Hi there. Well to be honest I completely forgot about this blog, but it seems that it is more just myself that follows it - so after an MSN dig in the ribs last night, I am now updating it :-).... So where were we? Well Zanzibar was a tropical paradise. We had a beachfront bungalow looking out over the azure ocean. Waking up every morning to the sun and the sound of the ocean was incredible. We did a spice tour, went sailing and snorkelling, and generally enjoyed ourselves. After that we went up into the Serengetti. Saw lions, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, flamingos - you name it. It was incredible. To literally be so close to a pride of lions that you can hear them yawning was amazing. To see an elephant so close that he was almost touching the 4x4 is fantastic - and I will stop there lest I run out of adjectives.
So after some nights in Tanzania we went on up into Kenya. Kenya was really a slice of Europe in the middle of Africa. I wasn't too impressed. I spent a couple of days relaxing and washing clothes etc. I took some time to go and visit a giraffe sanctuary (I french kissed a giraffe) and then I took a flight back to Europe.
....which is where I am now. Spending time in Paris relaxing and enjoying the sun - filling out insurance claims, chasing KLM for flight piss-up compensation - and trying to look for possible roles once I get back to work. Heading down to Nice next week for a couple of days in the sun with some friends, then on Friday we're flying out to India for a week's holiday. I'm going via Bahrain. All in all it will be a much needed post-holiday-holiday-holiday holiday. Which will be nice. And then....... as much as I hate to say it, it will be back to work. But to be honest I'm quite excited about it. I miss the excitement of work, the thrill of travel - and I also miss the salary going into my account every month. It's depressing to see a big fat ZERO on the bottom of your pay cheque every month.....
But hey ho - that's pretty much what has been happening. I will try and update this blog with the story of India - and then that's going to be pretty much it I'm afraid! Thanks for following it thus far. For anyone else thinking about takign a career break, I would say it's something you should definitely do - and for anyone considering Africa, I would say it will change your outlook on life.... permanently.
And on that note, ciao for now my friends
Rich xxx
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Zambia --> Malawi --> Tanzania --> Zanzibar
Hello all!
Well time for another post. If you're wondering why I'm so crap at updating my blog, it's for the perfectly salient reason that I'm crap at updating blogs... Also the computers here rarely exist, if they exist they don't work, if they work then the internet doesn't, if the internet does then it is slow and I usually end up losing half my e-mails half way through the session - ending up in a heated exchange of words with the owner of the internet cafe / campsite and a joint decision that no money would change hands.... (actually joint = my decision)
But now I am in Zanzibar - the historical capital of Africa's slave trade - and also one of the major spice producing areas in the region. But just to update you on the activities on the past few days. Well I am now fighting fit after my brief sojourn in hospital - although my bank account is probably not feeling as great - and after saying goodbye to Zambia, we headed on upwards into Malawi. We stayed for a couple of nights on the shores of Lake Malawi - one of the largest areas of fresh water in Africa - and possibly one of the most pristine, beautiful and peaceful places on Earth. Warm as a bath and as clear as.... erm.... well a bath - we went swimming, canoeing etc. etc. etc.
We spent the afternoon at a great market which was just outside the campsite. If you have ever had a trader persistently try to tell you something, I can tell you it was nothing compared to how this market was. I heard every sob story under the sun. In the end, I decided to have a little fun with them. I managed to barter on guy down from 4 dollars to 2 dollars for some jewellry - still a very good deal for what was effectively just copper wire and string. I gave it to him in US dollars. 20 minutes later he came up to him asking me to change it into Malawian Kwatcha for him. I said "Yes - but it will cost you" and promptly gave him a very poor exchange rate. He absolutely loved it! He said "ahhh - you are businessman like me!" and laughed his way back to his stall.....
So that was that - then we came up in Tanzania. We spent a couple of days going through some game reserves - and now we are in Zanzibar. It's sunny, quite humid and if you can get past the multitude of touts which approach me every minute asking me to come down a backstreet and visit their shops - or whether I want to take some of their tours, or whether I want to buy their wooden hippos which will supposedly bring me luck (my stock response is that they should keep it for themselves, then perhaps they wouldn't need to sell wooden hippos on street corners ;-) - then it's also a fantastic holiday destination.
We are here for 4 nights - then from here we head onto the Serengeti, and finally up into Kenya - then my tour of Africa ends, and my tour of India begins :-)
Until then my friends - ciao for now!
