In february he returned and we agreed that while we were visiting Cologne, it would be good to take 2 days to go to this special place! I was alread y sold it seemed! So off we went, arriving to the scenes of bikes row upon row and people slightly larger than your average person! Why is everyone in the Netherlands so huge!?! It wa so good to see Yoel again and finally in Utrecht!

Yoel also surprised me with some photos from our last night together on Perhentian, so for those of you who know the story or those that don't there are a few corkers here of us and general island life;

...BRILLIANT!

Well an hour or so from Amsterdam and if you followed the last blog you will know i made a promise to see Jolanda the Perhentian Princess! Sure did! Here is the proof;

We all caught up together while in Utrecht centraal one afternoon, evading the totally useless love poets and similarly crazy folk who wandered too far from the capital! It was crazy- there we were all sitting outside by the canal in Utrecht! Well we enjoyed the afternoon and a few beers together then it was time for Yoyo (Jolanda) to head back and soon she will be returning to Asia on another adventure!

The evening was complete when sat in a coffee shop Robert (Ambers boyfriend) asked why i love Utrecht... ...moments later i was the proud owner of a well kept FC UTrecht badge sticker and one player photo! An adopted team for an adopted citizen! ;)

A special place with very special people! doieeeee!!!!

written by  50watts on March 15, 2007 from Utrecht, Netherlands
from the travel blog: Watt happened next..!?!
tagged Utrecht
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After some spectacular flying weather, its one night in Cologne and the chance to shake hands (and hugs) with a couple of Germans i met in Saigon. It is approaching that time of year when the words 'your birthday' get louder. Well this year due to the fantastic time spent in Laos last year by the river i have decided to take Lenaic to Cologne. There is another guy who some might recall (Sebastian) who shares the same date and we like to get drunk together on our birthdays! This year Lenaic is here to join and here you can see her and Sebastian in front of the cathedral.

So a quick airport pickup and onward to the delights of the autobahn, City and then that huge cathedral which you really can't miss! We will be coming back here in a few days as we have to go and pick someone up first, from Holland! So arriving by the river i am reaquianted with the imposing design of all things German- and i love it! A clear blue sky, an introduction to Kolsch beer and a some well deserved street food! The French word for street food is Rien or 'nothing' to me and you! Even their fast food places rank slower than those of the outer mongul regions! Back to Germany...

...so smiles all around and then we head to Jan's place. I met sebastian with Jan in Saigon and it was there we made the plans for birthday 2006. Jans place is an awesome holdup, superb sofa of the likes i have never seen, while he kept us fed, watered and tuned in for the duration! Thanks man! Next morning and we made it to the train station with so much time to spare we both bought some shoes! Our destination> Utrecht!

Well the first people i have met since my first trip were Craig and Dionne of Perhentian (Malaysia) fame. Desptie seeing them in the UK before leaving for France they came to Nice for a week in February and we enjoyed recollections of monkey juice, big lizards, paradise and people we knew together!It was great to have them here as the first visitors and soon after finding our way around the supermarket together we were opening the wine and beers! We took them to Antibes for the day and other places around Nice and then on a few evenings a few or all of us went out for drinks- one night being particularly heavy!

Craig brought some walkie-talkies and we had a good laugh around and about. I think to be honest the guys enjoyed eating well and relaxing with warm weathter! Craig had to play dodge when he nearly got caught for graffiting a train station! haha! ...and then a similar looking guy wearing the same suspicious clothes tried to steal Dionnes bag!

...finishing a round the world trip is not easy!

As you will see from my last entry on the previous trip it was an astounding feeling of personal accomplishment (...liking the new text jason!) when i finished and caught my flight home. Time spent at home with the family was great too, but as anyone will know not easy to keep enthusiatic about after several weeks- in turn months and then you start to panic.

My parents gave me some cash and the mission was to find a job, afterall i am university educated and well travelled, what else could i do huh!?! Well...

