It’s been 22 months since the last post, Covid slowed then picked up pace again, most of us got vaccinated ( multiple times), most of us have probably had Covid, and, most of us are sick of it and want to get on with life and living.

The plan for getting on with it all is;

1. 15th July – Dale ( The Maintenance Man or TMM for short) and I leave for Thailand and Laos. This is the trip that was originally planned for 2020. I tried to convince Genelle ( The Navigator) and Mark (The Mechanic) to come on this trip but no joy with that suggestion. Thailand and Laos have now opened their borders and almost everyone can now get into these countries with a small additional amount of bureaucratic noodling around. Just to recap, the trip is from Bangkok, train to Chiang Mai, over to the Golden Triangle, down the Mekong River in a small boat ( sit on not sleep on), into Laos and overland through the limestone karst country from Luang Prabang to Vang Veng to Vientiane then a short break in Phuket before flying home.

2. September / October – Italy and a few other places. This trip will be with a varying group of friends, some we’ve travelled with before. No names at this stage – we have to protect the innocent. First stop is Sorrento in southern Italy, then a few days in Rome, moving on to Cortona in Tuscany to celebrate a friends birthday. Then it’s on to Switzerland to do some train trips ( Mt Pilatus and the Jungfrau), moving on to western France to the WWI Somme battlefields to leave a poppy on a family members memorial at Villers Bretoneaux. Next stop is southern England, travelling by car via viIllages across Wales and north towards Liverpool and then back to London.

3. Christmas in Thailand. After a short break at home we’re having a Christmas with family and friends in Phuket, returning home via Singapore where we’ll throw back a few gin slings, eat some interesting food and sweat like pigs.

This looks like a busy schedule, spose it is maybe, in between I’ll do a bit of gardening, build the stone wall edging for the creek bed between the garden and the gully leading to “Reid’s Additional” (otherwise known as The Basin), go to work if I’m needed for a few days a week, sell my motor bike, have Friday night drinks when I’m in Dubbo, light the odd fire to do a camp oven, and a few other things I’ll not have though of yet.

I’ll have to revisit travel nicknames to protect the innocent, For the ones I write about disparagingly. Any suggestions for fellow travellers nicknames would be good.

• 

• 

Cheers Pauolo