Working Wednesdays – Don't Stop Living

10 Lessons Learned From 17 Years Of Travel Blogging

17 Lessons Learned From 17 Years Of Travel🌎🤳🏻Blogging💻📝👩‍💻

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Jonny Blair

“I’m just a notch in your bedpost, but you’re just a line in a song” – Fall Out Boy.

It’s the 3rd of November 2024. This travel blog started in on the 27th of August 2007 – well over 17 years – Wow! Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like it has been 17 years of blogging. SEVENTEEN. Nuts. Time really just catches up and passes us by, I often cannot fathom it. 17 years? That is mental. This travel blog is almost old enough to legally buy a pint of beer in Northern Ireland!! Remember the old quote I always used? Well haul on…I can still use it…

“You’ll turn around and life has passed you by” – Doves.

“And if there’s lessons to be learned, I’d rather get my jamming words in first” – Gabriella Cilmi.

And officially Don’t Stop Living has now been live in 18 calendar years, to become 19 calendar years when the 1st January 2025 chimes into view. So what have I learned? What’s the progression? Why am I even still travel blogging? Isn’t that a young man’s game? Not a chance. Travel blogs mature and change as they age, like everything else in life. Well if you ever wondered where the idea and brainchild of Don’t Stop Living emanated from, here I wrote that. It all started in Toronto in Canada in 2007, right now I live by a lake in Olstyn, Poland. The madness continues.

“No place to be ending but somewhere to start” – Sade.

Jelitkowo, Gdansk, POLAND: Sunday's Disillusion: Sea-wind, Re-wind, Re-start, De-start, Re-tox, De-tox (2015 - 2023) — Sunset loyal while whackpacking the world

“She’s a smooth operator” – Sade.

So without further ado, here are the top 17 things I have learned by travel blogging for the last 17 years.

1.Don’t Stop

This is the key thing for me – don’t stop (as opposed to “don’t stop living”). If you’ve started a travel blog, don’t stop it. Don’t quit. Keep it going. I have over 5,000 posts and pages on here now. I have about 5,000 MORE that I want to write but don’t have the time, and never will find the time, so I can’t stop, won’t stop and don’t stop. On other blogs and sites, my total of posts tops 10,000. That was easy because I am relentless, I kept going, I didn’t stop and I don’t stop.

“I can’t sleep cos the world won’t wait” – Noel Gallagher.

Sunday's Inspiration: The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword — Sunday’s Inspiration: The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

It’s no boast here on my 10 grand quantity of articles – just the fact of course. I don’t want to know how many hours in front of the computer that has meant, but I’m pretty proud of my back catalogue and the fact I started before most travel bloggers and am still going after most travel bloggers have disappeared. Goodnight Irene. Since Don’t Stop Living began in 2007, a total of 47,532 travel bloggers started and ENDED their blogs, never to return. They fell by the wayside – not good enough – no balls – fakes.

“I’ve seen all the disciples and all the wannabes, no-one wants to be themselves these days” – Jon Bon Jovi.

So what I’ve learned is to not stop. To keep going. To keep blogging. Blow every other travel blog into oblivion. Be the best. Plus I banged 229 countries into my backpack somehow during all that. Be relentless.

Where it all began for Don't Stop Living...Apple Store Toronto, Canada, July 2007. — Where it all began for Don’t Stop Living…travel blogging in Toronto, Canada, July 2007.

2.People STILL Read Travel Blogs!

Do they? Wait – it’s 2024! Yes folks – People ARE still reading travel blogs, even in November 2024. I used to doubt it in the early days. Quite a lot. I’d spend about 3 hours writing a post like Top 99 Sights in Pyongyang or how to whackpack Penis Rock in China, or more recently how to backpack Seborga, expecting it to go global, expecting people to read it. I click “Publish”, I share on Facebook, Twitter, Instgram and hey presto – zero likes, zero views, zero comments. Nobody cares.

Incorrect. I was wrong. There’s something known as the long tail, longevity…patience is needed.

While you’re sipping cocktails in Guinea-Bissau, someone is reading

So believe that once you write it and publish that blog post, it’s online forever…anyone can read it, anytime, and believe me they will 😉It takes patience and time. Even those who faked that they don’t read travel blogs – I caught them out many times, they do read them. You think I write a book called “Starogard Girl” thinking she hadn’t spent her life stalking me pretending not to know I backpacked 16 provinces in China? She knew, oh she knew.

You can buy My New Book: 💚STARO🌟GARD🏰GIRL🩷👱‍♀️Here.

While your post may not have attracted comments, shares, views and likes – people read it and then they used what they read to help their journey – they just didn’t have the time, or the need, or the honesty or the balls to tell you. People need information, so provide them with useful real life information and resources from your whackpacking journey. You’re helping the world travel and they will never ever care or thank you. They don’t have time. They won’t remember your name or your blog’s name, but you helped them. Stay humble.

Friday's Featured Food: Dāl Bhāt in The Himalayan Cafe With A View At Durbar Square, Kathmandu, Nepal 🇳🇵 — You saw my food and copied it.

“In the meantime we try to forget that nothing lasts forever” – Jarvis Cocker.

Recently I wrote an article on a ferry crossing which got zero comments, shares and likes. Then an anonymous reader messaged me and told me the ferry terminal details on it were incorrect. They were reading it. Proof that people do read them. That people do read travel blogs, but they don’t often comment or share them unless they stand out as controversial. I’m happy to shy away from the limelight once more. I’d rather write posts on crossing into Romkerhall, feeding hyenas in Ethiopia, backpacking in Iraq, Nagorno Karabakh and Changsha in China. Once your stuff is on the internet, someone somewhere will read it. Be aware of that, but don’t expect a fucking present – you’re just another travel blogger.

“The world is fool of fools” – Ian Brodie.

Backpacking In Northern Ireland🔴✋️☘️: Getting The Ferry From Ballycastle To Rathlin Island

3.You Shouldn’t Give A Shit About Other “Travel Bloggers”💩

I used to give a shit about other bloggers, but now I just don’t. I don’t care. Because they don’t care about me, and they also don’t care about you. It’s a dog eat dog selfish world. Hard Facts here…Down the years, I have found most other “travel bloggers” to be either –
(a) Assholes.
(b) Fakes.
I have blocked more “travel bloggers” from my blogs than readers and stalkers. I went to the Professional Travel Bloggers Conference once only – London (2014) and found that other travel bloggers were too arrogant or thought they were proper long term whackpackers. Come back to me when you’ve been blogging for 17 years and have worked hard to whackpack through 229 countries.

“The drugs don’t work, they just make you worse but I know I’ll see your face again” – Richard Ashcroft.

Most other travel blogs will be sh*t anyway, but only because you are genuine and real, and those gimps only ever started a blog to make money. I started my travel blog to tell my story and show what it is like to go whackpacking and to help others travel. That’s the real quiz. I’ve shat on so many fake travel bloggers, I needed to order a plumber for my toilet. He is still in there fixing it🤣

Don't Stop Living - Tuesday's Travel Essentials - always carry toilet roll — I just shat on your “travel blog”

If I see another travel blog on “We quit our jobs in New York to backpack 71 countries and never returned home” or “I sold all my stuff and moved to Thailand forever”, I might just be sick😂. However, I do respect the travel bloggers that are real, as I know it takes time and effort and travel is what they love. And that part is important.

“If you can wing it, make your money with a power ply” – Michael Stipe.

Boarding our flight from Windhoek to Amsterdam, my penultimate flight of 2020.

Also many other travel bloggers are extremely patronising and difficult to like – I have received very rude, arrogant and aggressive messages, comments and emails from “top bloggers” (allegedly – they’re not). My peers in the industry don’t like me writing about this, but the fact remains – there are some big twats out there and I’ll never read their sites (sorry – shites) again. Here’s a toilet article for you all.

“Solitary brother is there still a part of me that wants to live?” – Seal.

4.Understand Your Readers

In August 2007, when I published my first post, I had one reader. Me! That day, I read my own blog to check it posted correctly and had no spelling mistakes.😂

Nobody remembers these 2007 travel blogs I wrote.

