The Journey Begins...

I have a note pad and for the last couple of days I have been using that to document my journey so far…

Oct 26th

It's been a long day it started in Brighton in Spud U Like in fact not even spud U Like, but some kind of cheap imitation run by the most surly Eastern European girls serving me my chicken, bacon and avocado spud.

I owed Epic some money for a crazy purchase of two computers on a company scheme. I can't be bothered to explain it, just accept that I was an idiot to have bought them in the first place and now I am paying the price!

I'm transcribing this word for word so far from my note pad, I have to warn you that it was a bit long, I spent hours on planes and sitting around and so got into the flow, I will edit it a bit…

Ok so I needed to get the money for Epic, but the bank was closed until 10am for staff training. I pop into the camping shop and spend the vouches I got for leaving epic on some random items, hiking socks, gloves and a waterproof liner for the back pack. I get the money and get some US Dollars for the trip and pay off Epic, saying goodbye to the girls in accounts and the receptionist who is lovely and a mother to us all ;o)

I get back to the flat and hastily tidy up the remainder of the stuff. I hot tail it over to Lewes to take some things to the charity shop and say my goodbyes to D&T. It's funny it's not until I leave that I realise how lucky I am to have such good friends it's a bit like when a celebrity dies and everyone says how great they were and what a special person they had been, hopefully unlike with the celebrities my friends weren't slagging me off the week before ;o)

I got to my sisters at 6pm the plane takes off at 9.30pm, if my ex was with me she would have killed me by now! I am always late for everything and understandably it drove her nuts. It's weird doing this trip without her, I traveled on business for my last company to Qatar in 2000 and that was the last time I flew without M. I was doing some work for Gulf Air and I got to fly Business Class which was great, free booze, loads of leg room etc. When I flew back I was on a seat next to one of their chief engineers, a real old colonial type. He started ordering whiskeys before I had even settled in my seat and half an hour into the flight I was totally smashed. Fortunately the Old Cornel had fallen asleep. I spent the rest of the trip watching the Sixth Sense with a stewardess from Virgin Airlines who was cadging a lift home with Gulf. I came rolling home about 7am, I think M was just off to work. Poor think I think she despaired at my behavior at times. I like to think that for the most part she found it endearing?!   

We get to Heathrow at 7.15pm there is no queue at check in and I even manage to get an extra leg room seat! I get on the plane and it is so weird there are only say 100 people on a 747 jumbo. There was a guy sat next to me his name is Tapesh I hope I got that right as he now knows about the blog! He saw me writing in my journal (the note pads status has been upgraded!) So I told him I was blogging and he wanted the address. I couldn't refuse the guy told me that his 18 year old daughter had died of ovarian cancer that year how tragic and heartbreaking is that. The funny thing is he seemed like one of the most jovial people I had ever met. Some people think the world has ended because their train is delayed or their dinner is cold or Coronation Street has been cancelled because the football has gone into extra time. It kind of puts it in to perspective.

He gave me some advise for my travels in India, I must not say sorry when people bump into or shove past me or vies versa. There are over 1 billion people in India that's a lot of people to bump into I'll soon get sick of saying sorry no matter how British I am.