First comes the list of places that I want to go...later comes the places where I have been
Where I Want To Visit:
These are the places in the world that I want to visit. In no particular order - though Japan is top:
1. Japan
2. Tornado Alley
3. Cuba
4. St Petersburg
5. Melbourne
6. Dubai
7. Seoul
8. Iceland (Northern Lights)
9. Chile
10. Falkland Islands
11. Iran
12. Beirut
13. Detroit
14. Canada
15. Ukraine (Chernobyl in particular)
16. Athens
17. Belfast
18. Orkney
19. Hong Kong
20. Galicia
21. Zimbabwe
22. Costa Rica
23. Lake Bohinj, Slovenia24. Belgrade
25. Ronda, Spain
26. Tbilisi
27. Tirana
28. Gothenburg
29. Malta
30. Luxembourg
31. Granada
32. Valencia
33. San Sebastien
34. Cordoba
35. Ronda
36. Bilbao
37. Naples
38. Florence
39. Saltzberg
40. Sarajevo
41. Odessa
42. Fareo Isles
Where I Have Been:
James Went To Bucharest
Early last year, myself and my most important advisor (family excepted) decided that we would have a party weekend away somewhere. Ideally I wanted to go to a country I’d never visited, and again ideally somewhere inexpensive. We batted a few ideas around but given that we intended it on being a clubbing weekend, and most of my favourite DJs nowadays are from Romania, it made sense to visit the new centre of minimal techno – like visiting Berlin would have in 2004 when the last wave of minimal was really starting to make waves. For a variety of reasons … Continued
Me and my sister decided that we wanted to replicate the success of previous weekend breaks to Bologna, Stuttgart and Brussels but this time go somewhere that would still hopefully be warm and sunny – Lisbon. I’d actually done some research before we went this time, so we had an itinerary (what an oddly spelt word) and a plan of action. When we arrived, it appeared that we had got onto the wrong plane and had ended up in East Midlands airport. The first thing that we learnt about Lisbon was that it had lots of hills. Lisbon likes a … Continued
Ibiza 2015 – My Very Belated Review Of My 12th Visit
I’m writing this review of my 12th trip to Ibiza two weeks after getting back. Is it really two weeks already? There were 12 of us going to the villa, all couples, except for me and JP. Yes JP was sharing a room with me. He must have been crazy to agree that. And various others on the island that we met up with. I knew about half of the gang prior to going. OK I’m now writing it four weeks after getting back. I should forget about writing but it seems traditional to write about my trips abroad, particularly … Continued
There Are No Snowmen In Poland
I had never been to Poland before, nor to a ski resort (unless you count Burnley) so I jumped at the opportunity of a cheap weekend away – just £15 a night B&B and the return flights were £70. I didn’t know what to expect except alcohol, cold and snow. However my first taste of snow appeared as we turned onto the M11 towards Stansted – the rain and sleet earlier in the journey had turned to a covering of snow and the traffic slowed, and as the snow got thicker towards Stansted, just one mile out the traffic came … Continued
I’ve decided to mix it up a bit and not do a straight up review of my trip (partly because a fair amount of it should not be listed publicly), but instead a list of what I have learnt: 1. It is particularly difficult to find an off license in Dublin.2. Dublin looks similar to Coventry. Or any average UK town.3. Most guys have very unadventurous hairstyles. Yes, my mullet received a fair amount of attention.4. All pubs are rammed, a lot of the time.5. Caviar is nice. Lentils are not. 6. The Magician does not play my kind … Continued
There tend to be disturbances prior to my visits to foreign lands – riots in Paris many years ago, a bomb threat evacuated Ibiza airport the morning of one trip, the army were sent to protect London airports just before another trip abroad…this, my first trip to look at foreigners this year, was no different: I can only assume my precence has a calming, reassuring effect when I arrive. I hadn’t been on holiday yet in 2014, however I thought Ishould take one final opportunity to use the Euro before it collapses. The arrival of an e-mail offering returntrain … Continued
James Went to Sonning. And Got In.
The highlight of my weekend just gone is difficult to choose– DJing to 3 people, a gift of a tea, publishing my autumn weather forecast, a visit from my Parisian delight, an evening at theOakford and some amazing semi-drunken southern fried chicken – Chicken Cottageis the chicken you need by the way. Notto mention it was a 3-day weekend, I had a pie and booked Eurostar tickets toBrussels to I can go admire the European Union buildings. But for novelty and the fact that it suits my new boringlifestyle, Sunday in Sonning was just the highlight. Before I … Continued
So for the first part of proving I am still young enough tohandle crazy weekends was a trip to Manchester for the Rugby League World CupFinal. I was first taken to The Boulevard in Hull (sounds nicerthan it was but rugby league is not supposed to be gltiz and glamour…wellexcept for the cheerleading girls) around the age of 7/8 to watch Hull FC. This was my upbringing in terms of rugbyleague. I used to go every week, me and my Dad were season ticketholders at one point. It being a gamemostly played in the industrial landscape of the … Continued
Ibiza 2013 – The Review of My 11th Trip
Ahh Ryanair. It isamazing how many morons are on the Ryanair flight to Ibiza. Can anyone answer if other destinations havesuch a high proportion of nobheads on their respective budget flights? I decided that it would be more fun to fly with Ryanair fromEast Midlands…first going south to Basingstoke, then west to Bridgend beforeending up near Derby…as you do. Ryanair don’t make things easy so why should I?! Anyway, I wasn’t planning on going to Ibiza this year due tofinances but there was an excellent offer available that I just could notresist, a few weekends of staying … Continued
Before I went to Ibiza for the 10th time this year, I decided that it would be my last trip for a couple of years. However, upon arrival back upon the magical island that I like to call home, I immediately began to dream of ways that I could move to Ibiza to live there forever. Or at least a whole summer. I flew with Monarch from Gatwick as usual, an even more rowdy and party-like flight than previous years, full of young people and far more young ladies than men on board, oh how terrible. Given the e-mailed warnings … Continued