Rich xxx
Well time for another post. If you're wondering why I'm so crap at updating my blog, it's for the perfectly salient reason that I'm crap at updating blogs... Also the computers here rarely exist, if they exist they don't work, if they work then the internet doesn't, if the internet does then it is slow and I usually end up losing half my e-mails half way through the session - ending up in a heated exchange of words with the owner of the internet cafe / campsite and a joint decision that no money would change hands.... (actually joint = my decision)
But now I am in Zanzibar - the historical capital of Africa's slave trade - and also one of the major spice producing areas in the region. But just to update you on the activities on the past few days. Well I am now fighting fit after my brief sojourn in hospital - although my bank account is probably not feeling as great - and after saying goodbye to Zambia, we headed on upwards into Malawi. We stayed for a couple of nights on the shores of Lake Malawi - one of the largest areas of fresh water in Africa - and possibly one of the most pristine, beautiful and peaceful places on Earth. Warm as a bath and as clear as.... erm.... well a bath - we went swimming, canoeing etc. etc. etc.
We spent the afternoon at a great market which was just outside the campsite. If you have ever had a trader persistently try to tell you something, I can tell you it was nothing compared to how this market was. I heard every sob story under the sun. In the end, I decided to have a little fun with them. I managed to barter on guy down from 4 dollars to 2 dollars for some jewellry - still a very good deal for what was effectively just copper wire and string. I gave it to him in US dollars. 20 minutes later he came up to him asking me to change it into Malawian Kwatcha for him. I said "Yes - but it will cost you" and promptly gave him a very poor exchange rate. He absolutely loved it! He said "ahhh - you are businessman like me!" and laughed his way back to his stall.....
So that was that - then we came up in Tanzania. We spent a couple of days going through some game reserves - and now we are in Zanzibar. It's sunny, quite humid and if you can get past the multitude of touts which approach me every minute asking me to come down a backstreet and visit their shops - or whether I want to take some of their tours, or whether I want to buy their wooden hippos which will supposedly bring me luck (my stock response is that they should keep it for themselves, then perhaps they wouldn't need to sell wooden hippos on street corners ;-) - then it's also a fantastic holiday destination.
We are here for 4 nights - then from here we head onto the Serengeti, and finally up into Kenya - then my tour of Africa ends, and my tour of India begins :-)
Until then my friends - ciao for now!
Rich xxx
Friday, April 18, 2008
OK - how about a better post than the last one....
OK - so the last post was a pretty pathetic one. So how about a bit more detail.....
I don't know if anyone knows this, but I HATE camping. Why I signed up for 6 weeks of participation camping then is anyone's guess - but after 3 weeks of getting up at 4am every day, packing the tent away, sweeping away the scorpions and spiders, it's getting slightly wearing.... We're travelling in a 16 tonne truck which seems to have been built without the suspension in the back, and of course muggins here has the back seats. So of course when I'm not pulling my head out of the ceiling after the bumpy roads, I'm trying to get some sleep. And sleep I do - for the 9-10 hours a day we travel....
But there are some rewarding aspects. We are currently going through an incredibly rural part of Zambia. There is little infrastructure - the populus live a subsistence lifestyle, within a virtual barter economy. 1 in 3 people have HIV, public services are sparse to non-existant. Yet the people are so welcoming, friendly and happy. I walked through a Zambian village two days ago. A group of children ran up to us - a little girl took my left hand, a little boy took my right hand and they danced down the street next to me. The only English they know is "How are you!?" so they will run out of the houses when you walk past shouting it - then they will repeat it as the standard response to any question you ask them. It's quite endearing really. They generally have no shoes, rags for clothes - yet they smile as if they are the luckiest people in the world. We don't give them money, rather pens, water bottles, hats - we shop in their markets, we tell them stories, we ask them about themselves (obviously this is limited by their stock response of "How are you") - but all in all it has been such a rewarding experience and it makes me realise just how lucky I am, not only in my lifestyle back home, but also to be able to glimpse the "real" Africa and see how the people here live and survive in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.
So today we are in South Luongwe National Park. Tomorrow we head into Malawi (Lake Malawi eventually) for a couple of days. Then as I said, we'll be heading into Zanzibar. We just bumped into a guy today in the swimming pool who owns a bar in Zanzibar - and if we all go he will get us 10% off - personally I think that is rubbish, so I think we can do better ;-)
OK - well I'm now going to go and relax by the pool and watch the hippos. They leave the water every night and wander aroudn the tents - it's quite amusing if they weren't the most dangerous animals in Africa. We were lamping hippos last night - running around the campsite trying to track them, quite funny really. We had some elephants come through today - but I'm hoping we won't see any lions - otherwise the next post might take some writing ;-)
Right gang - thanks for everyone who is following this post. My next one will probably be some point in Zanzibar - if I can drag myself off the beach
Ciao for now!!!
