Travel Optimism for 2021

20 Feb 2021 Upnor, Kent, UK

It’s a gorgeous sunny day outside today, which means all I can think about is summer. Since last year was a non-starter I desperately want to get back out into the world and do some travelling. I really do hope that there will be some opportunity to do so and am quietly praying that it will all be fine. The past few weeks I’ve been thinking abo... Read more

Taking the Train to Turkey

31 May 2019

One of this year’s goals is to tick something off from the bucket list, another of this year’s goals is to try and see as many new countries as possible. What better way to do so than by taking the train to Turkey? This trip has been some months in the planning and after many different iterations of the route we’ve agreed on taking the more tra... Read more

Quick Beer in Hastings

07 Jan 2019

Last year I did very poorly on my quest to explore the UK and complete my Rail Map. The only piece of new milage I managed to complete was from Birmingham New Street to Worcester Shrub Hill. This was unplanned, a last ditch attempt to get home from Birmingham via Oxford during the January snow. My failed attempt left me stranded at Shrub Hill wh... Read more

Quick Beer in Hastings

07 Jan 2019

Last year I did very poorly on my quest to explore the UK and complete my Rail Map. The only piece of new milage I managed to complete was from Birmingham New Street to Worcester Shrub Hill. This was unplanned, a last ditch attempt to get home from Birmingham via Oxford during the January snow. My failed attempt left me stranded at Shrub Hill wh... Read more

Something a bit Different!

09 Sep 2018

Keeping with this year’s theme, The Year of Smart, I participated in my first non-technical training programme. The course was run by the Centre for Creative Leadership, a US-based non-profit organisation who focus on leadership development. CCL run the Maximising Your Leadership Potential course only three times a year at their Europe HQ in Bru... Read more

The Atlantic Coast Line

31 Jan 2016

How best to spend a windy and rainy day in Cornwall? Well, a trip to Newquay on the train of course! This is the penultimate journey of all the Cornish branch lines and one I’d been looking forward to for a while. It’s the longest of all the branch lines in Cornwall and during summer special direct services are scheduled using HST sets to/from L... Read more

My Updated Rail Travel Map

25 Jan 2016

I’m sure regular followers of my blog are aware of my Rail Map (well, it’s National Rail’s map really), it shows all of the railway lines in the UK which I have travelled on at some point. Both a record for where I have been in the UK and a challenge to travel the entire network! The last update I made to the map was in 2013, which is a shocki... Read more

Waterloo to Andover

21 Apr 2013

I’ve been looking forward to this journey for a while. Atos have a Data Centre based in Andover and an opportunity to visit in person finally arose! Unfortunately it wasn’t a particularly intensive task, but hey ho. The journey was good, I was surprised how quickly the line snaked its way out of the city and into the countryside, there were a... Read more

Stratford to Romford

29 Mar 2013

Today SWMBO was in Romford, London seeing her family; I seized the opportunity to venture further than Stratford on Greater Anglia… It was busy! But a good, quick trip. I took the Jubilee from Westminster to Stratford then caught the train towards Shenfield. Took around 45mins in total. I’m convinced the Greater Anglia is the most dull operati... Read more

Charing Cross via Sidcup

24 Mar 2013

This week I’ve been doing some work at a building on Parliament Street, London. My usual commute is on the Southeastern High Speed service to St Pancras, this is great because it’s a short 15 minute walk to the office which means I can leave my door and be at my desk in about an hour. The problem with St Pancras, especially during peak hours is ... Read more

Bangor - Holyhead

24 Mar 2013

I took this trip with @geekyjames a while back, we also visited Holyhead Lifeboat while we were there. I’ve always wanted to go to Holyhead, not sure why - I think it’s just one of those corners of the UK that needs to be ticked off. The station at Holyhead is directly adjacent to the Ferry terminal and (unsurprisingly) almost all of the passeng... Read more

First Trip on a Class 43

22 Feb 2013

Probably the most iconic of all British trains, the Class 43 is something to be proud of and we still are nearly 50 years later. Somehow I’ve never had the opportunity to travel on one, until this week. Atos have an office at Winnersh Triangle near Reading which fate had it I needed to visit, without a seconds thought my tickets were booked! I ... Read more