blisters and backpacks

It was gone 9 by the time I got back to Hemel station and I still had to get back to my flat. There were no taxis at the rank and none running from the various cab companies I called. I phoned my Dad, who had JUST got home from picking my brother up from school and he came out to pick me up. I thought my journey was awful. It was nothing.

At 6 a.m. the next morning I caught the coach as usual and was informed that the 6.30 p.m. coach the night before, the one that I would usually catch, had not arrived back in Hemel until 2 a.m.! My first question, had I not been too stunned to ask it, would have been: ‘What the hell are you doing on the coach at six in the morning if you only got off the last one four hours ago?’.

Actually, I didn’t need to ask it. I already knew the answer. Some people just can’t, or wont, be late for work.

What kind of a life is that?

There must be another way.

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There is another way.

I’d already worked that out before the horrendous journey from Earls Court to Hemel Hempstead. The exhibition at Earls Court that day was a travel exhibition; I was planning a trip around the world.

My journey to and from work in 2003 was almost exactly the same as it is now. On a good day it takes three and a half hours to get to and from work. At least once a week it takes five or more.

I’d had enough then and I’ve had enough now.

The main purpose of this website is to try to fund my next RTW trip. The other reason I’ve set it up is because my memory is crap. I only arrived back home from travelling two and a half years ago and I’ve forgotten more than I can remember.

I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.

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