R
I don't know if anyone knows this, but I HATE camping. Why I signed up for 6 weeks of participation camping then is anyone's guess - but after 3 weeks of getting up at 4am every day, packing the tent away, sweeping away the scorpions and spiders, it's getting slightly wearing.... We're travelling in a 16 tonne truck which seems to have been built without the suspension in the back, and of course muggins here has the back seats. So of course when I'm not pulling my head out of the ceiling after the bumpy roads, I'm trying to get some sleep. And sleep I do - for the 9-10 hours a day we travel....
But there are some rewarding aspects. We are currently going through an incredibly rural part of Zambia. There is little infrastructure - the populus live a subsistence lifestyle, within a virtual barter economy. 1 in 3 people have HIV, public services are sparse to non-existant. Yet the people are so welcoming, friendly and happy. I walked through a Zambian village two days ago. A group of children ran up to us - a little girl took my left hand, a little boy took my right hand and they danced down the street next to me. The only English they know is "How are you!?" so they will run out of the houses when you walk past shouting it - then they will repeat it as the standard response to any question you ask them. It's quite endearing really. They generally have no shoes, rags for clothes - yet they smile as if they are the luckiest people in the world. We don't give them money, rather pens, water bottles, hats - we shop in their markets, we tell them stories, we ask them about themselves (obviously this is limited by their stock response of "How are you") - but all in all it has been such a rewarding experience and it makes me realise just how lucky I am, not only in my lifestyle back home, but also to be able to glimpse the "real" Africa and see how the people here live and survive in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.
So today we are in South Luongwe National Park. Tomorrow we head into Malawi (Lake Malawi eventually) for a couple of days. Then as I said, we'll be heading into Zanzibar. We just bumped into a guy today in the swimming pool who owns a bar in Zanzibar - and if we all go he will get us 10% off - personally I think that is rubbish, so I think we can do better ;-)
OK - well I'm now going to go and relax by the pool and watch the hippos. They leave the water every night and wander aroudn the tents - it's quite amusing if they weren't the most dangerous animals in Africa. We were lamping hippos last night - running around the campsite trying to track them, quite funny really. We had some elephants come through today - but I'm hoping we won't see any lions - otherwise the next post might take some writing ;-)
Right gang - thanks for everyone who is following this post. My next one will probably be some point in Zanzibar - if I can drag myself off the beach
Ciao for now!!!
R
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Botswana & Zambia
Hi there - well typically I start these posts with "I'm sorry it's been such a long time" - and of course this post is no exception. There is a general lack of good internet access and I have also been a bit ill....
So, where to start? Namibia was great, Botswana was even better - though slightly polluted. Actually that is an understatement as it was probably the most littered place I have ever been to. Spent a few days there, then we crossed over the border into Zambia. And that's where I got....ahem... a little ill. Severe dehydration meant I was rushed to a Zambian hospital, had 2 big bags of saline drip intraveneously fed into my arm + valium and something to clear out my kidneys. This was after a night of hallucinations and fits which really put a crimp on that part of my holiday. Fortunately the Zambian hospital was impressively better than most British hospitals so no worries - and the travel insurance will cover the equally impressive bill.
But onwards I go. I'm staying in a National Park now - then I head from here over into Malawi, then Tanzania - spending a couple of days in Zanzibar - then finally I hit Kenya..... I'm covered in bites, bruises, cuts, scars - an impressive collection to say the least. I've seen spiders, scorpions, leopards, elephants, cheetahs, lions, wilderbeest, buffalo, rhino and a bunch of crazy crawling things which are generally brightly coloured and deadly.
But that's enough for now - until my next post! Ciao
So, where to start? Namibia was great, Botswana was even better - though slightly polluted. Actually that is an understatement as it was probably the most littered place I have ever been to. Spent a few days there, then we crossed over the border into Zambia. And that's where I got....ahem... a little ill. Severe dehydration meant I was rushed to a Zambian hospital, had 2 big bags of saline drip intraveneously fed into my arm + valium and something to clear out my kidneys. This was after a night of hallucinations and fits which really put a crimp on that part of my holiday. Fortunately the Zambian hospital was impressively better than most British hospitals so no worries - and the travel insurance will cover the equally impressive bill.
