Marmalade

So, things are a bit sticky at the moment, the credit crunch is dominating everything I read or glance at so I've fast been searching for something uplifting to comment on. Well....not comment on, just ponder. Therefore I aim to scrap my trivial thoughts and focus!

Focus on Travel

Again, I'm using Stephen Fry as my virtual mentor and like my previous blog, his "six-month holiday at the BBC's expense" in America still excites me.

His 50 state adventure is now in book form, wonderful! I see brilliant potential for post-university drifters like me. Effectively, Mr. Fry has allowed us to carry on exploring the globe, like we have been doing for most of our educational career.


Sadly, I never joined the 'Gap-Year' crew. Getting lost in deserts and finding yourself in a rain forest does appeal, yet I've not had the real time, gumption, or copious amount of money to fuel a trip...yet!

Excuses

I did, take a three month instructing summer-job in Maryland, which was obviously fun and 'rad', and all that but it doesn't beat a good 12 months as a farm-hand, herding sheep in New Zealand does it?

Recently, it's felt a little too late (now that I'm a graduate and going for a Masters) to wander around a remote Asian island....alas, I feel my passion for new places has been revived by my favorite, satirical genius!

American Idiot?

Having travelled a tiny bit of America after my summer-job, mainly via Greyhound buses, I saw the East Coast. It was, quote "awesome" and although I was one of a thousand-or-so Brits, sent by Camp America to represent the UK, I honestly found it a great time of year to get away and experience work and travel in a completely new continent. There were places that could have been mistaken for suburban Manchester, complete with far too many houses, smatterings of thug-like youths and not enough grass.

I guess I'm not that original in my quest for new and exciting places to visit or work, but it does beat that unfulfilled feeling when you hear of another friend literally jetting off the radar, newly TEFL qualified to teach English to a deserving, Ethiopian school.

I actually strive to add photos of outlandish activities, like the above, to my scrapbook.

The Cranberries

I realized this morning that I really do 'let it linger' with thanks to the Cranberries (also my breakfast!) I know it's sombre but I can't help feeling that a lot is left unsaid.

I take for granted that most errands can be run at the end of the day, conversations can be left until the weekend, but that only causes the prolonged agony of never knowing an outcome. I guess I'm just a 'zoner', as one co-worker in Maryland once called me! They just love labels, those Americans.

My favorite Cambridge comic, Stephen Fry seems to enjoy it stateside. I'm glad he back on our screens in all fairness...not just for the tea but to explore a place that still fascinates me, not for the flamboyant politics, but just it's landscape and massive meal portions!

Maybe I could agree with Mr. Fry when (I can imagine he exclaims) "I was so nearly an American".