Then over the next few days and weeks, I told my family and friends about my blog. Maybe my Mum and Dad read it after that in late 2007. Then maybe Lock In Lee and The Famous Millwall Neil. And Darch. But they are my family and friends. By 2008, a few more people were reading – workmates, flatmates, university mates. In 2009 though, backpacking Taiwan was the real game changer for my blog. Other people who I didn’t even know had started to read my stories – game changer, opener and money earner.

taiwan backpacking — Backpacking in Taiwan – awesome e-Book to save you money round the island!

Since Taiwan in 2009, I started to receive messages from followers, from backpackers who were asking about my journeys – how I got visas, how I organised my trips etc. I was shocked that people were reading, but then I realised why –

My travel blog at that time was the ONLY travel blog in the world at the time with standalone articles written in English about Xinying, Kwan Tu Ling, Hualien, Chiayi City…
My bake came up FIRST on Google when I googled “backpacking in Xinying”.

Looking back 15 years later, I cringe at my blog posts from 2007 – 2010 – they are all really shit now. But they made me. They brought me here. They put me on Google. They put advertisers in touch. This blog turned professional in 2012 and I haven’t looked back since. Since 2012, I haven’t needed to pay for accommodation or tours and have been earning a steady income from travel blogging. I see it as 5 years of hobby blogging (2007 – 2012) and since then 12 years of professional travel blogging (2012 – 2024). It could all end tomorrow…

“If it all amounts to nothing, it doesn’t matter, these are still our glory days” – Jarvis Cocker.

My Estonian backpacking buddy Natalja and I in a Local restaurant in Xinying, Taiwan

When people started to read and follow, I started to tailor my writing to them. The blog became a better resource. I improved. We do that in every job we do. I’m a better barman today than I was in 2001. The readers also bring such joy to my life, they keep me enthusiastic – like customers in a shop/bar. Some of the best stories have come through people reading my stuff. Walking through a busy parade in Tokyo and a guy shouts over and tugs my shirt – Hey you are Jonny from Don’t Stop Living! I toured the city of Quetzaltenango in Guatemala with Giovanni who followed my stuff. I meet a cool Canadian guy called Nick in Hanoi and he introduces my blog to one of his mates, Ray. Ray turns into one of my readers and we message each other all the time, plus just missed out on a beer together in Brazil and Katar. Next time Ray. I have met up face to face with lots of my readers – Martin Anthony in England, Selin in Turkey, Sapna in India etc.

Giovanni and I at the Teatro Municipal in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

My reader Sapna and I having breakfast together in New Delhi, India

oguzhan and selin ankara turkey — My new Turkish friends in ankara – Oguzhan and Selin, who found me through my blog.

Meeting up with Martin anthony in Liverpool and having a beer in the famous Cavern Club

So yeah – thanks for reading to all my readers and followers down the years. I care about you, my readers and I do have time for you. Message me on my journeys and we can meet for a beer and a chat.

5.Travel Blogging Is A Career

Travel blogging becomes your “job”, here’s how I earn money as a travel blogger. That might sound wild to newbies, but remember it’s 2024. You can (and should) work in other jobs alongside travel blogging, but if you don’t make it a focus or your career, you’re finished already. Remember – you can do anything if you want it enough. If you work hard and really travel you can of course make travel blogging into a career, and your main income stream, especially these days post-COVID were “working remotely/demuting” has become the new norm.

Hanging out with fellow travel writer Michael Miller in San Jose, Costa Rica.

While I don’t like to use the term “career” a professional travel blogger is just another job, albeit with some negative aspects. Jobwise, it’s just like being a butcher or a banker. We work hard in our niche, we earn money on being good at travel blogging. We try to be good at what we work on. I’ve tried. I’ve been earning money from my travel blogging since 2012. It’s my lifestyle and my career now. I don’t need to “work” anywhere else if I spend enough hours on travel blogging, but I sometimes like to do bar work, teaching English and copywriting as they add spice to my life and extra income.

6.Your Travel Blog Doesn’t Have to be Good to Make Money

Unfortunately, this point is true – so even those shit blogs I hate are making money. Just like a beer doesn’t have to be good to sell. Remember – marketing, PR and outreach are just as important. If someone has put effort in and their blog isn’t great but their commitment is top class, they also deserve to make money. And they will. There are some truly SHIT travel blogs out there making way more money than me, and way more money than you. But their business model is their business – it’s up to them. Once you crack $1,000 US month, aim for $2,000, then $3,000 then the big bucks of $10,000.

“Shake it up baby now, twist and shout” – The Beatles.

7.You Should Always Be Yourself.

This is probably the best one. Be yourself. Be YOU. Be honest and real. Go where you want to go. Be where you want to be. See what you want to see. Write what you want to write. Ignore others! It’s your blog – make it your pride and passion and enjoy it. I have no time for fakes and wannabes and believe me – there are a fair few out there! I am myself and I really love travelling the world to where I want to go, on my terms. If you want to backpack Curacao just to drink Blue Curacao, then go do it. The world is your oyster.

“Because we want to, because we want to” – Billie Piper.

Drinking Blue Curacao in Curacao, because I wanted to

“I need to be myself, I can’t be no-one else” – Noel Gallagher.

8.The Clue is in the title “Travel Blog!!”: You Have to Really TRAVEL

Get out there and be REAL please – actually travel. One of my biggest bug bears in life is travel bloggers who are fake and don’t even travel. It grills me. The worst offenders are the types who head to Thailand for 2 weeks, start a “blog” then move back in with their family in the USA/England/Canada etc. and sit on their laptops pretending they’re some kind of backpacking guru that knows how to travel the world! Their sole travel experiences were sitting on a beach in Thailand and seeing Angkor Wat in Cambodia. They don’t even know how to change money abroad, how to get visas, how to whackpack Africa, or how to visit a country they’ve never heard of and they only went there to get drunk, get their photo with an elephant and sit on a beach. You won’t bump into them while you are groundhopping in Haiti. Fakes!!

“Strawberry fields, nothing is real” – John Lennon.

Watching FC Toro in Petionville, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

“Pretenders to the throne” – The Beautiful South.

The worst part of these fake travel blogs are the Facebook pages they create, day after day they share photos they haven’t taken themsleves and lots with “inspiring travel quotes” on them!! As if they are trying to inspire other people to travel without having been to that place themselves. What you see is what you get on Don’t Stop Living. My Facebook page photos are real from my travels, my stories are real and I put as many photos of MYSELF in there as I can – this is my blog. I hate generics – blogs with no photos of the writer. Fake.

“Generic generic and that’s the way you like it, you like it” – Dan Darch at Dean Court.

It’s a photo of me – be real blogger – put yourself in the photos

I’m not sitting typing up stuff pretending I’m in Ethiopia or putting quotes like “Wow! Paris is cool, have you been?” Well, yes I have been, but is the person that posted that there now?? Are they backpacking down to Marseille? In most cases not – they’re dreamers and wannabes and the people who are actually out travelling are the only ones you should trust. These “travel bloggers” are also the ones that slag travellers like me off, just because I’m actually backpacking across borders, writing about real stuff that happens and being myself. Oasis actually went to the beach in Weston-super-Mare to do the photoshoot for Roll With It.

“I know the roads on which your life will drive” – Noel Gallagher.

9.Don’t Work For Free

Once you start making money on your travel blog, you have to make sure you up the ante – increase your prices for adverts, sponsored posts and services.

Do not work for free. Be the King or the Queen. It’s your trAvel blog, it’s your website. King It. Queen It.

I’m constantly firing beggars out of my cannon. They pay me now, and they have since 2012. Trevor Warman from Nomadic Backpacker and I call them “the $30 Dollar Brigade”, which is the begging low budget advertisers we say no to. I charge $250 US for a sponsored post. Like it or leave it, or compromise with us…

“Shouting at the world you’ll never change, but it’s what’s inside you’ve got to rearrange” – Andy Cairns.

10.Have Patience

See in my point number two – about people reading your travel blog – it takes time – it’s a long-term project. This travel blog started in 2007, even by early 2009 not many people were reading it. I blocked Google adsense in 2009 for not paying me the money they owed me, I never looked back. Officially, I didn’t make any money on travel blogging until 2012!!