But onwards I go. I'm staying in a National Park now - then I head from here over into Malawi, then Tanzania - spending a couple of days in Zanzibar - then finally I hit Kenya..... I'm covered in bites, bruises, cuts, scars - an impressive collection to say the least. I've seen spiders, scorpions, leopards, elephants, cheetahs, lions, wilderbeest, buffalo, rhino and a bunch of crazy crawling things which are generally brightly coloured and deadly.
But that's enough for now - until my next post! Ciao
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
South Africa and Namibia
Hello all! Well sorry it has been a long time coming - you can blame the complete lack of internet access for most of the last week for that. But I am finally in a place called Swakupmond on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. It's Day 8 of the tour. I landed in Johannesburg nearly two weeks ago after my 1st class flight on my airmiles - never had a flight like it. They drove me to the plane in a private Mercedes-Benz, lie flat bed, massive duvet and proper pillows, as much champagne as I could drink (which is a fair bit ;-). Then I landed in Jo-burg and the royal treatment stopped. I was feeling rough as a bag of spanners, so I checked into an airport hotel for the night rather than face going into the city. The next morning I had an early flight out to Cape Town, where I then met up with Chris - a guy I met in Chicago on CCS (thanks for the all the help Chris!) and we went to MyCokeFest - an all day Rock Festival at Kennelworth racecourse. Of course I got very sunburnt - something which is only now beginning to be cured. After a couple of days in Cape Town we headed out on tour up through into Africa.
It's basically a camping trip - and I hate camping. Why then did I sign up for 42 days of "participation camping" you may ask? With get ups every day at 5am, taking down a tent in the dark, setting a tent up in the torrential rain, having to put up string around your tent to deter the scorpions who make a nice warm home under your sleeping bag. Sharing a cold shower with about 50,000 African bugs - beetles, spiders, scorpions, moths, birds - you name it - they all come shower with you - not being able to walk around in bare feet because of the danger of scorpions and spiders - having to bring your boots inside the tent because of the thieving nature of the friendly local jackals. Having a guy with a rifle patrolling the camp site, driving up to 10 hours a day through temperatures of 40 degrees plus, over dirt beds, getting up at 4am to climb sand dunes - walking through towns where the helpful local advice is "if you get stabbed, be sure to take your intestines to the hospital in a plastic bag......"
But it's all immense fun! And I never thought I would enjoy it so much. We spent a day yesterday helping out at beach cleanup - we were each given 3 bin bags and asked to go down the beach and pick up the rubbish. Some guy in the group was pricked by a syringe and had to be rushed to hospital - and he needs an HIV test in 3 months after he gets back. I contained myself to picking up cigarette butts - the least dangerous activity - and I am very happy to say the lack of gloves did not mean I was damaged in any way.
But tonight we are in paradise - i.e. some place with proper beds. A backpacker's hostel for 2 nights - the bar has a pool in it, there are shops, restaurants, bars, internet cafes - WOW! it's like all my Christmasses have come at one :-) I started my anti-malaria treatment yesterday as in a couple of days we are heading up into Etosha national park, a malarial zone. After that we travel up into Windhoek - the capital of Namibia, then crossing the border into Botswana - the Okavango Delta - 2 nights bush camping under the stars with only the animals for company. As our helpful guide suggested - "once the sun goes down - we have no light so I suggest you just drink until you pass out....." After that it's into onwards and upwards into Kenya.....
Ok - well my internet time is quickly running out and I need to arrange some onwards travel. Next update should be in Windhoek. I have the rest of the day free - and I'm going to reeeelax.
Till Windhoek! Ciao for now!
Rich
It's basically a camping trip - and I hate camping. Why then did I sign up for 42 days of "participation camping" you may ask? With get ups every day at 5am, taking down a tent in the dark, setting a tent up in the torrential rain, having to put up string around your tent to deter the scorpions who make a nice warm home under your sleeping bag. Sharing a cold shower with about 50,000 African bugs - beetles, spiders, scorpions, moths, birds - you name it - they all come shower with you - not being able to walk around in bare feet because of the danger of scorpions and spiders - having to bring your boots inside the tent because of the thieving nature of the friendly local jackals. Having a guy with a rifle patrolling the camp site, driving up to 10 hours a day through temperatures of 40 degrees plus, over dirt beds, getting up at 4am to climb sand dunes - walking through towns where the helpful local advice is "if you get stabbed, be sure to take your intestines to the hospital in a plastic bag......"
But it's all immense fun! And I never thought I would enjoy it so much. We spent a day yesterday helping out at beach cleanup - we were each given 3 bin bags and asked to go down the beach and pick up the rubbish. Some guy in the group was pricked by a syringe and had to be rushed to hospital - and he needs an HIV test in 3 months after he gets back. I contained myself to picking up cigarette butts - the least dangerous activity - and I am very happy to say the lack of gloves did not mean I was damaged in any way.
