I am fifty five years old and still occasionally smoke. I admit it’s gone down to about twice a year (usually with my old pal Al, we used to work together as cleaners and called ourselves ‘the scrubbers’ – but that is a story for later). Anyway, those couple of rolled-up fags always taste like […]
Shaking hands with the Devil, or, in this case, MBS
Once upon a time I got an unexpected tax rebate. I spent it on a flight to Burma and my trip was memorable for several wildly different reasons. Firstly, I had a brief delicious love affair with a Burmese motorbiker- and then, I was on the streets when Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to […]
Why comfort zones only really exist for us to trek out of them
I am on the trip of a lifetime, and miserable as all hell. My feet are soaking wet and cold, my shoulders ache because the bloody backpack is too heavy. I can’t breathe properly; it is like trying to inhale through a blocked straw. I’m wading through snow and there there is still nine f**king […]
What I learnt in 2022; that most of the time it is so much fun just being me
A few weeks ago, I was waiting for a hotel lift so I could descend for breakfast. When the door finally slid open, I saw a fat middle-age man with a suitcase, and a young woman standing behind him. I stepped forward. “Nein!” Barked the fat man, waving his arms in front of him to […]