..there was a little secret tale not divulged in the previous adventures. Anyone who has travelled, particularly alone like i did and who has read the blog in question will know there was one thing missing in the content- there was no mention of any ladies i might have met. A young English guy goes around the world for 7 months to such fantstic places and doesn't meet any ladies? yeah right, c'mon!

There are alternative dimensions to every form of travel you choose and who (if anyone) you go with! These experiences helped shape me as a person and whatever happened within those 7 months was part of the experience of being a young twenty-something and exploring the places and people of the world. I severely doubt that any of the nice ladies i met travelling are reading but in case you are, i hope you are well and that you can understand.

In January of my trip, after a particularly heavy couple of weeks with Ricky from Milan (now living in Prague) hitting the bars in Thailand, i met a Polish girl in the mirror of my hostel at 4am on Koh San Road. We both decided to go to Chang Mai and go hiking, just like that, in the mirror that night brushing our teeth. We lost contact but somehow managed to meet again when my bus north a few days later stopped in some remote place to pick just 2 passengers up. One was Gosia and we didnt realise until the sun rose the next day and we saw each othergetting off the bus in Chang Mai. We found a place to stay (Julies Guesthouse, recomended) and booked a trek for 3 days. The trek was pants because for three days we saw not a lot excpet dense forest and we also got severely ill from eating something dodge. However...

...exhausted on Day 1 and heading into the early night we arrived at our mountain village. The group all in need of a cold beer and some soup before going to sleep, sat back outside and relaxed outside our large hut where we would sleep. There were three girls there already from a previous walk and nobody felt like socialising afterall we were knackered. As i sat outside on the bench recovering i heard a voice from behind the cane walled hut. In broken English the person explained that they live in Nice, somewhere i spent one year in 2003/4. As they emerged to sit around the fire we started to talk, we did not stop in broken French/ English until 5am. I met Lénaïc!The next morning she left to finish her walk and i continued with mine. We met again in Bangkok but it was difficult because she was with a friend on a 3 week trip and we only had the chance to spend a few hours together and take a meal with Andres and Alberto the Chilean guys i knew from Oz. Still we enjoyed each others company and said that we would try and meet in Europe one day.

...i continued my trip and we kept in touch but then it stopped as i found communication difficult from Perhentian. I recieved quite an upset series of emails and extending my trip certainly was not a popular decision. The truth is that after 5months of more travelling i started to ignore her and could really not imagine a life we would ever share. This was furthered in the weeks after i arrived home, the realisation of reality in the UK and all associated matters like finding work.

Then, October 17th or near she was accepted in Nice after a tense period for us both and it was decided that i would move to Nice. So here i am, in our appartment writing about it... ...incredibly it turns out i have a photo that proves we walked past each other ein the street 3 years before. There have been many strange twists to the story- she used to work on my residential street in Antibes and on my way to see her a very strange 'Polish' girl sat staring at me through the night in Luton airport- it was more scary than the attempted prostitute-muggers in Saigon.

So thats watt happened next. Might be some time until i can update again but going to addstuff for sure and when i have a new camera some pictures too! Might also write about my life as i lie it out here in Nice trying to find a career, make my ideas happen or soemthing else unknown right now.

well thanks for reading. it really has been amazing to see what can happen within just a few months of returning from such a trip. I was not comfortable returning to live in England but i never imagined it would turn out like this. Am i running from the inevitable or am i making a future happen? only time will tell, like it has already!

...but right now, im happy.

written by  50watts on December 07, 2006 from Nice, France
from the travel blog: Watt happened next..!?!
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It is definately a proud and sensational feeling to travel solo through the countries i have, to meet the friends i have, to experience the things i have, to eat, drink, laugh, lose, see and learn the things i have! Would i recomend a place from my trip, i would recommend all of it but to different people thats the difference. For me it was all great, it was my route and like every traveller we all have our own routes and detours. I particularly enjoyed the detours! Thanks.