But tonight we are in paradise - i.e. some place with proper beds. A backpacker's hostel for 2 nights - the bar has a pool in it, there are shops, restaurants, bars, internet cafes - WOW! it's like all my Christmasses have come at one :-) I started my anti-malaria treatment yesterday as in a couple of days we are heading up into Etosha national park, a malarial zone. After that we travel up into Windhoek - the capital of Namibia, then crossing the border into Botswana - the Okavango Delta - 2 nights bush camping under the stars with only the animals for company. As our helpful guide suggested - "once the sun goes down - we have no light so I suggest you just drink until you pass out....." After that it's into onwards and upwards into Kenya.....
Ok - well my internet time is quickly running out and I need to arrange some onwards travel. Next update should be in Windhoek. I have the rest of the day free - and I'm going to reeeelax.
Till Windhoek! Ciao for now!
Rich
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Wow - has it really been 3 weeks??
Hi all. I'm not sure how many people are actually following this blog - it may be just myself - but in case the wider world has an interest, I apologise for not having updated this blog for 3 weeks. "And why not?" I hear you ask... Actually I don't hear you ask, but I will assume some of you are at least wondering those words... Well I've been in St Charles, Chicago. Quite possibly some of the best weeks I can remember. Champagne, stretched limos, hotels, dancing - what else could you ask for? No one fell through the ice into the pond, no one embarassed themselves (apart from the one poor sod who fell asleep in just his underpants in the middle of the hotel lounge...) - and above all we had a fantastic time.
But now Chicago is over - and the next trip begins. I've been in London for the past 2 days organising my visas. I spent 1 morning at the Indian High Commission, and another at the Tanzanian High Commission. Now, with my passport full of visas, stamps, innoculation certificates and visa waiver slips, I'm ready to depart.
I leave for Paris tomorrow night, then I have a 1st class trip to Johannesburg on Friday night. 2 days in Jo-burg, then an internal flight to Cape Town. All day Rock Festival there, maybe climb Table Mountain, then off up through Africa - starting with the Namib desert. 45 days through Africa, then we arrive in Kenya. After Kenya it's a month in India before flying back to Paris.
Well that's a brief update for the next couple of months - I will update more later on. Until then - ciao for now!
Rich
But now Chicago is over - and the next trip begins. I've been in London for the past 2 days organising my visas. I spent 1 morning at the Indian High Commission, and another at the Tanzanian High Commission. Now, with my passport full of visas, stamps, innoculation certificates and visa waiver slips, I'm ready to depart.
I leave for Paris tomorrow night, then I have a 1st class trip to Johannesburg on Friday night. 2 days in Jo-burg, then an internal flight to Cape Town. All day Rock Festival there, maybe climb Table Mountain, then off up through Africa - starting with the Namib desert. 45 days through Africa, then we arrive in Kenya. After Kenya it's a month in India before flying back to Paris.
Well that's a brief update for the next couple of months - I will update more later on. Until then - ciao for now!
Rich
Thursday, February 28, 2008
St Charles...
...is not, as some people readily believe, the Patron Saint of Drunks. Neither is he the owner of the Cadillac Ranch. Nope, eponymous St Charles does not exist, rather the name was conceived by a lawyer, once the inhabitants of the city realised that their preferred name "Charleston" was already taken.... by Charleston.
St Charles is a small town about an hour from Chicago. It consists of a couple of gas stations, a cheap outlet mall and a training centre. The local booze industry is kept running, even growing, by the steady strean of coporate trainees coming through the Q Centre (the aforementioned training centre).
And this training centre is where I have been for the past 3 days, learning how to teach the students who will be arriving here this weekend. Presentation techniques, conversation techniques, verbal and non-verbal communication skills are all being learned - a very helpful couple of days. Tonight is our first group night out at the Cadillac Ranch. For those of you who have ever seen "Porky's" - it's a similar bar, only Porky's had slightly more class, and much better music. It's going to be a killer of a night - however we're doing it in the name of teaching - so at least we know what our students will be in for on Friday mornings - it helps us to work more efficiently..... sound convincing? No - I didn't think so..... It's an 8am start tomorrow - with the opportunity on Friday morning to choose between the sedate wake up call of your alarm clock, or the rather more official wake up call of 2 big guys with batons, coming into your room at 8:05..... Personally, I'd choose the former.....
