“I’m living without you but I know all about you” – Garbage.
Facts about your host – Jonny Blair
Rather than the usual backpacking sights of an off the wall village, guided tour of a country nobody has ever heard of, visa advice, hotel reviews, Thirsty Thursdays and obscure border crossings, here’s a different, more personal post for a change. I thought I’d share 40 random facts about myself, Jonny Blair, your host for your journey on this website. It’s my website after all, and sometimes I get caught up in travel advice and taking photos of places that I forgot the reason I blog in the first place – to tell my own story of my travels in a passionate way. Everywhere I go, every move I make, every step I take.
One more step along the world I go
40 Random Facts About the Author of Don’t Stop Living:
1.I was once in the DJ box with Colin Murray of BBC Radio One, in 2005. The nightclub where it took place, Jumpin Jaks in Bournemouth, no longer exists.
The night I DJ-ed with Colin Murray, BBC DJ from Belfast.
2.As a 17 year old I attended Belvoir Training Centre in Belfast and did a journalism course. I was the last ever student to do that course. The Training Centre no longer exists.
Traded in my sorrows for the joys that I borrowed; back in the day.
3.I once went 13 years without missing a single Northern Ireland home match (including friendlies). The stand I mostly stood in no longer exists – the Kop/West Stand.
With Brendan and Mike the night we beat England 1-0 at Windsor Park, Belfast.
4.My first ever rock concert was in 1996 watching Oasis at the Pairc ui Chaiomh in Cork, Republic of Ireland. Oasis split up.
My ticket for the Oasis gig in Cork in 1996
5.When I was 13, my best mate at school Paddy Campbell and I stole and exam paper and he got expelled and I got suspended. I hadn’t seen him for 20 years, then we met up again in Newcastle in 2014.
Paddy and I enjoying our pints, meals and catch up.
6.My favourite three bands are Oasis, Manic Street Preachers and Crowded House.
Neil and I at the Studio Coast venue in Tokyo for a Manic Street Preachers gig.
7.The first ever single I owned was I’ve Got to Be Certain by Kylie Minogue. I still love that song.
I’ve got to be. I’ve got to be certain.
8.I have no desire whatsoever to visit India.
Travel Blogging in India (Mumbai Airport)
9.While I was at university, I broke my arm and my leg, I worked almost full-time and I travelled to 29 countries yet still managed to pass my degree. No idea how.
Footloose and legless – 2007 hat-trick of broken metatarsals.
With my broken arm in 2004
10.I once did the UK Public Relations for Apple computers. I had no idea who Steve Jobs was when I got the job!
Doing PR for Apple
11.I attended the same Primary School as model and TV personality Zoe Salmon and Northern Ireland international Josh Magennis – Kilmaine Primary School in Bangor, Northern Ireland. Zoe Salmon was in my year at school. I tried to flirt with her in the year 2000 at Party on the Pier in Bangor, but she won’t remember me.
P1 Thompson (1984 – 1985), Kilmaine Primary School, Bangor, Northern Ireland
12.I finished third in the first ever university Big Brother spoof to be televised live on a webcam, in Bournemouth in 2004. The dude that won it, is the inspirational Lee Adams.
A fake Big Brother – The Lock In, 2004
13.I’m still the only ever tourist to have visited Wrythe in Austensia, the People’s Republic of Podjistan and the Empire of Adammia.
Getting my passport stamped in Podjistan
14.I hate mushrooms.
15.I hate umbrellas. I don’t mind the rain at all, as long as my laptop, wallet etc. doesn’t get wet.
16.I hate bucket lists, but if you read this then you knew that.
I hate bucket lists
17.When I moved to Australia in 2009, I was down to my last $20 US in my bank account the day I got the job in PJ Gallagher’s Irish Pub.
There’s no limits. The quiet man on my first day working in PJ Gallagher’s Parramatta, Australia!
18.I went to almost every home match of AFC Bournemouth from 2003 – 2006, have been a season ticket holder three times and I write my stories on a different website, Ulster Cherry. I love being at Dean Court at 3 pm om a Saturday for a home match.
Watching my beloved Cherries – AFC Bournemouth
19.I don’t get along with people who are strict, have no free spirit and feel they are too good for anybody else. I will talk to anyone and everyone I meet.
Who are you and me to say what’s wrong and what’s right?
20.I often buy a block of cheese and eat the whole lot in one go. I love cheese.
21.I have formed a Northern Ireland football Supporters Club in three different continents – Europe, Asia and Oceania. I believe I may be the only ever person to have actually done this.
The South of England Northern Ireland Supporters Club in 2006
22.My favourite beer is Guinness.
Guinness with Martin in Dublin.
