Day M351: The Final Tear-Stained Juddering Climax

12.09.12: So the last two weeks have not been particularly merry ones. But, on the bright side, I’ve been able to spend time with my dad (and… er… let him beat me at Trivial Pursuit) and I’ve been able see my friends and have a good mooch around my city. I was invited by my mate Steve to the annual Hollyoaks barbecue, Brian and I came third in the infamously difficult Fact Cinema Film Quiz (sample question: “Who Directed Caddyshack 2?”) and, let’s face it, the Paralympics were BRILLIANT. Last Sunday morning, nice and early, I made my way down to the Big Smoke, London, or ‘Kings Landing’ as I’ve decided to call it from now on (a place awash with incest, vice and vile plots). I arrived in time to catch the end of the marathon and met up with Matt Eland and his mate…

Continue Reading Day M351: The Final Tear-Stained Juddering Climax

Day M363: I Am Not A Number

24.09.12: Just before I jumped the train back to Liverpool, I met up with my top mates Dan and Stan for a swift half around the corner from Euston Station. Out the blue, Dan invited me to this weekend’s Festival No. 6 in the quaint Italianate town of Port Meirion in Wales. You know, where they filmed The Prisoner. This was pretty immense as Dan hasn’t invited me to a festival for years. Possibly because I made a drunken arse of myself a couple too many times at Glasto, V, Leeds, Download, Roskilde, Bestival, a billion free gigs where I was his +1... or possibly because (many moons ago) I thought it would be hil-arious to send him a text from his sister’s phone informing him that she was pregnant when she wasn’t. Would have been a hoot, that… had he not immediately rang his parents……

Continue Reading Day M363: I Am Not A Number

Day M364: The Measure of a Man

Tue 25.09.12: I can’t enthuse about these last six weeks enough. I’d be a fool to pretend that everything was rosy in my personal life: most of my family aren’t talking to each other, my dad is going in for some risky heart surgery next month (and – my usual bad timing – I’m not going to be here) and did I mention Mand and I split up? I probably should have. But on the other hand – The Olympics, The Roundhouse, Blur in Hyde Park, Dino’s Wedding, Hugh’s Wedding, The Paralympics, Noel Gallagher, Festival No. 6, Danny’s Wedding, coming third in the film quiz… INCREDIBLE!! And all of it, everything I saw, everything I did, everyone I met, I did so because I have the most amazing friends in the world. Friends who have been there for me through thick and thin, though this whole…

Continue Reading Day M364: The Measure of a Man

Day M365: Now, Voyager…

Wed 26.09.12: And so back to Sri Lanka. Exactly one year TO THE DAY that I rebooted The Odyssey Expedition in Wewak, Papua New Guinea. That was Day 1,000. Now I’m on Day 1,365. I added the ‘M’ prefix in an effort not to scare away new subscribers, but I really need not have bothered: it now takes up more space than a simple ‘1’ would have done. Humph! I flew Kuwait Airlines again, on the return ticket. Kuwait airlines cannot be given a good review by any objective commentator. The TVs don’t work, the babies scream and there’s no bleedin’ alcohol on board to smooth off the edges. Ygads. But, you know, airplanes do get you where you need to go, and FAST! Blimey, in the time it took me on a coach to go from one city in Turkey to another, I flew across…

Continue Reading Day M365: Now, Voyager…

The Voyage Home: Schedule

Update! All dates and times are approximate and subject to Africa. Now that The Odyssey Expedition has been successfully completed, in the spirit of the adventure I will be overlanding it back my home town of Liverpool from Juba, South Sudan. The Voyage Home (South Sudan To Liverpool) Juba, South Sudan Tue 27 Nov Kampala, Uganda:  Thu 29 Nov Nairobi, Kenya:  Fri 30 Nov Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Tue 04 Dec Khartoum, Sudan:   Mon 10 Dec Wadi Halfa, Sudan: Wed 12 Dec Aswan, Egypt: Thu 13 Dec Cairo, Egypt: Fri 14 Dec Port Said, Egypt: Sun 16 Dec dep 1900 Iskenderun, Turkey: Mon 17 Dec arr ~1900 Istanbul, Turkey: Tue 18 Dec - Wed 19 Dec Igoumensia, Greece: Wed 19 Dec dep 2359 Bari, Italy Thu 20 Dec arr 0830 dep 1538 Paris, France: Fri 21 Dec arr 0930 Liverpool, England: Sat 22 Dec arr @…

Continue Reading The Voyage Home: Schedule