So that's a brief update from Chicago - it's been snowing, the rivers and the streams are frozen (there is a big pond just inches from the bar - frozen solid. Cue big "Rich-shaped" hole by the end of the week).......
Ciao for now!
Rich
St Charles is a small town about an hour from Chicago. It consists of a couple of gas stations, a cheap outlet mall and a training centre. The local booze industry is kept running, even growing, by the steady strean of coporate trainees coming through the Q Centre (the aforementioned training centre).
And this training centre is where I have been for the past 3 days, learning how to teach the students who will be arriving here this weekend. Presentation techniques, conversation techniques, verbal and non-verbal communication skills are all being learned - a very helpful couple of days. Tonight is our first group night out at the Cadillac Ranch. For those of you who have ever seen "Porky's" - it's a similar bar, only Porky's had slightly more class, and much better music. It's going to be a killer of a night - however we're doing it in the name of teaching - so at least we know what our students will be in for on Friday mornings - it helps us to work more efficiently..... sound convincing? No - I didn't think so..... It's an 8am start tomorrow - with the opportunity on Friday morning to choose between the sedate wake up call of your alarm clock, or the rather more official wake up call of 2 big guys with batons, coming into your room at 8:05..... Personally, I'd choose the former.....
So that's a brief update from Chicago - it's been snowing, the rivers and the streams are frozen (there is a big pond just inches from the bar - frozen solid. Cue big "Rich-shaped" hole by the end of the week).......
Ciao for now!
Rich
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Apologies I'm so bad at blogging...
Hi All
Well first of all I'm very sorry for being so bad at updating my blog.
However I got a nudge in the right direction from a fellow blogger (thanks Petra), so before I crack on with the updates, here's a link back to Petra's blog... Petra, for those of you who don't know, was one of my travelling buddies in New Zealand, she had an excellent little car and introduced me to the Killers, climbing mountains shrouded in fog, and walking in Lord of the Rings country. Her blog is at: http://fatandredstravels.blogspot.com...
OK - so where am I now. I'm sat at home, in North Yorkshire, after finally recovering from my jet lag. We landed in Manchester from Canada early on Sunday morning - early being an understatement - we landed at 4am. I can never relax on a plane, with the exception being after I have had copious amount of red wine, so you can imagine I wasn't feeling at all great first thing on Sunday. Stupidly, I gave in to my sleep demons and went straight to bed, signalling 3 days of making toast at 2am and watching TV into the early hours - the joys of jet lag!
And this week has been incredibly busy. As I am now unassigned from any project, I have been helping at graduate recruitment fairs around the North of England. So I was in Leeds on Monday, Lancaster on Tuesday, Sheffield yesterday. Today I'm heading off to Lancaster for a black tie recruitment event (ok, ok so I guess it's not so terrible after all ;) - and I hear there is a live band and a chocolate fountain to look forward to.... Then I have a big presentation to the school of Management tomorrow on "What is Management Consultancy" - and having been asked that question about 50 times at the careers fair yesterday, I don't think this will be a problem to get through.
So when I haven't been the face of my Company to various institutions of learning - I've been organising my next trip. This Sunday I fly to Chicago. "Why?" you ask, "it's minus 19 degrees in Chicago?". Good question. I'm going there to undertake Faculty for the new intake into the Company. 1 week of pre-reads and organisation, then the students arrive and we spend 2 weeks taking them through a mock-project during the days, and trying to make sure they don't spend too much time at Cadillac Ranch during the evenings ;), to make sure we see them first thing the next day....
Which means organising my packing, car parking (my flight is at 6am on a Sunday morning, so I'll have another night of not sleeping), pre-reads, travel at the other end, accommodation prior to the course. But I'm well on the way now, so fingers crossed there will be no major problems.
So - all being well, my next update will be from the Windy City.... (and I will try to be more regular at these updates!)
Ciao for now!
Rich
Well first of all I'm very sorry for being so bad at updating my blog.
However I got a nudge in the right direction from a fellow blogger (thanks Petra), so before I crack on with the updates, here's a link back to Petra's blog... Petra, for those of you who don't know, was one of my travelling buddies in New Zealand, she had an excellent little car and introduced me to the Killers, climbing mountains shrouded in fog, and walking in Lord of the Rings country. Her blog is at: http://fatandredstravels.blogspot.com...
OK - so where am I now. I'm sat at home, in North Yorkshire, after finally recovering from my jet lag. We landed in Manchester from Canada early on Sunday morning - early being an understatement - we landed at 4am. I can never relax on a plane, with the exception being after I have had copious amount of red wine, so you can imagine I wasn't feeling at all great first thing on Sunday. Stupidly, I gave in to my sleep demons and went straight to bed, signalling 3 days of making toast at 2am and watching TV into the early hours - the joys of jet lag!