“all we need is just a little patience” – Guns ‘n’ Roses.

“Expecting To Fly” – The Bluetones.

11.Join Every Social Media Under The Sun

Even if you don’t like all social media platforms – join them all anyway. Every single slice of promotion is an extra viewer, an extra reader, extra exposure and ultimtely more money. Over expose yourself. Over promote yourself. Get your profile out for the girls.

Jonny Blair –
Tourist, Travel Writer, Itinerary Planner, Author, Long-term Backpacker
Ulster Cherry, Globetrotting Glenman, Travelling Northern Irishman, Northern Irishman in Poland
Like DSL on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/donotstopliving
Follow DSL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonnyblair
Follow DSL on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jonnydontstopliving
Follow DSL on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ulsterczyk
Follow DSL on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jonnyscottblair
Don’t Stop Living – A lifestyle of travel. I’m a travelling Northern Irishman.

I won’t keep the receipts for the friends that I bought…

Backpacking In Bolivia🇧🇴: Salar De Uyuni Tour – Part 4 – Flying The Flag and Hotel on Salt

I’ve noticed ridiculously some bloggers refusing to join certain social media platforms – “oh I don’t do Twitter, Facebook is excrement” etc. – idiocy – clearly you have no clue and don’t want the money – as Chris “Taggart” Tarrant would say…

“You’ve just lost £16,000” – Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.

Don't Stop Living On Facebook — Don’t Stop Living On Facebook

In 2024, my “second” blog now, Northern Irishman In Poland, has 8,000 followers and it’s nothing compared with how big Don’t Stop Living once was (it peaked at 9,000 in 2016 before depression kicked in). You can fall from grace, but you’ll never lose it when you’re always engaging with your readers. But actually in reality, Northern Irishman in Poland is bigger now, on Facebook. It’s massive. It’s hard to fathom. Travel blogging on the outside is not so clear. I met Starogard Girl because she FOUND me as a travel blogger.

Northern Irishman in Poland up to 8,000 followers in 2024

12.Diversify Your Income Streams

Don’t rely on one travel blog bringing in loads of cash – you might be epic and lucky to make thousands of dollars from ONE site, but it doesn’t always work like that. I earn money in loads of different ways now.

If a shop or cafe is closed, it doesn’t earn money.

Cafe Anka - my travel friend's favourite is now closed. — Cafe Anka – my travel friend’s favourite is now closed.

When Don’t Stop Living turned professional, I started other sites and other projects online. Plus, I was also working as a teacher in schools and offices and in a bar. Since Don’t Stop Living started in 2007, I have worked in over 50 other jobs including teaching, farming, bar work, ferry stewarding, welcome host, PR rep and copywriting. I’ve written a fair bit about those jobs on my blogs too – but most people don’t care or don’t read them.

Jonny Blair's 5 tips to earn money on your travels - working in multiple jobs — Working Wednesdays: Welcome Host for Internations in Hong Kong in 2013.

Teaching English in Kuklowka, Poland in 2016.

jonny blair travel blog sponsored posts — Teaching English in Hong Kong in 2011.

Wightlink ferries stewards — The dream team in 2008 on Wightlink Ferries – Jo, Jonny, Simon. Great memories…

Working for Wightlink Car Ferries in 2008.

delaneys irish bar 2 continents — Behind the bar in Delaney’s in Hong Kong in 2011.

jonny blair on pavilion bar bournemouth — Working in Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre, England in 2008

On top of those jobs, I have also released books.

Buy my Backpacking Centurion book series –
Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back In Bangor
Volume 2 – Lands Down Under
Volume 3 – Taints And Honours
Volume 4 – The Black Volume
Buy my This Is The Next Century Series –
Volume 1 – Aftershot
Volume 2 – Starogard Girl
Volume 3 – Fool Circle
Volume 4 – The Darker Volume

Starogard Girl, one of my many printed books

13.Mingle With The Best

I’ve been a travel blogger since 2007, that is even before Nomadic Matt started. In 2014, met Nomadic Matt and Wandering Earl and those guys are exactly as they say. They are real. It was these guys that gave me this advice. I knew after I met them both, that I had grown up in a tougher environment (Northern Ireland) than them, but I also knew that I had travelled way way more than they had. Suddenly, I could give backpacking advice to the world’s best known travel blogger…down the years I have met a lot of fellow travel bloggers, however many of them are fake backpackers and keyboard ninjas…

Nomadic Matt and I in New York City in 2014

A night out with Wandering Earl in Romania in 2014

13.Keep Your Travel Blogs Updated. Regularly.

Again – this is an opinion and I might get slated for it but the clue should be in the title – “TRAVEL blog”. If I see a travel blog without a post for 2 or 3 weeks without an explanation, I’ll start to think the person wasn’t really travelling (health and family issues aside – I’m talking about on a regular occurrance). It’s a lot easier than you think keeping a travel blog up to date. I’ve had at least 6 posts a month for the last 17 years, some months I had over 50 posts, and in that time I have still visited about 200 countries. It takes an hour a day to write a post and put up some photos. If I can do it (and I’m not great at computers) then anyone can do it. Today, I can go back through my hundreds of travel blog folders and write any article I want from them…even in the last few months, I backdated articles on New Zealand, England, Tasmania and Northern Ireland.

17 Lessons Learned From 17 Years Of Travel Blogging

14.Over-promote Yourself. Everywhere you can.

Don’t say no to any chance to promote yourself. Have a look at my media page. I have been in over 20 printed newspapers, over 400 OTHER blogs, over 30 Podcasts and many many other media options. I love to outreach and expose myself – trust me – this way more people will have heard of you, more people will find you, connect with you and the money will roll in faster from advertisers.

Newspaper geek for my first book launch in 2020

17.I was featured in two newspapers in Northern Ireland about my book release - The County Down Spectator, Sunday Life and Belfast Telegraph. — I was featured in newspapers in Northern Ireland

Working Wednesdays: My Feature in Gazeta Kociewska, Starogard Gdański, Poland — My first Polish newspaper feature in 2016.

Even last month, October 2024, I was traveller of the month on Teaspoon of adventure. I constantly promote my blogs and interact online with other media platforms. For any of you out there who are tourists, travellers, fellow bloggers, I can also feature YOU on my blog on my series – World Travellers or Backpacking Buddies. Contact me and be on my series – jonny (at) dontstopliving (dot) net.

“It turns out, you only get to do it once” – Liam Gallagher.

15.Be Boundless and Limitless

When I worked for Bite Communications (a PR agency) in London in 2006, I learned that setting boundaries and limits is a very bad idea. Be the yes man – have NO LIMITS. Don’t say no to companies – take all the money and the freebies while they are they. Once you become professional travel blogger, you realise you shouldn’t be paying for things like hotels, tours, lunches, backpacks, dinners, business cards etc.- milk it all and go wild on your outreach…

“There’s no limits” – 2 Unlimited.

Three Days in Madonna's Island: La Isla Bonita, San Pedro, Belize — Three Days in Madonna’s Island: La Isla Bonita, San Pedro, Belize

16.Write Nuts articles🥜😂

“Don’t be someone who they forget” – Melanie C.

One of the things I love the most about travel blogging is that it is limitless – I have full control and power to write about anything I want. This is why I write some nuts articles, from doing nuts things, like whackpacking The Kingdom Of Lovely at London away, feeding hyenas in Ethiopia, attending a fireball festival in Nejapa, going nude around the world, touring the bars of alderney. Be wild, nuts, creative – write about what nobody else is writing about. I’m still the only backpacking tourist to write about Podjistan and Adammia. Stand out from the crowd, go off the wheaten craic because even “the beaten track” is fake now, and overtrodden.

“Standing at the end of time, in ecstasy” – Tim Wheeler.

First tourist to visit the Capital Brewery in the Empire of Adammia

One of my crazy moments in Africa - feeding hyenas hand to mouth and mouth to mouth — One of my crazy moments in Africa – feeding hyenas hand to mouth and mouth to mouth

17.Writing Comes First

It should go without saying really, or without writing really – but put the writing FIRST. Remember – being a travel blogger means you are WRITING about TRaVEL. That’s it – a blogger is an online writer. Instagrammers, Tik-Tokkers and YouTubers are Instagrammers, Tik-Tokkers and YouTubers – they are NOT bloggers unless their writing is first and their social media is second.

