“Roses in the hospital” – Richey James Edwards. People usually ask me what the best advice ever is, from my backpacking stints. I usually replied with “don’t trust anyone you meet. People lie to you. People can be nasty”. But now, having visited 200 countries and over 1,200 settlements, my main advice is… “Never ever…
Read MoreThis is simple – life is not easy. Life has never been easy. Days are a struggle. People lie to us. People let us down. Before the Coronavirus pandemic kicked in, I travelled far and wide. I visited 186 countries that I personally recognise. I met thousands of people. I ate thousands of different meals,…
Read More“Always look on the bright side of life” – Eric Idle. Coronavirus is a hot topic. As a travel, football and mostly beer blogger, I rarely write about health matters away from depression and travel injections/medication. But today I felt like writing something about the Coronavirus as it is just too extreme now. The spread…
Read MoreI am into my 16th month of long term depression and a battle for happiness. Every day is tough. Most of my friends and family don’t understand my depression. I have tried to explain manys a time so i now have to accept the fact that they never will. It confuses me why a happy…
Read MoreI had to double check the mirror time and time again. Spots were growing at a huge rate. I felt OK inside, I wasn’t ill and mentally I was fine. But externally, on the crazy border crossing from The Gambia to Senegal, I had somehow got about 30 – 40 small spots on my forehead.…
Read More“This is a low, but it won’t hurt you” – Blur I was recent lackpacking in England. Basically I wanted to get my backpack and go out and explore then I got what seemed to be a never ending migraine and infection. It meant I didn’t leave my mates flat in Bournemouth for 9 days…
Read MoreThe most important thing when we travel is of course health. It’s always number one. Without health we are bound to one place. Until this year, I had been relatively lucky in terms of dentist visits and work needing done on my teeth. I’d had a few fillings here and there and some teeth removed…
Read MoreIt’s a long time since I wrote anything about Belarus (even though I once wrote a chapter for a book on my trip there). And as it’s yet to feature on my Friday’s Featured Food series, I thought it was time to recollect that day I tried Belarussian Porridge in the drab city of Bobruisk.…
Read MoreManic Street Preachers first came into my ears about 20 years ago, in 1992 when on a chance radio listen, I was enthused by their hit single “Suicide Is Painless” (Theme From M.A.S.H.). At the time I didn’t realise it was a cover version, nor knew anything about this band. As the 90s progressed I…
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