Apr 2007

How cool is that. As of last Friday, I am now officially unemployed.
One whole week to go and its time to .. be leaving on a jet plane (sing with me people )

I have to say despite all the fun that we've had on this project, I have been incredibly blessed twice.
Having moved across 2 teams, each time my managers have been absolutely wonderful. Nigel and Aaron, if you ever read this, Thankyou :-)
Besides just being truly wonderful people, they both trust you to do the job they are paying you for and let you get on with it.
My co-workers in both teams, what can I say ... we have all been so diverse, yet have that same vision to pull together and get things done, with a sense of humour and fun. It really has been a fantastic journey and I have learnt so much from these people on both a professional and personal level.

Heres a little peek .. unfortunately it looks like I cant embed slideshows in here, so it will have to be a link.
Disclaimer: That flash was brutal, yeah thats why I look so bad

http://www.slide.com/r/yIzDkGO2xD_J0ZrBN4KiYGaZV0AbOX9S?view=original

Now for a reality check, yes I have a million and one things to do this week and I am in diversionary plus mode. Started trying to pack yesterday and so far I have managed to make huge piles of stuff all over the place without actually achieving much.

OK, not very exciting stuff to everyone .. BUT .. I just practiced the bundle wrapping for this weeks work trip as detailed on http://www.onebag.com/pack.html and it really works.
I've got half a case free. I will have to see how it holds up when I get there but for now I'm amazed.

I just might get the hang of this travelling light thing yet.

For anyone that travels a lot, I recommend you have a read and give it a whirl.

OK, I'm starting to get things together in my slow, rambling way.

I have booked flights to Scotland and planned a quick journey around the countryside.

This is what the plan looks like at the moment, but somehow I get this feeling I am going to spend all my time in the Shetlands and have to return another day.

The UK2OZ group is having a get together on the 27th May in Wimbledon and I can't miss that, hence the rather hectic timeframes.

You young'uns reading should really get your butts out there. The whole industry is geared towards the under 30's. Once you reach the ripe old age of 26 you are no longer eligible for cheap Rail Passes. It seems that over 26 you only want (read have) to travel 1st class which puts the prices way up there.
Rock on Easyjet. Because I have booked so far ahead, the fare from London to Edinburgh is .. tada .. wait .. yes just under 3 pound. Add taxes and its still under 40 pounds for return airfare, taxes and bus fare to / from London to the Airport. How ridiculously wonderful is that !!!!!!

I have also been reading up on travelling light. As anyone that knows me knows, it is not a skill I am even remotely close to achieving. I am really serious in learning how to do this, I am so tired of carting around a tonne of junk that in reality I never use.
I found this fantastic website which is putting me on the right track (http://www.onebag.com/) and I am going to follow as best as I can.
I went out and tried on backpacks today, not that we have a great selection in Perth, and found a nice one from Mainpeak which fits within the carry on baggage limits and also fits me nicely. Being very short between the hips and the shoulders makes fitting a pack extremely frustrating, so I'm glad I found such a comfortable one here.

I keep looking at it and shaking my head, I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I am determined that I WILL do it ....

To put some perspective on it, here is a shot of the new bag (blue) vs my usual bag for 2 - 3 day trips .. oh boy !!!

While I'm at it I will also put up this shot I took yesterday. I was sitting outside getting some fresh air as usual .. haha ... and decided to take a shot of the view for posterity. I couldn't believe it when I downloaded the pic, the cloud formation just made the shot.