happy days northern ireland fanzine

Working Wednesdays: Writing for “Happy Days” Football Magazine

I’ve loved writing for as long as I can remember. I’ve also loved football for as long as I can remember. Put the two of them together and it was obvious that I was going to do some football writing at some point. Or in my case, at many points and a LOT of football Read more about Working Wednesdays: Writing for “Happy Days” Football Magazine[…]

pink ladies pants blue lagoon

The Day I…Wore Pink🩷Ladies Pants👙to the Blue🔵Lagoon🏞️in Iceland🇮🇸

Another of those “you had to be there” travel stories and this time it comes from Iceland. That magnificent island country that most backpackers in Europe forget about as they’re too busy inter-railing round the mainland. We had booked onto a Golden Circle tour. I was with about 6 or 7 travel buddies and after Read more about The Day I…Wore Pink🩷Ladies Pants👙to the Blue🔵Lagoon🏞️in Iceland🇮🇸[…]

jonny blair on pavilion bar bournemouth

Working Wednesdays: Serving Tea and Coffee at Ballroom Dances in Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre, England

Today’s working Wednesdays takes me back to the seaside town of Bournemouth in England. It’s a town I spent about 5-6 years in or around. I had a lot of different jobs there, some of which I have already written about (selling ice cream, barman in a hotel). Bournemouth was a really decent base for Read more about Working Wednesdays: Serving Tea and Coffee at Ballroom Dances in Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre, England[…]

cheap steak in australia

Monday’s Money Saving Tips: $10 Steaks in Australia

I LOVE eating steaks, but yet I’m a budget traveller so I’ll be honest and say I normally go without them. But I miss them. Enter the land down under then and a national craze known as $10 steaks! If you have ever lived, visited or backpacked round Australia you will know about them. Bars, Read more about Monday’s Money Saving Tips: $10 Steaks in Australia[…]

hiking mount kinabalu

Climbing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo: Day 1 Part 2 – Sorting Things out at Kinabalu National Park

So following on from part 1, we were now at Mount Kinabalu National Park. I have written a couple of decent detailed posts on organising the hike and how much it costs, so when we arrived at Kinabalu National Park, we had everything booked – it was merely picking up a few things, paying some Read more about Climbing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo: Day 1 Part 2 – Sorting Things out at Kinabalu National Park[…]

belfast to dublin train ireland

World Borders: How to get from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland (Belfast to Dublin train)

** STOP PRESS!! This article was written a while back and scheduled long before this week’s fire on the Belfast to Dublin train, so please bear that in mind…** (this is the first time since starting DSL in 2007 I have had to do this…) // I’m sure a lot of you reading will be Read more about World Borders: How to get from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland (Belfast to Dublin train)[…]

pj gallaghers irish pub drummoyne sydney

Working Wednesdays: Barman in PJ Gallagher’s Irish Pub in Drummoyne, Sydney, Australia

I’ve written a fair amount on Irish Pubs on here, and even also about the time I worked in Sydney, but here today on Working Wednesdays I’m reminiscing on that surreal time in the land down under where I worked in a pub modelled on the Crown Bar in Belfast! The pub, once owned by Read more about Working Wednesdays: Barman in PJ Gallagher’s Irish Pub in Drummoyne, Sydney, Australia[…]

frog suit on london underground

The Day I…Dressed as a Frog on the London Underground System

I spent a year living and working in London, and a fair bit longer travelling there to and fro over the years. It’s a city oozing in passion, but it’s all a bit too “business like” for me. Full of people in suits and briefcases, people with phones that do stuff only computers used to Read more about The Day I…Dressed as a Frog on the London Underground System[…]

shared car from KK to Kinabalu National Park

Climbing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo: Day 1 Part 1 – Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu National Park

Every hike starts the same way for me, and I’m sure for other travellers too. You get packed, you get little or no sleep, you wake up at 5am, grab a quick coffee and a bite and head off to the place where the hike begins. This is the first in my series of posts Read more about Climbing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo: Day 1 Part 1 – Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu National Park[…]

backpacking in brunei mosques bandar

Visiting the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

The Muslim state of Brunei Darussalam is, unsurprisingly full of Mosques. You might have read how I visited the Jame Asr Hassanail Mosque in the suburbs of Bandar Seri Begawan. It is a spectacular mosque. However, while staying in the city centre of Bandar Seri Begawan, the other main mosque in the city just had Read more about Visiting the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam[…]