Around the world in 180 days…

Where the reward of changing my life began to manifest.

Latest Posts

I just wanted to say thank you… 100th post23rd Jan 2021
I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to read my blog. This is the 100th post on here. Over 100,000 words of, well, stuff. I expected to give up after a few months but I get some positive feedback. I started it because I had experiences to share. Battling addiction. LosingContinue reading “I just wanted to say thank you… 100th post”
The Well – A Poem1st Nov 2020
It’s cold, dark, damp and bleak, I want to climb but I’m far too weak, Plus, there’s a voice telling me I have no chance So I sit alone in this unforgiving circumstance. So I sat in the misery for three months maybe four, The disembodied voice castigating me evermore, Slowly in the darkness ofContinue reading “The Well – A Poem”
How travel changed me…19th Sep 2020
Let me just start by saying that travel was only possible because I quit drinking. Sobriety is the entire cake. Travelling is the icing that gives it beautification. Travel is a reward for the sacrifice of not drinking. It is the prize for swimming against the tide in a culture washed way by alcohol. TheContinue reading “How travel changed me…”
“I’ve had enough. I have a problem and I want to change!”28th Feb 2020
It is the end. Five months of travel has come to an end. I am typing this at the airport. I have just achieved my dream of travelling the world. It is a dream I have held since I was in my late teens. It only happened because one day I said “I’ve had enough.Continue reading ““I’ve had enough. I have a problem and I want to change!””
Feeling lost…21st Feb 2020
It has been two weeks since I ended my travels and those weeks have been filled with a sense of loss. I have finished what I set out to do and am now left with the question “Now what am I supposed to do?” A friend recently said to me “now you’ve done everything you setContinue reading “Feeling lost…”
To thine self be true – A Poem25th Jan 2020
I was sixteen years old when I first went out to a pub drinking. I can remember walking up to the door with my chest sticking out like a barrel-chested pigeon. Slowly praying to a God I didn’t believe existed, that the bouncer would let me in. He did. And as a result, I approachedContinue reading “To thine self be true – A Poem”
My drunken dreams became my sober reality…13th Jan 2020
With the end of six months travelling approaching and my return to work slow tapping on the window of my future like a huge Monday morning, I begin to ask, was it worth it? A resounding ABSOLUTELY! People said I was lucky to be able to take six months off from life to fulfil theContinue reading “My drunken dreams became my sober reality…”
Leaving a trail of positivity?7th Jan 2020
My current life is quite transient, yet I still try to treat people well. I don’t have to. Many I will never see again and their opinions hold no sway over my future. Despite this, I still try to leave a positive impression on people. For years I tried to be what people wanted. IContinue reading “Leaving a trail of positivity?”
The pyramids are amazing… it’s a shame they are in Egypt!21st Dec 2019
After just over a month of having my perception of central America and Mexico blown to smithereens, it was time to move on. I boarded the flight from Cancun to Cairo with a heavy heart but a good amount of excitement. The pyramids of Giza had been on my list of things to see forContinue reading “The pyramids are amazing… it’s a shame they are in Egypt!”
Finding yourself?14th Dec 2019
“You’re travelling to find yourself aren’t you?” she said with certainty. “That’s such cliché bullshit,” I said “So why are you travelling?” I didn’t get into the whole conversation about the journey I had undertaken to get this point. How I had crawled from the brink to liberate myself and was now celebrating my freedomContinue reading “Finding yourself?”
Getting bored whilst travelling…6th Dec 2019
Those fateful words “I’ve been here a couple of weeks now and I’m ready to go home! I’m bored!” I just don’t understand it. I am very rarely bored. Especially when travelling. I know people are different but even in countries, I didn’t particularly like I was rarely bored. The only time I find myselfContinue reading “Getting bored whilst travelling…”
Is travelling just escapism?29th Nov 2019
“What are you running from?” A question I was asked often when I stated that I intended to travel for a period of time. “Nothing, I’m running to. Not from.” Would be my retort but it would fall on deaf ears. Dismissed as an excuse. I would be labelled as immature for refusing to acceptContinue reading “Is travelling just escapism?”
What has the journey taught me?22nd Nov 2019
2000 days of hangover-free, personal growth. Moving from self-loathing and into self-love. 2000 days of learning, reflecting, processing, releasing and understanding. A 2000 day journey from misery to liberation and contentment. The constant barrage of negativity that bombarded my psyche with the ferocity of a howitzer has fallen silent. An amnesty that I thought wasContinue reading “What has the journey taught me?”
The wonder of music – A Poem14th Nov 2019
It’s a shame the world became so noisy. I mean it was noisy but then douches started having phone calls on speaker or listening to TV shows with zero consideration for anyone else. A potential solution is to try and negotiate with one of these clowns. A task that I fear would diminish my IQContinue reading “The wonder of music – A Poem”
Hasta Luego, Magical Mexico!8th Nov 2019
I’ll admit it; I was apprehensive about going to Mexico. I had heard so much through the media that I expected to be shot and killed as soon as I left the airport. My geeky obsession with ancient cultures was enough to lure me there. I’m glad it did. Mexico has been a delightful experienceContinue reading “Hasta Luego, Magical Mexico!”
The fear of missing out30th Oct 2019
It’s Friday night and I’m in a hostel in Santa Monica. I am alone because everyone in the hostel has gone out drinking… Rewind… It is Friday night and I am in a hostel in Santa Monica. I am alone but not because everyone in the hostel is out drinking. I am laid in bedContinue reading “The fear of missing out”
Looking for answers in Tikal but finding more questions…27th Oct 2019
