The Day I…Got 6 A Grades in my GCSEs (and the Aftermath of the Great Exam Heist)

“There’s a bridge to the other side, don’t take your eyes from the prize.”- Dodgy Get ready for it to pour out of me. It feels like some back tracking is needed to my teens and a follow up to last Friday’s Paddy Campbell story. This won’t fill you with wonder or excitement, but it’s something Read more about The Day I…Got 6 A Grades in my GCSEs (and the Aftermath of the Great Exam Heist)[…]

addy campbell bangor

The Day My Best Mate at School Nicked the Exam Paper (and got expelled)

“I, I sometimes lose myself in me, I lose track of timeAnd I can’t see the woods for the trees, you set them alight.Burn the bridges as you’ve gone, I’m too weak to fight yaI’ve got my personal hell to deal with” – D:Ream (Londonderry, 1993) Paddy Campbell and I sang along to it instead Read more about The Day My Best Mate at School Nicked the Exam Paper (and got expelled)[…]

northern ireland belfast sailing out

World Borders: Getting the Belfast to Birkenhead Ferry (Northern Ireland to England)

It was a return to the familiar border crossings for me earlier in the year as I got the ferry from Belfast to Birkenhead. It’s a great way to get from Northern Ireland to England, and also avoids the hassle of flying, allows you to drive there by car, bring as much as you want Read more about World Borders: Getting the Belfast to Birkenhead Ferry (Northern Ireland to England)[…]

lock in lee brummie
sark bicycle backpacking

Backpacking in Sark, Channel Islands: Best 15 Things to Do

I love Sark. It’s just a magical dream like island. No public transport. No major advertising. No worries or stress. Sark is one of the few remaining places in the world where cars are banned from roads and only tractors and horse drawn vehicles are allowed. The population of Sark is less than 600 and Read more about Backpacking in Sark, Channel Islands: Best 15 Things to Do[…]

My Top 5 Backpacking Sights in London, England

Although it’s rare for me to write about backpacking or sightseeing in London, England the fact remains that I once spent a year working my ass off in London and it was only after leaving that job in 2007 (almost 7 years ago now) that I started this blog and became a more hardcore backpacker Read more about My Top 5 Backpacking Sights in London, England[…]

jonny blair 100 countries

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 Read more about Working Wednesdays: Feature in the Ards Chronicle, Newtownards, Northern Ireland[…]

Watching Football in Manchester, England Without a Season Ticket

Time for another wee football post on Don’t Stop Living, and it comes from a city drenched in the sport…Manchester, England. I wrote about my trip to Old Trafford in 2005 before – on that occasion I watched Northern Ireland play England. Manchester is the home of two of England’s “best” (debatable at the time Read more about Watching Football in Manchester, England Without a Season Ticket[…]