It has come to my attention that after a long year of ups and downs the ruck sack cannot be stowed away. Its entering the 14th year being strapped to my shoulders and i honestly did think to myself this time last year it would be laid to rest! 14 years consistently on the road with a maximum stay in one place of around 6 months its what i do best!!

But hold on a minute you dim wit, who the hell was i trying to fool! I read back some early facebook comments in 2008 and one jumped out at me saying, ‘dickey your job is travelling the world’. The alarm bells started ringing, the noise of the straps of my ruck sack being pulled down on my shoulders, closing all the zips and looking at the map of the world thinking where can i make my next couple of quid. So i thought the show must go on and do what i do best, which is travelling the world!!!

There was no way after a not so good second half of 2017 where i thought magic was happening,  that i was going to conform and live in the grind of a Monday to Friday job. Just because a few setbacks had happened does not mean you throw the towel in. What knocks you down, only makes you stronger, more determined and passionate to be successful in whatever field you are in. So i made a few calls, sent a few messages (i call this putting the feelers out) and the next thing i know i found myself on a secluded Thai island which i am not going to mention because even the locals said its a secret as it is unspoiled by tourism. But if you want to know get in contact with me via my various social media platforms

I had finally after 7 long years of not seeing a good friend of mine who i used to work with in Nice, France, we reconnected on this beautiful Island. The world can work in mysterious ways sometimes and we just have to be calm and let everything take its cause. My good friend Jeremy is an incredible teacher of Yoga and meditation and had descended on the small island to start a little yoga school. The pace of the island is something that i have only experienced in a few other places in the world. It was like a combination of Antigua mixed with a Bangkok and Northern India!!

So the travels continued on and on and that is the great thing about it, from years and years of living out of a ruck sack, meandering around, the relationships you can build around the world is just immense. Added with the power of social media now its so easily done and to stay in contact. Back in the day when i first put a ruck sack on my back at 18 years old, i lugged around a 900 page lonely planet and a YHA card!! I remember on one occasion i was stuck in Munich with literally a 2 euro coin (not the first time in my life! Nothing changes!) and i had to phone my old man to tell him to sell my beloved motorbike!! Heart breaking but it was a sacrifice i made in order to carry on inter railing. Also i remembered one trick when i was taking a train to Prague on the same trip, I was a little sceptical at the time but i tied a bit of string around my ankle then the tied the other end to my bag. Just in case some passer by decided to half inch it during the night!!! 18 and buzzing in Prague! I dont think i will elaborate on what happened in Prague you’ll have to ask me in person!!

Ive been asked by people many times, where is your favourite place? will you ever stop travelling? are you gonna put some roots down? The answer is i have no idea to be honest. why stop doing what you love? Im not quite sure as i don’t really make plans. I’ve found if you make plans you always have to bloody change them anyway more often than not. But lets see what happens in the future. I was once told my a gentlemen i used to live with in English Harbour, Antigua, this was a conversation consisting of 5 hours of backgammon and plenty of carib beers! His name was Pep, and he said to me, ‘Dickey do you know what the biggest killer in the world is today’, i replied with cancer being the obvious! He replied, taking another sip of his Carib ‘nah man, its Stress’. Pep was physicist for IBM back in the day and an absolute delightful bloke to sit and watch the world go by playing backgammon. A super interesting, kind, chilled 73 year old who didnt look a day over 50!! Hats off to ya Pepo!! Its times like these being on the road, that again will stick with me and probably play an influencial part of the rest of my future!! So the vibe here is try not to get stressed!!!