Unemployment and the Birth of a Blog

Hello and welcome to my new travel blog. Its going to be as much a diary for myself as a way to keep friends and family posted on my movements. I haven't got an incredibly long holiday (5 weeks in Canada - A week in Amsterdam), but I wanted it recorded somehow and have an easy way of sharing everything that I find in Canada with everyone 'back home' in the UK. It will also serve as a way of people I meet in Canada finding out what I'm up to at any time. I will hopefully post an itinerary when I know more of whats going on, but I've been crappy with giving people dates as I don't want to tie myself down anywhere. I want to be able to stay an extra day or two in any places I like.

I've been 'umemployed' since Friday 15th June and I can't say I've been up to all that much since then. I decided to come to Brighton as soon as I could, so I left the day after my last day, taking the train down in the late afternoon. I've been to the beach to enjoy the sunshine a few times and to the pub once or twice, but that pretty much sums up my activity in Brighton since I've been finished. I've been getting into the 'I've got nothing to do so I'll do nothing' mindset and I've enjoyed it!



This last Friday I woke up early and rented a huge moving van to collect my stuff from my flat in Reading. I've never driven anything so big and I loved it. Its nice being so high up! I was a bit wary of taking corners wide and not scraping the side on parked cars but I managed to scrape through without losing any deposit. Brian (my brother) was on hand to help pack and load things into the van. After packing and hoovering for a few hours we got back in the van and drove to my parents. We stayed the night and headed back down to Brighton after lunch. We put everything into storage on the Sunday and I took the van back yesterday. Was kinda sad to have to leave it. Here's a pick of the 'tank' outside my parents house in London.



I've been spending my evenings hanging out with my brother and playing Worms (on the Xbox 360). Its just a simple version of the game but its so addictive and the others are tired of me suggesting we play it. We normally stay up until around 3 or 4am and I've totally gotten out of the normal working persons time zone. It is taking its toll on me a little but as I've said I'm not doing anything too strenuous so it doesn't really matter. Below is an example of this. I fell asleep while we were watching episodes and Brian and Josh crafted a thought bubble with a picture of Heat's Torso of the Week stuck on it.



Anyway, thats all for the first entry in my blog. I hope it hasn't been too boring, I'm not the most exciting of people or the best writer, but, as I said earlier, I'm just keeping y'all up to date.

I'll try and post again soon before I fly out (5th July).

Chris