And this week has been incredibly busy. As I am now unassigned from any project, I have been helping at graduate recruitment fairs around the North of England. So I was in Leeds on Monday, Lancaster on Tuesday, Sheffield yesterday. Today I'm heading off to Lancaster for a black tie recruitment event (ok, ok so I guess it's not so terrible after all ;) - and I hear there is a live band and a chocolate fountain to look forward to.... Then I have a big presentation to the school of Management tomorrow on "What is Management Consultancy" - and having been asked that question about 50 times at the careers fair yesterday, I don't think this will be a problem to get through.
So when I haven't been the face of my Company to various institutions of learning - I've been organising my next trip. This Sunday I fly to Chicago. "Why?" you ask, "it's minus 19 degrees in Chicago?". Good question. I'm going there to undertake Faculty for the new intake into the Company. 1 week of pre-reads and organisation, then the students arrive and we spend 2 weeks taking them through a mock-project during the days, and trying to make sure they don't spend too much time at Cadillac Ranch during the evenings ;), to make sure we see them first thing the next day....
Which means organising my packing, car parking (my flight is at 6am on a Sunday morning, so I'll have another night of not sleeping), pre-reads, travel at the other end, accommodation prior to the course. But I'm well on the way now, so fingers crossed there will be no major problems.
So - all being well, my next update will be from the Windy City.... (and I will try to be more regular at these updates!)
Ciao for now!
Rich
Monday, February 11, 2008
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...
Hi All
Just a brief update before I go join the power hounds in some of the best snow BC has seen for 20 years. It has snowed for hours, every day, since we arrived. It's been a great few days - with the only down side being that a snowmobile ran over my goggles.....twice. Luckily I wasn't wearing them at the time, however it did lead to an interesting exchange of words....
Other than that, it's been great. There are plenty of runs here - although the resort isn't massive - ranging from the rather sedate T-bars, to 3 or 4 runs which are classified as "extreme". Tomorrow we're heading to a different mountain - and we're reliably informed that the runs here pale in comparison to the difficulty there will be tomorrow.
Photos will follow I'm sure - however until my next entry - happy February!
Rich
Just a brief update before I go join the power hounds in some of the best snow BC has seen for 20 years. It has snowed for hours, every day, since we arrived. It's been a great few days - with the only down side being that a snowmobile ran over my goggles.....twice. Luckily I wasn't wearing them at the time, however it did lead to an interesting exchange of words....
Other than that, it's been great. There are plenty of runs here - although the resort isn't massive - ranging from the rather sedate T-bars, to 3 or 4 runs which are classified as "extreme". Tomorrow we're heading to a different mountain - and we're reliably informed that the runs here pale in comparison to the difficulty there will be tomorrow.
Photos will follow I'm sure - however until my next entry - happy February!
Rich
Friday, February 1, 2008
The Trip
You might be wondering why I am writing this blog. Well, for the past 16 months I've been working on a Client project for my firm - Accenture, based predominantly in the Netherlands, but with extended periods of time in France, the UK, the Nordic countries and Spain. And, fear of flying aside, it has been an incredible experience. I've met some fantastic people, learned an incredible amount and (again, the flying aspect aside). I've enjoyed myself immensely.
However after 16 months I felt it was time to move on and try my hand at something new. So I have a couple of travelling adventures coming up before I officially return to staffed work in July, and this blog is my way of keeping in touch with family and friends. I can't promise any great literary work, but it will be funny - (my travels are always funny - usally at the expense of myself). Whether this involves imprisonment by a leading hotel chain in the Netherlands, being violently deprived of my electronic equipment in Spain, having my passport damaged - and most of my wallet contents stolen, in New Zealand, getting altitude sickness in Bolivia or getting thrown off high speed Ostriches in South Africa, I hope you have as much reading about my travels, I have....er....travelling them.
So - the trip.... what's in store:
Wednesday 6th Feb -- Canada (duration 10 days)
Saturday 23rd Feb - USA (duration 3 weeks)
Friday 21st March - Africa (duration - > 6 weeks)
--- incorporating 7 various African countries
Wednesday 7th May - India (duragion > 6 weeks)
...sometime in June / July - back home (hopefully :S)
So - thanks for dropping by - stick this URL in your favourites - and happy reading!
Cheers
Rich
(now safely on the ground!)
