I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve got a good feeling about 2006. I’ve got a book coming out in May in the US of A. Crikey! will finally see the light of day. And a TV pilot I did about riding a Vespa around Italy is going to start hitting the desks of commissioning editors the world over. Chuck in the prospect of another big travel adventure at the end of the year and it’s going to be huge!
I’ve got big plans for the web site too. The blog will become a more important source of news and views and at some point in 2006 you’ll be able to download audio versions of my books for your MP3 players. I’m toying with the idea of giving one free to everyone on my mailing list so keep an eye out for that.
As for 2005, it’s been a funny old year. A bit like a duck really – not much happening on the surface but a hive of activity underneath. Just to mix my metaphors a bit more, wheels were put in motion this year that will hopefully turn the next one into a runaway train. (That’s one of the great things about blogs – you can slip stuff that your editor would normally put a big red line through!)
There have been a number of highlights though. Living in London has been both frustrating and expensive, but you can’t argue with the range of bands you can see on any given night or the cheap flights on offer to various parts of Europe. I attended one of the most amazing test matches in history at Edgbaston and saw the Socceroos qualify in style at a Walkabout Bar in Covent Garden. I got to interview Jens Lekman and attend a big Italian wedding when Filippo tied the knot with Valeriya. And on a personal level I got to spend a lot of time with my new daughter Daisy. I’m sure I’ll cherish that as something pretty special in years to come. I could do without the Hi-5 theme song on constant rotation in my mind, but hey, on the whole, it’s been a pretty good year.
I wouldn’t mind hearing what the highlights have been for you guys. And in the mean time, here’s to a great 2006 for all of us.
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Highlights for me – quitting my job (I was a history teacher) and going backpacking through Africa for 6 months! It was quite a trip, here are (some of) the highlights of it…
-Getting scammed over a camel ride at the Pyramids on my first day in Egypt
-Spending 46 hours on a dusty train going from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum
-Watching the whirling dervishes in Omdurman
-Making the mistake of assuming that all Ethiopian men are gay because they hold hands in public
-Spending more time than was good for me on Ethiopian buses (closed windows, locals with serious BO issues, crap ‘bus music’)
-Almost getting arrested in Moyale for breaching Kenyan photography regulations, then having to go to the police compound later that same day as it was the only place in town that sold beer
-Taking over the TV in Nairobi Backpackers for the duration of the 5th Ashes Test (Kevin Petersen – wooo hooo!!)
-Taking loads of pics of lions shagging in the Masai Mara
-Nearly dying on top of Kilimanjaro (well, I thought I was going to die)
-Narrowly avoiding the pre-election riots on Zanzibar
-Getting inolved in a drinking contest with a group of Kiwi/Aussie overlanders (on reflection, not one of my best ideas)
-Doing my PADI scuba-diving course in Lake Malawi after getting talked into doing it by a lovely Belgian girl I’d travelled on the ferry with
-Celebrating my 27th birthday in South Luangwa, with a group of overlanders (one of whom shares my birthday!)
-Scaring the shit out of myself by going bungee jumping off the Vic Falls bridge
-Quad-biking in the hills of Swaziland
-Spending 6 hours on minibus-taxis in Transkei because the place I was heading to had said that I’d get a free night’s accomodation if I got there on public transport
-Finally getting to Cape Town, seeing the penguins on the beach at Simonstown and spending Christmas in a cave half-way up Devil’s Peak
-Making loads of new friends on my travels
-Most definitely getting the ‘travel bug’ – where shall I go next?
And now I’m back in London, it’s cold and I’ve got to get a job to pay off the overdraft – but what a super time I’ve had!!
Happy New Year Peter (and family) – can’t wait for ‘Crikey’ to come out!!
Highlights … I survived 7F in 2005; a outstanding little 7th grade class of privileged Turkish students (20 of 165 students), who I believe, could have sent Mr Machiavellian screaming from the classroom.
I moved countries, leaving Istanbul after two years of teaching my students how to say ‘Gdday mate’. (and learn they did, with sometimes terrifyingly accurate imitations of a Kiwi accent. I don’t think their parents ever found out).
I resettled myself in Belgium … there’s this guy you see, that’s all I can say in my own defence because the cultural differences between Istanbul and Antwerpen were almost mindbending at first.
2006 is all about them letting me get legal here, working … having money, traveling again …
Anyway, your year sounds grand, and that Daisy of yours is cuter than a wee button. All the best. Di
2005 was jam-packed for me: In Feb bought a flat in London, May got married, August became a British Citizen, November quit my job (as did my wife) and headed back to Australia for the start of 12-18 of non-stop backpacking travel action…all the way back to the UK.