Working Wednesdays: Being Part of a Focus Group in Northern Ireland

Working Wednesdays: Being Part of a Focus Group in Northern Ireland

If you’ve followed the blog from the early days, you’ll know I covered my job history on here as I did it, especially the farming and bar work. Yet the Working Wednesdays feature still has at least 50 jobs I’ve done and not yet written about, so in an attempt to eventually get this blog Read more about Working Wednesdays: Being Part of a Focus Group in Northern Ireland[…]

Thirsty Thursdays: Top 5 Coffee Shops in North Down, Northern Ireland

Thirsty Thursdays comes from North Down in Northern Ireland today, so it does. Northern Ireland punches above its weight time and time again. And I mean in the metaphorical sense, not just in boxing (though the likes of McGuigan and Frampton certainly justify the phrase). A country housing 1.6 million people, boasting some of the Read more about Thirsty Thursdays: Top 5 Coffee Shops in North Down, Northern Ireland[…]

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One of the Last Customers to Stay in the Windsor Inn, Royal Hotel, Bangor, Northern Ireland

My recent travels in Northern Ireland have proved something to me – you can travel in your home country and love it, and get surprised by it. After my adventures on the north coast of Northern Ireland, I returned to my home town of Bangor, which is in County Down, just 12 miles from Belfast Read more about One of the Last Customers to Stay in the Windsor Inn, Royal Hotel, Bangor, Northern Ireland[…]

Staying at Cairn Bay Lodge, Bangor, Northern Ireland

I’ve stayed in some obscure places during Christmas and New Year down the years. I’m talking homestays in Iran, sharing rooms in Parramatta Australia, camping in the mountains of Peru or hiking in China. In 2014 however, I was in Europe at Christmas for the first time in 6 years. I decided to spend some time Read more about Staying at Cairn Bay Lodge, Bangor, Northern Ireland[…]

30 Year Reunion: Dinner with P1Preston in Donegans, Bangor, Northern Ireland

It was a fairly emotional return to Northern Ireland for me recently – my longest stay in my home country in over 11 years which is crazy to think about it. I had lined up some really cool stuff to do when I was back, and after touring the north coast, (including Portbraddon) watching Northern Read more about 30 Year Reunion: Dinner with P1Preston in Donegans, Bangor, Northern Ireland[…]

30 Year Reunion: School Tour of Kilmaine Primary School, Bangor, Northern Ireland

A calm Northern Irish wind reared its obvious head as I made the walk down to school. I hadn’t done my homework, my handwriting left a lot to be desired but I was on time, I had a grey shirt and school tie on and I was buzzing. I wasn’t a pupil any more however. Read more about 30 Year Reunion: School Tour of Kilmaine Primary School, Bangor, Northern Ireland[…]

Everything You Should Know About The Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

Backpacking in Northern Ireland, October 2014

“Someday we’ll return here. When the Belfast Child sings again.” – Simple Minds How can you go backpacking in your home country? Is it even possible? You know the towns, you know the roads, you know the local lingo, you can talk your way out of a political argument. But then…I’ve been away a while. Read more about Backpacking in Northern Ireland, October 2014[…]