Tag: Stories

I have to admit to being more than a little reluctant to depart. All my friends and family had gathered to see me off, I was at home, and everything was safe. But the reason they had all come to this place was to see me start my journey–my epic expedition to travel the world.…

It’s probably fair to say that I was taking the lion’s share of the organisational responsibilities for the trip. Thom was doing a lot, but most things tended to go through me, so when Thom got off the phone and told me that a photographer was heading our way, I was pleasantly surprised. After a…

Given that we are travelling the whole way round a world composed of nearly 200 different countries, I suppose I should be grateful that we only required three visas for our trip. But having just spent four and a half hours queuing outside the Russian embassy when there are less than 48 hours before we…

University College London gives out grants to people who can come up with expedition ideas crazy enough to get their attention. In my first year, I teamed up with my new friend Thom and hatched a plan to go to Kyrgyzstan and climb some mountains. We failed dismally in reaching the tops of any peaks…

“Which way is it to the town centre?” “Sadly it’s a full 4 miles to the city, sir” “Nothing to be sad about!”, I thought, and set off into the cold darkness of morning on my way to Dublin. After ninety minutes of walking, I still hadn’t warmed up and most shops were still closed.…

“Ready?” “Yes”, she replied, “No! Wait. What’s the plan? Are we actually swimming?” “Full submersion. Anything else is a bonus”, I replied and ran excitedly into the sea. I’m glad there was no one else around because I suspect our screaming would have caused no small amount of alarm. It was cold by any measure…

I knew I shouldn’t have gone to M&S. As wonderful as the instant hit of savoury food had been yesterday in contrast to  morning of biscuit bingeing, I had now discovered a food stuff that was worse for transporting in a rucksack than bananas: houmous. ‘Mushy Chickpea Rucksack Surprise’ aside, I was feeling good. I…

This is a low point. I’m entering the third hour (or is it fourth now?) of standing at the side of the road with a thumb out and a sign saying ‘Cardiff?’ – as optimistic as the expression on my face each time I car turns the corner. This isn’t even an adventure, let alone…