We have been home for almost months now and have both settled somewhat back into our regular lives all be it via different journeys. In the days leading up to and including flying home Justyne was very nervous and excited by the prospect of seeing our family, friends, dog, house, city, etc where I was neither here or there. We had known of our return date for quite sometime so I was mentally prepared and aware this was the end of our trip. We had been in contact with our family and friends quite regularly via email, phone, skype video calls, [View Full Entry]

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We spent our last morning in DC swimming in our host’s rooftop swimming pool taking in the 360 views of Washington before jumping on yet another dodgy Chinatown bus, this time to Philadelphia. My main motivation for scheduling this stop was the same as every third tourist that visits Philly - to personally recreate that famous scene from Rocky, to climb up the ‘Rocky stairs’. This was the moment I had been looking forward to since we booked our flights to the US. My fondest memory as a child is sitting down with my dad to watch the Rocky movies. I [View Full Entry]

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"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness" Philosophy of Carlos Bonafonte - Washington DC Couch Surfing host. Walking through New York’s Chinatown heading towards one of there notorious Chinatown buses its easy to forget you are in America. Chinatown is huge & English is the second language. I could not hide my amusement as three little Asian ladies at the bus stop all screamed at me in a foreign language & pointed to a little plastic stool on the side walk for me to sit on whilst waiting for my bus. As soon as I was seated they turned & [View Full Entry]

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We are sitting in Washington DC departure lounge awaiting our connecting flight to New York. It feels more like a bus terminal as it is very informal. We have only been in the country 30 minutes and a lot of little things have got us excited like the school portables on monster truck wheels that transport you between terminals, the sight of a Chevy Chase bank and the souvenir shop called AMERICA! As we sit waiting there is announcement over the PA, our flight is over booked and they have requested people to volunteer there seats in exchange for a hotel [View Full Entry]

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Featuring special ‘Guest’ writer Terry (Justyne’s Dad). Well we are on our way on our big adventure. Helen, Terry and Erin Guest have been waiting for a long time to get overseas-two of us for over 60 years. We joined up with our other two seasoned travellers Justyne and Andrew after the very long flight to London via Dubai-you just have to grin and bear it. From then it has been go-go-go with one highlight after another. We loved London-stayed with the nuns in a great spot 10 minutes walk from ‘Buck Palace’. Talking of walking- we did plenty- all the [View Full Entry]

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On July 7th I decided to bid goodbye to Glasgow. I just wasn’t enjoying my time there as much anymore, mainly coz I was alone and missing everyone from home and my Andy. So I decided to bite the bullet, stop work and go stay in Northern Ireland with Andrew, Suzie, Chris (Suzie’s bf) and Phil. It was really sad to leave the Victoria Infirmary but I will be catching up with them all again before I leave. So far we haven’t seen too much of Northern Ireland. We have been to the seaside village of Newcastle, Tollymore national park - [View Full Entry]

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Over the past few months Andrew and I have been separated. It’s been difficult at times but we have both been amusing ourselves in different ways. Andrew has been enjoying life living and working on the remote island of Rassay. He has been meeting new people all the time and taking pleasure in his limited time off by going rock climbing, canyonning or hiking on the stunning isle of Rassay. On the other hand I feel I am really benefiting from my time in the A&E at Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow and travelling frequently up to Rassay on my days off. [View Full Entry]

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I’m out sailing on the sound of Raasay in the ‘Oigh Niseach’ with 2 other instructors, 8 students & a teacher. The conditions are far from perfect. It is overcast, cold & there is a distinct lack of wind. It’s more like drifting than sailing. In the brief moments when we get a gust of winds it’s accompanied by buckets of rain & hail stones. The kiddies don’t like this, letting us know with high pitch screams & squeals. To get back to shore we pull out the massive Viking like paddles, 3 on each side & start rowing. Between strokes [View Full Entry]

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As a kid I played footy for 7 years but was never much chop. In the last game I played I attempted to hip & shoulder someone twice as tall & wide as me which resulted in me bouncing of the fat bugger & him falling on top of me snapping my collar bone. To add insult to injury the fat bugger was my team mate. I was 17 at the time. Now I am 27 & I have pulled the boots on again to represent Glasgow in a 6 team round robin for the Haggis Cup. The other teams were [View Full Entry]

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Raasay is a small island between isle of Skye and the west coast of Scotland. It has a tiny population of 200, consists of one pub, one shop and the outdoor centre. One of Raasay's newest residents is none other than Andrew. My first thoughts of Rassay as we pulled up to the secluded dock that took us over to the island was 'where the hell are we?' We were in the middle of nowhere. We were hoping for a shop or something because we neededto get some money out, but there was nothing. As Andrew and I sat there [View Full Entry]

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