A thanks to all the people that have accompanied me along the way. Those who have shared the various means of transport to get from A to B via C of course and maybe more. To those who i have met on random days and nights, the net cafes, the street stalls, the bars, the beaches and the many beautiful natural places i have been. To those who helped when i was in trouble, and to those i met through helping. To the people of all of the countries for being such an insight into another daily life, especially those who let me live in their homes and live with them. Travelling solo has always allowed me to just walk, and walk, and walk throught the streets stopping where i want and such like. Travelling solo always means you will travel with others at some point collectively. I think the one real advantage it has for anybody thinking about going away solo is this; you will meet people the moment you set off, it is your chance to express yourself doing something you obviously really want to do, so do it, talk about it, share it and enjoy it! Then you will also realise that there are many other solo travellers and there are some things you share by travelling alone that others don't. No matter how you travel you are dependent on one thing; yourself!



My aunt just called, i had to ask who it was. Well i am getting used to having a phone number again so for those in the UK its the number i had before i left. I should think we will talk soon. Hope so.For those abroad i will be emailing soon if you haven't recieved already. Thanks to all those who have read the blog too, hope it was enjoyable and took a little time of the day away. A special thanks to Jason too, thanks for the fantastic space to express my cyberself as i have made this journey, thanks for the bucket offer too (one day i Hope to take you up on it still), managed to get a few new people using your site too, think i was one of the first! Thanks man. What happens now do you keep the blog? I am hoping it will be there for a while. Anyway let me know.

The last thanks is to my family, thanks for your help and support when the storm clouds grew, for all of your words and for understanding when i decided to surpise you by staying away a while longer!

...it has been a sublime way to get from one year to the next! Now somewhere in June 2006 i have to find miss reality...

'Jumpa Lagi' (Until later) my friends.

50.watts next i wonder?

The End!

written by  50watts on June 02, 2006 from Barnsley, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Ending 2005 and Starting 2006
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Last time i slept on the terminal floor and woke up mid dream shouting 'BOO!' at a guard. I couldn't actually work out at the time whether it happened or not but it definately did with more thought. I also met three English travellers on these four now famous computers and when we met we realised our paths would probably cross. They did- i was recognised on a bus from Luang Prabang on my way back to Thailand!

It is really interesting that this time on sitting here; a man leans over the broken computer next to me. I explain,

"Sorry it's not working."

He ignores and keeps trying.

"Hello, that computer is not working." (thinking maybe he no speak english.)

then i get a reply;

"f_ck off!"

Nice to meet you too!

I felt like hitting the knob but that would probably have got me in trouble and deportation is not my preferred way of departure. Hopefully this is not a sign of the people i will be crossing next as i return to England.

Well thats it my last overseas entry, one more to go when i get home and its the final whistle.

So bye from Singapore and Asia!

written by  50watts on May 31, 2006 from Singapore, Singapore
from the travel blog: Ending 2005 and Starting 2006
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...but the good news and really it is! I got an exact replacement for my mp3 player at a very very good price! KL is actually a really nice city i just do not like Chinatown.

written by  50watts on May 18, 2006 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Ending 2005 and Starting 2006
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It would be fair to say that i have sincerely the closest friend of my trip in YoLanda! To say that is so difficult bearing in mind all of the great faces and characters that grace these blog entries but the things we have experienced and some things which must remain between us have made our knowledge of each other a pleasure to have! Thanks!

See you in Amsterdam baby...

written by  50watts on May 17, 2006 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Ending 2005 and Starting 2006
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When Marc, Thorsten, Sandy (Pamela), Robin, Sabine, Jana, Nick and Will left Longbeach at the very begining of my stay they became the first faces i said a sad farewell to on the beach! At that point of saying goodbye and watching the boat disappear i realised it would be hard to eventually leave and it was!

...a special stop over island with many memories coming to an end!

written by  50watts on May 16, 2006 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Ending 2005 and Starting 2006
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