reason Why I Travel the World[…]

dont stop living fortaleza

Is this the way to Fortaleza? Don’t Stop Living goes full circle again, my World Cup Travel Plans!

I cast my mind to my trip to Suriname in 2011. On the way to meet my friends in Recife, Brazil I had a stopover in a city unknown to me at the time, Fortaleza. It was a four hour layover and I was back in Brazil after the magic of tropical Suriname. It was Read more about Is this the way to Fortaleza? Don’t Stop Living goes full circle again, my World Cup Travel Plans![…]

Drawing Maradona and Other Things in 1986

In many ways, the 1980s were the best decade ever!! I love looking back 20 odd years at those photos, and this one here, in particular encapsulates the sort of Jonny Blair I was and always have been. Plus the furniture, the style, the fashion and the era of the 1980s is fantastic. For the Read more about Drawing Maradona and Other Things in 1986[…]

My (LOST) Mexico 86 Panini Album…and the day I fell in love with football (May 1986)

Actually a bit of a sad story this one…I did indeed first get into football in the 1986 World Cup. Northern Ireland had qualified again, and my Dad had managed to go to a few of the matches in the previous 6 years or so, including buying me a programme for the 1-0 win over Read more about My (LOST) Mexico 86 Panini Album…and the day I fell in love with football (May 1986)[…]

Jonny Blair in Bangor in the 1980s wearing a vintage Northern Ireland kit - he now lives a lifestyle of travel

Bangor Amateurs FC…and just any football team really…and Joe Blair…

While growing up I just loved football. And ANY football really. It was my Dad who got me into it to start with, but if he hadn’t I’d have got into it anyway through the friends I made whilst growing up in Bangor. My first real football memory was watching Algeria versus Northern Ireland with Read more about Bangor Amateurs FC…and just any football team really…and Joe Blair…[…]