However after 16 months I felt it was time to move on and try my hand at something new. So I have a couple of travelling adventures coming up before I officially return to staffed work in July, and this blog is my way of keeping in touch with family and friends. I can't promise any great literary work, but it will be funny - (my travels are always funny - usally at the expense of myself). Whether this involves imprisonment by a leading hotel chain in the Netherlands, being violently deprived of my electronic equipment in Spain, having my passport damaged - and most of my wallet contents stolen, in New Zealand, getting altitude sickness in Bolivia or getting thrown off high speed Ostriches in South Africa, I hope you have as much reading about my travels, I have....er....travelling them.
So - the trip.... what's in store:
Wednesday 6th Feb -- Canada (duration 10 days)
Saturday 23rd Feb - USA (duration 3 weeks)
Friday 21st March - Africa (duration - > 6 weeks)
--- incorporating 7 various African countries
Wednesday 7th May - India (duragion > 6 weeks)
...sometime in June / July - back home (hopefully :S)
So - thanks for dropping by - stick this URL in your favourites - and happy reading!
Cheers
Rich
(now safely on the ground!)
The End is Near!
As I was going through airline security at Schiphol airport, yesterday, I went through the usual steps of taking my coat off, taking my suit jacket off, taking my laptop out of my bag and placed all of these on the conveyor belt. Suddenly the Securitas man looked at me, with a wild, if not manic look in his eyes, and said softly "The end is near!".
Now - why would this have bothered me? Well - for those of you who have worked with me during the last 16 months, you will know that I have a perennial fear of flying. Every bump, every sway of the plane is met, not with the usual indifference you would expect from a frequent flyer, but a white knuckle, seat clutching fear, a fear, no doubt irrational in every sense of the world, but which serves to make my life pass in front of my eyes every single Monday morning. Those of you who travel to work in a car may think that having to brave the rush hour, pre 9am traffic, is no great start to your week - but trust me, having to accept that you are about meet your maker is really much, much worse. In fact, accepting my impending watery grave in the North Sea (unless of course, I'm flying over the Atlantic) is the only way I can cope with flying - and landing safely really comes as a surprising bonus......and that sort of thing can really put a crimp on your Monday morning.
So. you can imagine that when even calm days can induce such feelings of fear, that it was with a heavy heart I set off for the departures lounge at Schiphol on Thursday evening. Heavy storms had battered Britain all day, worse was to come, and the departures board showed "Cancelled" as a recurring status. But the Leeds Bradford flight was still flying. "You're very lucky that you are still going," said the check in girl, "it is VERY windy today". Before I could explain the irony of her comment to her, I was already making my way through through passport control. Looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the departures lounge, the planes were shifting slightly from side to side, ailerons were being blown to 45 degree angles to the tail fins, and the ground crews hung their heads against the fierce winds blowing across the runways. And so, with my heart pounding, I headed to Security....
"What?", I asked the Securitas man, almost in disbelief.
"Yes," he replied with a smile, "the end of the line is near. All those delays we've had due to the weather - this line for Security has been so long......."
Now - why would this have bothered me? Well - for those of you who have worked with me during the last 16 months, you will know that I have a perennial fear of flying. Every bump, every sway of the plane is met, not with the usual indifference you would expect from a frequent flyer, but a white knuckle, seat clutching fear, a fear, no doubt irrational in every sense of the world, but which serves to make my life pass in front of my eyes every single Monday morning. Those of you who travel to work in a car may think that having to brave the rush hour, pre 9am traffic, is no great start to your week - but trust me, having to accept that you are about meet your maker is really much, much worse. In fact, accepting my impending watery grave in the North Sea (unless of course, I'm flying over the Atlantic) is the only way I can cope with flying - and landing safely really comes as a surprising bonus......and that sort of thing can really put a crimp on your Monday morning.
So. you can imagine that when even calm days can induce such feelings of fear, that it was with a heavy heart I set off for the departures lounge at Schiphol on Thursday evening. Heavy storms had battered Britain all day, worse was to come, and the departures board showed "Cancelled" as a recurring status. But the Leeds Bradford flight was still flying. "You're very lucky that you are still going," said the check in girl, "it is VERY windy today". Before I could explain the irony of her comment to her, I was already making my way through through passport control. Looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the departures lounge, the planes were shifting slightly from side to side, ailerons were being blown to 45 degree angles to the tail fins, and the ground crews hung their heads against the fierce winds blowing across the runways. And so, with my heart pounding, I headed to Security....
"What?", I asked the Securitas man, almost in disbelief.
"Yes," he replied with a smile, "the end of the line is near. All those delays we've had due to the weather - this line for Security has been so long......."
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