You don’t just sit in a rocking chair once you’ve built a revolution.

The Hemingway Trail: Drinking A Daiquiri In The Place Where It Was Invented – El Floridita in Havana, Cuba

On a final note, I also learned how important it is to build a database of contacts – in those 17 years of travel blogging, I have built up MaSSIVE database of pver 100,000 contacts – even my database is endless and limitless – I have contacts on there cross multiple genres and subjects ranging from football to porn to casinos to tourism to beer to cocktails to ferry companies to banks to shoes.

So amen to 17 years of travel blogging. It’s a milestone. Time for a drink and you relax and have a nice day…and don’t become one of the fakes please 😉

PS – I had to type this up without the 1, q, a, z buttons on my keyboard working, nor the exclamation mark! – this meant I copied and pasted every time I needed that letter!!!

aFC Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester City. Don’t Look Back In Boscombe, Noel…

My New Business Cards From Aura Print

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Jonny Blair

As the pandemic continues, I have been trying to promote my books as well as my website. In case you missed my triple book launches, here is a reminder of the three volumes of Backpacking Centurion –

Down the years I have a changing selection of business cards. It’s the way it works. You buy 300 or 500, you hand them out and exchange them. Then you need to order more. A blogger without a business card isn’t a business blogger. An author without a business card isn’t a business author. Money isn’t the be all and end all of life though, but I’ve always wanted to promote myself. In fact, my first “business” cards back in 1997 were just for a hobby. My first business cards were for the “Here We Go… Again” Northern Ireland football fanzine.

Later, I had business cards made when I was the chairman of the South of England Northern Ireland Supporters Club.

Finally, my travel Blog, Don’t Stop Living launched in 2007 and I needed cards for it too. It was always all about promotion.

In 2013, I got new business cards for Don’t Stop Living.

jonny blair dont stop living business cards — Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: Business Cards and Keeping in Touch

In 2016, I got another batch made, my favourite design up to that point.

In 2017, I had a new blog, Northern Irishman in Poland and I got cards for it too.

Business Cards for Northern Irishman in Poland

Then in 2020, I finally released my first printed book. It is called Don’t Look Back In Bangor, and it’s Volume 1 of my Backpacking Centurion series.

The Backpacking Centurion Hat-Trick ( Trilogy/ Trójmiasto / Tri-City ) Is Now CompleteBackpacking Centurion in 2015: Original Chapter Completion Before Splission and Title Changes

“But don’t look back in Bangor, I heard you write”…

Then I realised that none of my business cards had the word “author” on them. So I decided to order some new ones. Online is the way to do it and so I asked Aura Print (UK based) to not only print me business cards, but to design them. As you can see, my new business cards are excellent, very professional and ready for my first major travel event of 2021 – the Festiwal Siedem Stron Świata – spotkania o podróżach at Siedem Ogrodów in the town of Łowicz Wałecki in Poland!

Here are the details for organising business cards through Aura Print –

01484 429 300
Aura Print
Floor 2
Turnbridge Mills
Huddersfield
West Yorkshire
HD1 6QT
[email protected]

Mon – Fri, 09:00 – 17.30

Good luck in your upcoming business adventures!

Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back in Bangor – FINALLY Released 25th June 2020

Posted on June 24, 2020April 20, 2021 by Jonny Blair

“Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine, I’m leaving my life in your hands” – Backstreet Boys.

The 25th June 1982 was a day to remember for the Northern Ireland football team. By no mere coincidence, and five years later than billed, on the 25th June 2020, I finally release the first volume of my long-awaited and forever delayed “Backpacking Centurion” series. It’s only the first volume, the rest is yet to come (but of course the next 3 volumes are also, already written). Last week, I wrote about my first five book appearances and while I loved all of those, this new release is the bigger one and the more special one. The Backpacking Centurion series is where it’s all at for my journeys. This begs for a few questions as I prepare for the book’s release and so here, are the answers.

What is Backpacking Centurion?

Backpacking Centurion is Jonny Blair’s first printed collection of solo books. It is a series of honest and real stories from his travels through the first 100 countries of his journey. The series begins in 1980 in Northern Ireland and takes us on a journey right through until 2015, in Spain (just after Jonny’s 100th or 114th country depending on your classifications). The book was written between 1991 – 2015 on Jonny’s journeys to 100 countries. From 2015 – 2020 it was edited on many ocassions and as a result needed to be split into different volumes, as the book was too huge.

ebook jonny blair — Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back in Bangor – FINALLY Released 25th June 2020

How Many Volumes are in Backpacking Centurion?

The answer to this is still unclear. At the start, in 2015, it was meant to be just ONE book – all 147 chapters were written and then 47 of them were cut to make one book. However that book was too huge and needed to be split into three main volumes. Those three volumes are currently being edited into separate books and will be released as follows –

Summer 2020 – Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back In Bangor. (available worldwide September 12th 2020)
Autumn 2020 – Volume 2 – Lands Down Under.
Winter 2021 – Volume 3 – Untitled as yet.
Potentially Spring 2021 – Volume 4 / The Chapters that missed the cut – Untitled as yet.

All four volumes are finished.

What is Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back in Bangor?

Don’t Look Back In Bangor is the first volume from Jonny Blair’s “Backpacking Centurion” series. This book focuses on Jonny’s early days growing up in Northern Ireland, watching football and dreaming of one day travelling to far flung places like Yugoslavia, East Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Jonny kicks things off in Northern Ireland, with stories of childhood hobbies, teenage angst and global aspirations. Expect honesty and lies intertwined with regret, remorse, desire and passion. This is a journey of ups and downs. By the end of volume one, Jonny will have taken you from Bangor to Bobruisk, from Belfast to Bournemouth and from Newtownards to Osterweddingen. The book includes diaries from Jonny’s first trips abroad, his discovery of unknown places and the loves of his life. It is a thriling and emotional journey with boundless energy, flawless flair and unstoppable aplomb.

Why has Volume 1 taken so long to release?

This is the burning question. The book was basically completed FIVE years ago. In May 2020 the final edits were made and a few chapter changes were needed and the volumes were altered. The main reason for the delay is because Jonny had no idea which way to release this book. He didn’t want an e-Book, he didn’t want to publish it himself, he didn’t want it limited to one country. He wanted a printed book on his terms, available right now to be posted to anywhere in the world. As Jonny admitted, the writing was EASY, the editing was slightly gruelling but overall EASY. The putting it into a format to sell was the most difficult thing I ever imagined.

But the writing of course was easy. Easy easy easy.

Top 1000 Unwritten Blog Posts: I'll Never Get These All Written And There Is NO Such Thing As Writer's Block — Top 1000 Unwritten Blog Posts: I’ll Never Get These All Written And There Is NO Such Thing As Writer’s Block

I basically thought, you just write a book, send it to a publisher, pay them and then they print it and sell it. If only it was that easy. I contacted every publisher in Northern Ireland. None of them were suitable. I contacted publishers in Poland. None of them were suitable. Bookbaby agreed that for a fee they could sell it via 15 or more different sites around the world, including Amazon, and so I have used them for the FIRST three Volumes. Here is my Author Profile page on Book Baby – https://store.bookbaby.com/profile/JonnyBlair

How much does Volume 1 – DLBIB – cost to buy?

$19.82 US (plus P and P)

This is the sad part. I wanted to sell it for $19.82 or £19.82. That is the exact year that Northern Ireland beat Spain 1-0 in the World Cup and for me, I wanted my book to be this price. While officially on the website, the book is listed at $19.82, this doesn’t include shipping, or postage and packaging.

DO NOT buy my book now!! Wait Until 12th September 2020!!

So to buy the book for the price of $19.82, you need to meet me physically and pay me in cash for it. I live in Poland so anyone living in Poland will get first copies of the book face to face. For sure I will lose money on this book, but that is not the point, the point is that Book Baby, Amazon and DHL (or whatever delivery service it is) will basically take most of the profits. Especially DHL. When I first checked the price on the Book Baby site, I couldn’t believe it – the book costs $19.82 but the shipping for ONE book costs $25 US and up. I was astounded and shocked by this. That means, that if you want the book posted to you now, it will cost you over $45 US dollars. Not exactly ideal and will basically reduce the sales by well over 70% of my expectations. But wait until September 12th 2020 and it should be much cheaper shipping wise!! It’s just one of those things!

Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 - Jonny Blair's New Book — Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 – Jonny Blair’s New Book

Of course, I could make the book free of charge and then you just pay the postage, but then I have to pay for the printing myself and would be bankrupt before you know it. That means DHL make a load of money on MY book and I go into debt…not ideal and not my dream.

All this bureaucracy doesn’t put me off writing, but it does continue my anti-capitalist ideal. If I could just print this book in my bedroom and post them all personally to you (using Poczta Polska) I would do it and it would be cheaper. But I use Book Baby as the middle man to manage it and they are professional about it. So I know that this book is not released in an ideal way, after all these years but for me, I’d rather lose money and have it released with the option for everyone to buy it, than keep it private forever.

Backpacking Centurion - Draft cover — Backpacking Centurion – Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back In Bangor

Full Details of the book

Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
SubGenre: Adventurers & Explorers
Language: English
Author: Jonny Blair
Release Date (Poland): 25th June 2020
Release Date (Global): 12th September 2020
Book series: Backpacking Centurion
Book sub-title: A Northern Irishman’s Journey Through 100 Countries
Series title: Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back In Bangor
Series Number: 1
Pages: 300
Format: Paperback
Paperback ISBN:9781098315061

Backpacking Centurion FINALLY Released - Volume 1 - Don't Look Back in Bangor — Backpacking Centurion FINALLY Released – Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back in Bangor

What do you mean Backpacking Centurion ends in 2015? What about the stories from 2015 – 2020?

The final Chapter of Backpacking Centurion (Volume 3) relates to April 2015. That is when that story ends and the closing of the book. The book was finished in August 2015. As for my travels after April 2015, those will be for a totally different project and a different book. They are NOT part of the unique “first 100 country series”, which is why Backpacking Centurion ended in April 2015.

Backpacking Centurion by Jonny Blair - Volume 1 - Don't Look Back In Bangor — Backpacking Centurion by Jonny Blair – Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back In Bangor

Here is the full chapter listing for Volume One.

#ulsterczyk #dontstopliving #backpackingcenturion

Chapterski

Chapter 1 – Fool Circle (April 2015)
Chapter 2 – My Childhood Sweetheart (The 1980s)
Chapter 3 – Arconada…Armstrong! (25^th June 1982)
Chapter 4 – My First Backpacking Adventure (1991)

Chapters 5, 6 and 7 Prelude to the Bangor Grammar School Trilogy

Chapter 5 – The Great Exam Heist (May 1994)
Chapter 6 – Where Were You While We Were Getting High? (1994 – 1996)
Chapter 7 – The OXI One (25^th June 1997)

Chapter 8 – The Good Friday Disagreement (1997 – 1998)
Chapter 9 – My Favourite Mistake (2001 – 2002)
Chapter 10 – Don’t Stop Living (2001 onwards)
Chapter 11 – The Lock In (2003 onwards)
Chapter 12 – The Night I Sacked My Flatmate (2004)
Chapter 13 – For Your Arms Only (30^th March 2004)
Chapter 14 – Lauren (2004 – 2005)
Chapter 15 – The Seventy Quid Taxi (March 2005)
Chapter 16 – Barfgate (March 2005)
Chapter 17 – The Original Monopoly Pub Crawl (April 2005)
Chapter 18 – Travel Blogging Chilled The Radio Star (1997 – 2008)
Chapter 19 – The Best Rock’n’Roll Band You Never Heard Of (2005 – 2006)
Chapter 20 – The Isle of Wight Green (2006)
Chapter 21 – Biting the Apple (2006 – 2007)
Chapter 22 – What’s A Travel Blog? (2007)
Chapter 23 – How Till Get Drunk for Ten Dollars in New York City (July 2007)
Chapter 24 – Dust From a Distant Sun (July 2007)
Chapter 25 – A Fast Flight to China (July 2007)
Chapter 26 – Multiple B (August 2007)
Chapter 27 – Present (August 2007)
Chapter 28 – He Wears An Ulster Hat (September 2007)
Chapter 29 – Right Backs on the Left (September 2007)
Chapter 30 – SOENISC, The Glory Years (2005 – 2009)
Chapter 31 – Ulster Cherry (2003 – 2005)
Chapter 32 – The Day We Got Relegated (May 2008)
Chapter 33 – Walletless in Trieste (October 2008)
Chapter 34 – Wegoslavia (October 2008)
Chapter 35 – Cod and a Good Romance (2008 – 2009)

Where has Volume 1 been released?

25th June 2020 – Released in Poland only for $19.82 or 100 zlotych (face to face purchase only).

Backpacking Centurion Facebook Page – sign up / like the Facebook Page to stay up to date for book updates.

I signed up to Book Baby in 2014, I finished the book completely (yes, really) in 2015. My profile on Book Baby – https://store.bookbaby.com/profile/JonnyBlair. Here is the exact link to buy the book from Book Baby (but unless you want to pay high postage charges, don’t buy it there – wait until September 2020 or meet me in Poland before that and buy it face to face) –

Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back in Bangor on Book Baby

12th September 2020 – Released Globally!!

From 12th September 2020 EVERYONE will be able to buy my book online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other such online Bookstores.

Here is the exact link to buy the book from Barnes and Noble –

Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back in Bangor on Barnes and Noble

Here is the exact link to buy the book from Amazon –

Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back in Bangor on Amazon

The book will also be available on Kobo, Vearsa and Scribd (amongst others). So unless you want to wait until September 2020, the best way to buy the book for the bargain price, is actually to MEET ME face to face! Not only, will the book be cheaper, but you cut out the middle man. As author, I then get all the profits, you get a signed copy and I also have the pleasure of meeting someone who buys my book. This does mean that I will probably do some small book launches or events in times to come. If not after Volume 1 alone, then perhaps after Volumes 2 or 3.

Alas, as of 25th June 2020, Volume 1 is released…

Recommendations

Although “Backpacking Centurion” has yet to be read by anyone, ahead of its launch, here are some public recommendations about the author, Jonny Blair.

“There may be better bloggers, there may be better travellers but at both Jonny Blair is flawless and combined he is unstoppable.” – A Life Less Ordinary.

“A travel writer and backpacker, he has been travelling full-time for seven of the past 13 years and has visited around 120 countries – many of them currently struggling under the weight of years of warfare.” – Irish Times.

“You’re the best traveller, Jonny. I can’t wait to buy your book.” – A.M.

“Jonny has unending energy and zest for… well, just about everything. No question too complex, no trip too mundane with Jonny. He travels, explores, pokes, prods and enjoys every second – Travel in his footprints or via your arm chair but Don’t Stop Living!” – Maria Falvey.

“Don’t Stop Living!” – High School Graffiti Artist in Toronto, Canada.

Working Wednesdays: My First 5 Book Appearances

Posted on June 17, 2020January 3, 2023 by Jonny Blair

During the pandemic, I was able to finally release my first solo printed book series (Backpacking Centurion), along the wayside, I forgot I already had appeared in 5 books before that. A hat-trick of E’s and a brace of printed ones. For today’s Working Wednesday, I thought I would put them all on one post. I have no idea if you can even still buy all of these, but I will put the links anyway.

