And so one last throw of the dice before I go home and get a job. I'm serious this time. A trip to Germany with 4 Chorley boys, 3 of whom have tickets, the other is Scottish and me there to soak up the atmosphere of '10 German bombers' and 'No surrender to the IRA'. After 14 days of this the Chorley boys returned home and the men of glory - Ben and Jon arrived to find Messner under a bush whimpering and they demanded 10 more days of 'banter'. As there was so...

So it was, back to my old stomping ground, the streets of London - which are apparently paved with gold, you just can't see it under all the tramps! I only jest, it was nice to be back and see all my old muckers. After 5 days on Ben's floor though an incident including a workmans jacket, large quantities of lather and my inability to speak told me it was time to go home to Chorley. I thought I'd go home and surprise my family by turning up at the door. They ...

Messner returns to a continent where: * people don't go to the toilet on the street (Asia) * they don't call girls Sheila and boys Bruce, when it's not even their name (Austrailasiaiaiaiaiaia) * they don't have the efficiency of the Inland Revenue in every walk of life (South America) Yes, he returns to good ol' Europe where he met up with his old muckers Ben and Jon in Barcelona (pronounced Barttthhhhelona), both of whom had been there for 2 days a...

Well - this is my travel blog. I've just registered in a fit of boredom at work and this is really a test. 6 weeks to go until the off with inane stuff like jabs and visas to sort. Also thinking how much money I can blow on new kit - have been looking at down suits and oxygen masks - may wear it all on the plane.... So in the words of Mr. Longbottom 'first ones always a bad one' - I'll write again when something happens!