23. My favourite non-alcoholic drink is a cup of the Earl. Earl Grey tea.
Cup of the Earl please
24.I have worked in Irish Pubs in three different continents.
On the bar with Jack working on my first weekend at Delaney’s in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
25.I once hosted an FM radio show naked.
Naked FM Radio Show
26.At least once a year someone will start an e-mail to me with “Hello Tony”, thinking my name is Tony Blair.
27.Everytime I have voted in England, I have voted Conservative.
I vote Conservative. I score with my right foot.
28. I have 4 tattoos.
29. The day I was born, Mount St. Helen’s erupted. I once dated a lady called Helen.
30. I didn’t mean to backpack my way around the world. Yeah I had a fascination with the atlas when I was a kid, but trust me – it just happened.
Playing football in Afghanistan
31. When I started playing football I was left footed. I started only kicking with my right for a while and my right became my stronger foot. Until 2007 when I broke it, and ever since, my left has been my best foot.
32. I carry a Northern Ireland flag with me, everywhere I go. I even have a website and Facebook group dedicated to it.
I take my Northern Ireland flag everywhere I go
33. I crashed my car against a wall in Holywood, Northern Ireland in 1999 and could have died. I went straight back to work the next day like nothing had happened.
34. I have Facebook friends from 157 different countries. Not necessarily close friends of course, but people who I have met along the way.
35. The first time I ate an entire meal of Chinese food was in China.
First time having a Chinese meal
36. It’s still a dream of mine to be on the real UK Big Brother.
37. I spent a month in a mental home in my birthtown of Newtownards a few days after September 11th 2001.
38. My best mates mostly live in the south of England.
My best mates are mostly in the south of England
39. My favourite meal is an Ulster Fry.
40. I’m superstitious, in many ways.
Loving the Inca Trail in Peru
And some facts about my family:
1.My Dad, Joe Blair played football in the Irish League and once in front of 10,000+ fans at the George Wilson Cup Final in 1967 aged 17. He hit the post.
2.My second cousin, Jared Kennedy captained the Northern Ireland cerebral palsy team on numerous occasions.
3.My sister, Cathy Blair runs tours of the Ulster Rugby stadium in Belfast.
4.My Mum is the best cook I have ever known.
Hope you enjoyed the random facts and continue to follow my crazy journeys, hoping they bring some kind of passion or crazy-ness to your life.
Here are a few other ways to connect with me:
– Like Don’t Stop Living on Facebook
– Subscribe to Don’t Stop Living videos on YouTube
– StumbleUpon Don’t Stop Living
– Follow Don’t Stop Living on Instagram
– Follow Don’t Stop Living on Twitter
– Get me on GooglePlus
Safe and happy travels!
Jonny Blair
Who wants a coffee?
Interesting post but why number 8? Just curious, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. For me India is the most fascinating country I have visited although I will concede that it can also be the biggest pain in the backside at times. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have left India saying I will never return but I always do!
Hi Mark, thanks for the comment. There are a few reasons for number 8. Firstly, I’m a massive China fan – I have been to China 20 times now and covered 13 out of the 29 states. I’d rather have 10 more trips to China than even just one trip to India! So there’s a bit of rivalry there for sure. Another big reason is I like the idea of skipping a big one. Out of the 105 countries I have been to, only Croatia and India are the obvious ones I’ve missed out so far and I’d like it to stay like that. I prefer to get off the mainstream blogging circuit and so many others are currently writing about USA, Thailand and India. That’s why I have recently travelled to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Faroe Islands and Podjistan. I prefer off the wall stuff. Another reason is that India is massive. It’s a huge beast of a country! And right now, I’m concentrating on my book and working online. India is a crazy place from what I’ve heard so I wouldn’t want to go there and have to write a book and not see any of the country as I’m too busy writing. It’s simply not on my list at present. Safe travels. Jonny
Seems like a good plan, I like the idea of leaving out one of the ‘biggies’. It’s not intentional but I have never been to Australia or New Zealand. Like China, you need time for India but I do think India is a good place to blog about as most bloggers only seem to write about the same places (Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan, Kerala etc) and there is so much more to the country than that. Like you, I’ve been to China many time and the same is applicable to India but I see too much change in China to make it as appealing as India for me personally. I enjoy going there but enjoy India more. We were in Bangladesh earlier this year. A friend of mine who spends a lot of time in India described it as being like Calcutta on Speed. I thought that was perfect! Cheers, Mark
Mark Bennetts recently posted…Extreme body piercing at the Phuket Vegetarian Festival in Thailand
Hi Mark, great comment and insight there. Safe travels! Jonny
Hi Mark, Since I wrote this, I have spent 5-6 weeks in India including two islands off the Indian coast! Safe travels! Jonny
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