Working Wednesdays: My Published Author Book Appearances

1.Green and White Army – The Northern Ireland fans by Ivan Martin

Year of release – 2008.
Type – Paperback.
Available – Green and White Army

From 2005 – 2009, I was chairman of the South of England Northern Ireland Supporters Club. It was a completely crazy time of my life looking after a bunch of buck eejits. I was asked to be a part of an excellent book on the Northern Ireland football fans. That book was released in 2008 and can still be bought on Amazon. Despite appearing in university magazines, fanzines, newspapers and websites, this was actually my first real “book” appearance, although not quite as an author, but as an interviewee…

The Green and White Army - Northern Ireland fans by Ivan Martin — The Green and White Army – Northern Ireland fans by Ivan Martin

2.Albania to America by Shaun Schofield

Year of release – 2010.
Type – Paperback.
Available – Not available but the prequel is here – There’s Always One: Ten Years of Watching Northern Ireland (June 1995-June 2005)

In 2006, Northern Ireland football fan, personal friend, author and gallivanter Shaun Schofield released his first book, There’s Always One. A year later whilst drinking with Shaun in Gillingham in England (watching a Northertn Ireland v. England ladies match), Shaun and I planned to go to Belarus together to watch a match. That match was Belarus v. Northern Ireland ladies in August 2007. In the end, Shaun pulled out and I went alone and because of that, he asked me to write a guest chapter for his next book, Albania to America, which I gladly did. My appearance in that book was my first time being a published author. I wrote all of Chapter 16 and also contributed a photo to the book. That was in 2010, and now when I checked – the book is no longer available, but I have my own copy and a special hardback copy thanks to being included as an author in the book.

3.My First Ever Travel Blog by Jonny Blair

Year of release – 2015.
Type – E-book.
Available – My First Ever Travel Blog: School Trip to the Netherlands, 1991

I decided that the first ever e-Book I would release should be exactly what fits it – my first ever travel blog. So my actual Travel Blog from 1991 on my first ever backpacking adventure to the Netherlands became my first ever e-Book. I might have released it 24 years too late. But it was important for me to put that trip out there to the public as it was my first ever trip without my parents, back in 1991 and it no doubt inspired a life of Wanderlust. A condensed version of that e-Book will appear as part of a chapter in the upcoming printed book, Backpacking Centurion.

jonny blairs travel book — My First Ever Travel Blog: School Trip to the Netherlands, 1991

My First Ever Travel Blog: Trip to the Netherlands, 1991

4.The Backpacker’s Guide to the Inca Trail by Jonny Blair

Year of release – 2015.
Type – E-book.
Available – The Backpackers Guide to the Inca Trail

When I backpacked through South America, I once had a plan to release a few e-Books on that continent, as well as one on Antarctica. I completed the Inca Trail on Christmas Day 2010 and released my e-Book on it. It is a guide on how to organise, plan and do the real Inca Trail. That one was released in 2015. I didn’t really promote it much. I also later shelved the other two similar books I had at the time – The Backpacker’s Guide to Antarctica and The Backpacker’s Guide to Montevideo, Uruguay. They never saw the light of day, nor will they.

The Backpackers Guide to the Inca Trail by Jonny Blair

5.South America Borders by Kali Kucera, Lorraine Caputo and Jonny Blair

Year of release – 2015.
Type – E-Book.
Available – South America Borders: The insider’s guide to crossing over 40 borders in and out of 12 countries by bus, boat, or a walking stick!

In 2015, I also co-authored a book with fellow South American backpackers Kali and Lorraine. This was a great book about how to cross every single border in South America and it has been updated too. Given that I backpacked about 10 borders there by land and boat, this was quite easy to write and release. However none of 3, 4 or 5 on this list were ever released as paperback books!

All that’s left to say is watch this space as I try to bring the fourth volume of the Backpacking Centurion series to you very soon. It has been a long and delayed process but finally with those three books out of the way, I can focus on my next project!

Stay safe and happy reading!

Working Wednesdays: Teaching English Online From Home

Posted on May 6, 2020May 8, 2020 by Jonny Blair

It feels almost unimaginable that we can now work online from the comfort of our homes as an English teacher. I remember back to my days at Tech in the 1990s when a guy at Tech got a pager for the first time. A pager you say? You even forgot they existed right? That was in 1997. Nobody else knew what a pager was and none of my friends of family had a mobile phone or an email address. Fast forward 23 years and you look like an idiot now if you don’t have an email address, a smart phone or even a Facebook Account. Times have changed. This of course should be all for the better. As a blogger, I can now work online from around the world as long as I have internet. But as a teacher, you can work anywhere you want as well, also provided you have internet of course.

My TEFL and Teaching Journey

So I got my TEFL years ago. 2011 to be exact and just after that, I was working in kindergartens and primary schools teaching English in Hong Kong. The TEFL – Teaching English as a Foreign Language is the place where the entire adventure starts. Once you have your TEFL, the world is your oyster. I spent about 4 years teaching English in Asia and I loved it – I earned good money, I worked in over 10 different schools teaching ages 3 – 16 as well as adults. After that, I continued to do some teaching, whether as a volunteer, educating friends or going into schools on my travels.

kindergarten kids at mid autumn festival — With the kindergarten kids during Mid Autumn Festival in 2011.

I simply haven’t had enough time to write about all my teaching experiences but they have been so memorable and for sure this made a huge impact on my life. Especially in Asia, where I managed to visit 16 Chinese Provinces and every country in the continent except Nepal, Pakistan, Palau, Bhutan, Tibet, Pakistan and Maldives.

Jonny Blair in Tsuen Wan Hong Kong — Playing with the kids in a kindergarten in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

Since the 2020 Coronavirus lockdown, life has changed though, right? So this means teachers have stopped teaching face to face for the most part. While that is true, what about the alternative – teaching English from the comfort of your own home…

Can you Teach English from Home?

Yes you can! These days it is easier than you think! You will need a laptop and internet, plenty of materials and skills plus of course the relevant qualifications. You can find clients online – Google search should help with that. You can sign up for an agency. I am currently teaching English in Poland. Since the Coronavirus lockdown, I have been at home for over 8 weeks now. In that time, I have been teaching English online from my home. To do this, I contacted my clients and organised times and dates.

I prepared materials for lessons and then signed up for many online video platforms. These include Webex, Whereby, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Skype and Zoom. The connection isn’t always as good as face to face teaching of course, but it’s still a great way to earn money from the comfort of your own home.

Now it is your turn!

So why not go for it? Teaching English online is a really amazing chance to earn money while gaining an amazing experience from your own home. For more info, request a call back or enrol today from The TEFL Academy!

Stay safe and Good luck!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! My Top 6 Saint Patrick’s Days Down The Years

Posted on March 17, 2020March 17, 2020 by Jonny Blair

Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick is a man of pure oxymoronic nature if today’s commercial excrement could for an ungreedy second be aware of who this guy really was. Money took over the world folks – just ask DickMonalds and Coca Cola. There is no need for Valentine’s Day Thorntons or Interflora or Christmas Santa Clauses swigging Coke, or Guinness promotion of a Green Day (I hope you have the time of your life).

However there is a need for Saint Patrick’s Day, in Northern Ireland for sure, where he spent most of his adult life and is buried (in Downpatrick) and there is also a need to celebrate it in the Republic of Ireland, as he spent a lot of time in Donegal and apparently arrived by boat into Dublin. But even the man himself is oxymoronised these days!! By buck eejits, I hasten to add.

Patrick is not buried in the Republic of Ireland, nor is he from there, nor did he spend most of his life there. He is buried in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland (UK), he hailed from Wales (also UK). What’s more is that his colour is blue (NOT green) and this is why Northern Ireland (Ireland) football team started off in blue and often add blue to our home or away kit. St. Patrick’s flag is also not green but it is a red saltire diagnol cross. And finally, and best of all – Saint Patrick didn’t drink alcohol!! Not only that but he was around hundreds of years before Guinness even existed!!!

jonny blair guinness border — Necking a Guinness at the North Korea to South Korea border at Panmunjom in days gone by

Despite all that, down the years I have loved Saint Patrick’s Day and I have broken some of those rules!! Drinking Guinness, wearing green instead of blue, flying my Northern Ireland flag instead of the Saint Patrick’s flag. One common thing though is that I usually wear a Saint Patrick’s Celtic Cross on this day. This is easy for us Northern Irish as it is on our national football shirt! Anyway enough of the myths, snakeless and free, here are my top 6 Saint Patrick’s Days to date…keep er lit yousens.

Down yer neck / Slainte!