It was once said that “writing is easy. All you have to do is sit at a typewriter and bleed.” Or something to that effect. I guess then that this is me searching for a vein. Searching for some beauty to pour onto paper. Or anything to express… something. The lack of routine, it painsContinue reading “Looking for answers in Tikal but finding more questions…”
How travelling the world is changing my inner world21st Oct 2019
Moments occur one after another. Each one destroys the last and replaces it with something improved. My mind expanded and my soul branded. Not every moment is one of expected wonder. A simple bus ride, where I slip in my headphones. The opening chords of This Charming Man pour into my being. It feels likeContinue reading “How travelling the world is changing my inner world”
Finding peace in Playa Del Carmen12th Oct 2019
I am up and out for a jog through the empty early morning streets. The peace is a welcome break from the constant bombardment of offers for massages, Cuban cigars and marijuana which happens during the day and night. I do a lap and return for breakfast. It is only 8am and the October sunContinue reading “Finding peace in Playa Del Carmen”
An attitude of gratitude6th Oct 2019
Sitting on top of the sun pyramid at Teotihuacan, I can see the sights I’d googled a thousand times before. Now, I was here. Like many things over the past few weeks, it didn’t seem real. Like a dream that I would awake from and be trapped back in that old life, the one ofContinue reading “An attitude of gratitude”
Stories from sobriety; Leaving Las Vegas… Sober.4th Oct 2019
Two words fill me with dread; Party Bus. A party bus in Las Vegas in no less. Part of the tour I had booked included a party bus and a nightclub entry. I have to be honest even after a few years of sobriety, the proposition made me uncomfortable but not for the sameContinue reading “Stories from sobriety; Leaving Las Vegas… Sober.”
Sobriety; The greatest investment I ever made…1st Oct 2019
My expectations in early sobriety were that my life was over. That I would don my retirement slippers, buy a pipe and rock myself to a slow death reminiscing about the “Glory days” of old. It wasn’t much of a proposition if I’m honest but it seemed a damn sight more promising than the roadContinue reading “Sobriety; The greatest investment I ever made…”
There’s still time to change the road you’re on…29th Sep 2019
There’s still time to change the road your on. That was the line from the iconic Led Zeppelin song “Stairway to Heaven,” that accompanied the delectable sight of the Grand Teton Mountain range as we toured through the USA. It had so much meaning because I may have been 3000 miles from home but, emotionally, IContinue reading “There’s still time to change the road you’re on…”
Around the world in 180 days…9th Sep 2019
09/09/19 Today I haven’t had a drink for 1927 days. Tomorrow I embark on 180 days of travelling. If you had told me 1928 days ago that this is where I would have ended up I wouldn’t have believed you. I didn’t expect this. Shit, I didn’t even expect to stop drinking. I’d wanted toContinue reading “Around the world in 180 days…”
Stories from Sobriety – Bangkok and the number 11:1131st Aug 2019
I had spent the first two years of my sobriety, focusing on staying sober, paying off debt and getting ready to walk the El Camino de Santiago. After I had accomplished this, I felt lost. Like I was drifting through life with no purpose. This wasn’t helped by the fact it was November in theContinue reading “Stories from Sobriety – Bangkok and the number 11:11”
10 ways the El Camino de Santiago is like sobriety…23rd Aug 2019
As a challenge, a friend and I decided to walk the El Camino De Santiago in September 2016. We walked the pilgrimage from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, in southern France to Finisterre, on the North West Coast of Spain. A total of 600 miles over a period of 30 days. I was just over two years sober whenContinue reading “10 ways the El Camino de Santiago is like sobriety…”
Awakening – A Poem16th Aug 2019
Peering through the fabric of realityBeyond normality disguising mass insanityLike stepping off a treadmill that is in the darkAnd wandering through a beautiful sun-drenched park Therein lies the true-life missionThrough the mind and into the intuitionThe constant negative affirmations with which we are bombardedLeaves the ego off centre, anxious and always guarded To transcend theContinue reading “Awakening – A Poem”
5 lessons of Sobriety from hiking Hadrian’s Wall10th Aug 2019
Halfway between towns. In a field. Hiking up a hill in the driving rain and cold constant wind. I can’t help but think Why did I do this? I had foolishly agreed to walk the length of Hadrian’s hall in northern England with some friends. At the point of regret, we had walked 44 milesContinue reading “5 lessons of Sobriety from hiking Hadrian’s Wall”
Stories from Sobriety – An Inca Trail Awakening31st Jul 2019
I can’t remember exactly when I made Machu Picchu my desktop wallpaper on my PC but it was before I stopped drinking. It was in a time of my life when places like Machu Picchu were fantasy destinations. Places that others were destined to visit but not me. I was destined to prop up aContinue reading “Stories from Sobriety – An Inca Trail Awakening”
Stories from sobriety – A road trip to Rome29th Jun 2019
A year of sobriety had whisked past. I was firmly entrenched into a routine; swimming, sauna, hiking in nature on the weekends, meditating, chipping away at debt, meeting friends and reading. I’d been promoted at work. Which was a surprise because it was the first interview I’d done sober and I was convinced it hadContinue reading “Stories from sobriety – A road trip to Rome”
A Break Up Poem… To Alcohol.21st Jun 2019
A few years ago a therapist told me that I was in love with drinking. So I did the only sensible thing and wrote alcohol a breakup poem. Divorce Walking into the pub a free man and leaving on a leashShackled by the allure of alcohols sweet releaseAt first it seemed loving and it seemedContinue reading “A Break Up Poem… To Alcohol.”
What I learned in my first year sober6th Jun 2019
For the first six weeks of not drinking, I fought the cravings on my own. When I saw the way it was heading I HAD to reach out for help. The phone call I made to AA was the first time I spoke to someone who understood. They understood the cravings. They understood the needContinue reading “What I learned in my first year sober”