1.Ravenhill Vultures – Bangor Grammar v Inst, Rugby Schools Cup Final, Belfast NORTHERN IRELAND, 17th March 1995

“Oh ah we’re the Duncan Ah”

My first big memory of Saint Patrick’s Day came in March 1995 when my secondary school, Bangor Grammar School reached the Rugby School’s Cup Final. Having beaten rivals Regent House in the semi final, the final was against fancied Belfast side Inst (real name Royal Belfast Academical Institution). We headed to Ravenhill stadium in those black and white days (no colour photos of it could be found) to cheer on our team. I don’t really like rugby but we got some singing going. With our coach called Duncan we changed the Eric Cantona song for the Duncan Ah. Despite a 9-7 lead at half time, we lost 18-9 overall but it was a great day out on our patron saints day. I was only 14 at the time but I remember it well.

My Rugby Schools Cup Final ticket, 17th March 1995

2.Live FM Radio Slot – Nerve Radio, Bournemouth, ENGLAND – 17th March 2006

As well as my stint on Student Radio Belvoir (Belfast) and Radio B1rst (Bournemouth), I spent many many days locked in the radio room at Nerve Radio in Bournemouth. I loved it, buzzed off it and made my own “Jonny Blair on the air” radio show. My favourites were the crazy days for football (“Soccer Saturday” show) and on the rip (“Thirsty Thursdays” show). But each year I also did a Saint Patrick’s Day show, often it was streamed on FM. 2006 was a highlight as I DJ-ed with Tom Clarke on a special show mid morning at 10 am. We were out on the rip the night before and had a champagne breakfast with the crew at 7 am that day. For sure, my finest hour on radio ever. I find it a little crazy that I have continued the madness into travel with my recent radio shows in Poland, Hong Kong and back in Northern Ireland. I asked EVERYONE on radio to wear green that day – not many listened to me!

Nerve Radio – Saint Patrick’s Day Special “Champagne Breakfast”

3.Dressing as Guinness in the Land Down Under, PJs Irish Pub, Parramatta, AUSTRALIA, 17th March 2011

I spent two Saint Patrick’s Days in the land down under, Australia. I worked in PJ Gallagher’s Irish Pub in Parramatta and on Saint Patrick’s Day 2011, I worked a 15 hour shift. I started doing deliveries in the morning, stocking the bar, running out of Guinness (poor management didn’t listen to my tips!), dressing as a Guinness and then on the rip myself after work! I even got rugby tackled while dressed as a Guinness pint!

The girls of PJ Gallaghers on St. Patrick’s Day 2010.

Alls well that ends well – partying on St. Patrick’s Day in the land down under PJs Irish Pub Parramatta!

Jonny Blair dressed as a pint of Guinness — Dressing as a pint of Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day in PJ’s Irish Pub in Parramatta Australia in 2011 with my workmate Carla Said

Working in PJ's Irish pub Parramatta — All dressed up with my workmates Paul and Kate on St. Patrick’s Day in Parramatta in Australia in 2010

The bar at PJ’s Irish Pub got really busy on St. Patrick’s Day by about 2pm in 2011!

4.Fast Train Through China – Suzhou, CHINA and Tsim Sha Tsui, HONG KONG, 17th March 2013

The first time I was in two separate countries for Saint Patrick’s Day was in 2013 when I was backpacking in Suzhou and later Hong Kong. We toured the Master of the Nets Garden and Pingjianglu (Venice of the East) then got a fast train through China and a flight back to Hong Kong well before midnight to celebrate with a late Irish breakfast at Delaney’s Irish Pub in Hong Kong.

master of the nets suzhou — Saint Patrick’s Day at Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou, China.

Our fast train through China on Saint Patrick’s Day 2013

delaneys tsim sha tsui — St Patricks Day in Delaneys Irish Pub in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong!

5.Chennai/Jonny Blair – Port Blair, Andaman Islands, 17th March 2016

I spent most of Saint Patrick’s Day 2016 alone, but it was a crazy adventure as I did the flight ticket JONNY BLAIR, well kind of, I did CHENNAI (JONNY) to PORT BLAIR. I had a Saint Patrick’s Day beer in Chennai INDIA (8.37 am at the Irish House!) before getting a permit for the Andaman Islands and sleeping in MY TOWN – Port Blair on the green day!

My Crazy St. Patrick's Day Journey: Jonny Blair Goes From Chennai to Blair, India — My Crazy St. Patrick’s Day Journey: Jonny Blair Goes From Chennai to Blair, India

The Irish House, Chennai Airport opened at 8 am

The lads at the Irish House on St. Patrick’s Day at 8.37 am

My cherished passport stamp for Port Blair, Andaman Islands!

Jonny Blair arrives in Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India

6.Polish Hat-trick – Warszawa, POLAND 17th March 2017, 2018, 2019

I’ll finish this post and bring the blog up to date because the last three Saint Patrick’s Days have ALL been spent in downtown Warszawa with my Polish friends. Be it in Irlandzki Pub, Pawilony or Molly Malone’s Irish Pub, we enjoyed Guinness, Green Beer (Zielone Piwo), Pub Grub, Greenery and Music the last few years.

Palace of Culture and Science in Warszawa all lit up green (2019)

Celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day in Warszawa, 17th March 2019

This year, today, Tuesday 17th March 2020 I am staying at home alone in my flat. I will NOT be going out, I will not be drinking any alcohol but I am wearing green.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day everyone. Stay safe, stay at home!

St. Patrick's Day in Warszawa, 2020 — St. Patrick’s Day in Warszawa, 2020

My Valletta, Ulaan Baatar and Beirut Tours Now Available on GPS My City

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Jonny Blair

I have been working with the excellent new app GPS MyCity since 2016 where my blog posts are turned into cool tours with maps! You need to check this out and get it installed on your phone, tablet or laptop. I previously posted some of my Polish city tours on there, which made sense now that I am based in Poland. I designed apps for places such as Starogard Gdanski, and Pelplin. But the app has grown from strength to strength and now covers thousands of cities all over the world, with a never ending list of tours, and I plan to do more with them. Each day they plan to add more and more cool tours – from city tours to boat tours, to night tours, to restaurant tours, sports tours, cafe tours and one of my favourites – pub crawls / bar tours!

My Valletta, Ulaan Baatar and Beirut Tours Now Available on GPS My City

Now, my tours go even further afield to help you all explore the world even further on the downloadable apps by GPS MyCity. Recently added tours now include my tips on bars in Valletta in Malta, the bars of the quirky Mongolian capital city, Ulaan Baatar and more recently, a tour of the bars in Beirut, a city I partied in to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2018-2019. This means you can follow in my footsteps, do the tours I did, or even just do parts of them – use them as a guide and a framework if you want, for your own adventures.

Partying in Internazionale, Beirut, Lebanon

Your can access my latest three tours here, please check them out.

Top Bars in Valletta, Malta – https://www.gpsmycity.com/blog/5856

My Top Bars in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia – https://www.gpsmycity.com/blog/5855

Cool Bars on the Rip in Beirut – https://www.gpsmycity.com/blog/5854

Thirsty Thursdays: The Importance of April 1st and My Top 7 Bars in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia — My Top 7 Bars in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia

All apps can now be downloaded for your use and here is how cool they are and why I recommend them –

1.Apps can be downloaded in advance and kept on your phone, tablet or laptop meaning you don’t need to be online to access them or pay over the odds.

2.My apps are all PERSONALLY planned and visited by me. I really went to all those places and checked them out.

3.My apps are all current and up to date. If there are any chances to bars, locations etc., we try our best to keep them updated.

4.My tours on these apps are fun!! I loved them and you can love them too.

5.My tours cover cities not so common. I don’t backpack Paris, Rome or London. Think of Beirut, Valletta and Starogard Gdanski!! I get off the wheaten craic!

6.My apps have been compiled by an expert company with experience in the field. GPS My City cover over 1000 cities around the world!!

With the staff in Browar, Starogard Gdański

So I hope you enjoy all the apps on GPS MyCity – get downloading and travelling and I hope to be back with more apps soon!

Safe travels and happy partying!

Studying Saturdays: Backpacking Centurion In The Grammarian, Bangor, Northern Ireland

The Latest Saga on my TWO Books: “1 – Backpacking Centurion” and “2 – Seek Well”

Posted on August 1, 2017April 20, 2021 by Jonny Blair

** This post is dedicated to Lance Queens, a friend I met only a few times in life but a man who spoke his mind, respected me, gave me support in depression, and every second of his life he supported the Cherries (AFC Bournemouth). We enjoyed a climb up the divisions together, 4th Div to Prem League. I last saw Lance at Stoke in 2016, and never thought to get a selfie with him. The amount of times we chatted and yet had no direct photos…save your tears, we went down…

The day my team (AFC Bournemouth) got relegated at Brunton Park, Carlisle

RIP Lance, our friend. Onto the books…

“If it exists as a place, I’ll go to it” – Jonny Blair (on Northern Irish radio, 2016).

From 2003 to 2015, I wrote a book about my entire life and my travels, stemming from the success of the Don’t Stop Living blog (oh this one) and my boundless passion for the un-mundane while backpacking a world of pure fire opportunity. I was ONLY ever real and honest. Did you meet me?

“Up the Cherries; in all departments” – AFC Bournemouth fans.

It’s the Bournemouth boys making all the noise, making all the noise.

Did I rave about Northern Ireland, AFC Bournemouth, Glentoran FC and the time I backpacked Iraq and worked in the best Irish Pub in Sydney? Yes, I did. It was easy. I could do it sleepwalking in my Bangorian arrogance. As for the book…I designed the front cover in 2015 just after I had visited my 100th un-debated country (on my real country list) and closed the lid on it. I was sure I would just release that book by the end of December 2015, continue my journey, stay happy. Epic guitar solo. How wrong I was…

At the Royal Castle in Poznan, Poland in December 2015, really happy.

But too many things happened. Yes, I am making excuses. The book has been completely finished for over 2 years now yet nobody really owns a copy of it – and apart from me reading it to my mates down the pub, it’s never been released in public. Yet I still kept telling people about it, but I never once made any real steps to release it. So why not? And will it ever be released?

The book, "Backpacking Centurion" by Jonny Blair of Don't Stop Living. To be released in due course... — The book, “Backpacking Centurion” by Jonny Blair of Don’t Stop Living. To be released in due course…

Here are a few reasons for the book’s delay:
1.I had written 147 chapters. It was too many. I wanted 100 chapters for 100 countries, but not necessarily one to correspond to each country. This meant editing and axing. Venezuela and Latvia didn’t merit a chapter. Northern Ireland and China deserved multiple. Paddy Campbell, Lauren, Panny Yu, they deserved a chapter of their own…I saw this as a bigger challenge than the writing was. It was. I couldn’t delete mundane things like selling ice cream, forging interest rates, backpacking in French Guyana or hiking mountains in Malaysia, as they seemed pivotal in my journey. All 147 chapters were perfect. There was no deletion. It was a Dennis Taylor style 147 break in snooker. I couldn’t edit that.

“I’m so happy cos today I found my friends” – Kurt Cobain.

Arrival in Venezuela at San Antonio del Tachira, “Dear God”…

2.I am crap at things like this. The writing is easy, but the formal printing, organising etc. is not my strength. In fact, I generally hate the nitty gritty parts of jobs. Selling ice cream was a gift from God. Nine at a time…14 was my record (none of them dropped).

Jonny Blair holding Mr. Softees in Best Break Bournemouth — Selling ice cream for the last time in 2009 – kind of a swansong as I returned to Best Break in Bournemouth before setting off for Taiwan…

3.I contacted over 40 publishers in Northern Ireland, China and Poland. I decided I wouldn’t go anywhere else. Those were the three countries I most enjoyed (except for England which I ruled out). Only 2 publishers were interested. One in Northern Ireland, one in Poland. But I wasn’t interested in them. I decided to go it alone. In fact, I decided to stop caring. I was in France with the GAWA.

“We’ll support you evermore” – Northern Ireland fans.

Book publication chat? With some Poland fans in Nice, France at the Euros in 2016

4.I got depression in July 2016. I was getting ready to finally release this, when depression kicked in. I quit the main blog which the book was associated with. At the same time, I made some edits to the book from a WiFi bar (Browar) in Starogard Gdanski in Poland and then printed a hard copy. I used my red pen and slowly made some final edits.

Browar, Starogard Gdański, Poland where I typed up the final edits (table on the left)

5.I was on the verge of bankruptcy. I had wasted ALL my money on travel and health. If George Best had met me in my prime, he’d have grabbed me by the collarbone and took me down the pub.

Jonny Blair and Michael O Neill in Adana Turkey — With Northern Ireland manager Michael O Neill in Adana Turkey

I earned a lot of money in bars, banks, schools, PR offices, farms etc. in the early days of the blog (2007 – 2013 say). My work history is vast. I should be loaded with money. But I wasted ALL of it on travelling to 151 countries, the latest adventure was to Krolestwo Dreamlandu (the Kingdom of Dreamland).

I even earned an estimated $101,000 as a result of this blog, again not a penny to show for it. Any money I had, I wasted on ways to beat depression – psychologists, meditation, psychiatrists, medication etc. It didn’t work.
6.I decided to split the book into two parts, so this is the latest…

“I wasted my money on travel, food, football, beer and health. The rest of it is zero.” – Jonny Blair, 2017.

So there will be TWO books and not one.

First Book – Backpacking Centurion, “The Best of”
This will be the part one of the twin pack. I will concoct the best of those 147 chapters into a “Best of” book and call it, as billed, “Backpacking Centurion”.

Second Book, The Sequel – Seek Well, “The Worst of”
The second book in the series, often referred to as the sequel, will be a play on words and called “Seek Well”. This book will be the other chapters from the 47 that I deemed OK to publish in a “worst of” set – coping with depression and troubles with non-believers, liars and those who disrespected me and my story.

Don't Stop Living returns in August 2017 — Don’t Stop Living returns in August 2017

I also wanted both books to be honest and 100%, but sadly due to the intervention of GuruGods and wannabes into my nice travel life, I have to now edit some names in those books to protect those people. The stories will still be honest, but the names and possibly places will be changed. I feel sad about doing this, as I hate liars and dishonest people, but it’s what those people wanted so I have to respect it.

My Facebook post tonight was as such:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156012457748465&set=a.10150177387348465.346063.503598464&type=3&theater

** WACKY SELFISH NEWS** With blog post to follow (maybe). In times of depression, a friend asked where my elusive book “Backpacking Centurion” was. And did I really write a chapter on that glory night in the Wadi Rum (pictured) desert? YES I DID, Ahmed Rum Stars Camp knew it was my 10 year anniversary that night and I had a beer as the sun sank, typing up my story. At that time when asked, my book was finished and in my backpack, printed on paper, fully edited ready to go. This lunatical culture struck Northern Irishman who smiled at every food vendor, pretended he was Norman Whiteside and found awe on every corner of the globe? The problem? There were two problems. 1. I had depression. 2. The book had 147 chapters and I only wanted 100. “Why don’t you release two books?” was the boring response. After sifting through the 147 (snooker break), it was clear they were right – I should do two books – one positive tourist report of my journeys around the world in a selfish, honest manner with 100 chapters (1.BOOK ONE – Backpacking Centurion) and a second book with 47 chapters of the bad times in depression (2.BOOK TWO – Seek Well). This has been a burden on my back in all honesty. Writing it was easy, the PR is easy, all the other stuff – getting it printed, organising the transition from paper to book and later for people to buy it has been the stigma. I was the horse that fell at the final hurdle. If you want to help redesign the two covers for me and be there for the very quiet launch, please write below (private messages NOT accepted 😉 ). Both books now have a title, a price, a text and I don’t care who buys them or not, they WILL NOT be FREE that’s for sure…nobody reads free books. They will also only be available to buy from me personally in cash. As before, the first book with be £19.82 (Arconada…Armstrong), the second book will be £11.46 (current capacity of AFC Bournemouth’s Dean Court). Neither book is being sold to rip people off or to publicise any companies. They are ONLY about my journey. When you ask me about charities, again, I have yet to decide but it should be close to my heart which means NI charities, mental health and suicide prevention. We’re a long time dead. Come and meet me, come and see me, smile for real. The books are inspired mostly by Norman Whiteside, my Mum and Noel Gallagher. #tourist #travelwriter #announcement #doublebook