Back to Reality

I wasn't going to write another blog here, for a few reasons. Mainly that I felt that I'd just kept ranting how good things were at every stop and I'd seen most of you to tell you about my final leg and wasn't sure how many of you had been arsed to keep reading my long passages.

It was a definite shame not to finish off my stories of Nepal as it was the place which changed my life and made me see things differently. I'd met and had had some of the best times ever in my adventure playground. The challenge, and I mean challenge of the Annapurna circuit deserves a passage as does the Chitwan Jungle, but these will have to wait as I get down here what has happened in the past few months ending in last week touring the UK with Brett, Liisa and Kaisa. Liisa was the girl that I'd done my Everest trekking with.

Liisa and Hans were the best people I met the whole time whilst travelling and when Liisa and I said we'd meet again in the future, like many promises you make when travelling, I thought it would never happen. I find that quite sad, because the people that I say I want to keep in touch with and see again are people I genuinely, really want to keep in touch with and see again - I will always keep my promise and Liisa kept hers and it was amazing to spend more time with this special person who just always seems to be happy and willing to give anything a go.

Before I go onto last week - which has opened my eyes to something very important to me, something I've been blinkered to for years and was struggling to understand for the last few months, I am going to describe some of the events that built up to my return to reality....

When I returned home earlier than planned I was determined to keep busy and the travelling ethos alive. I hope to keep this alive as I return back to the daily routine of work by filling my spare time with events that keep reminding me why I'm alive. I've done that this summer and I hope the people I've shared my time with see that I've changed and that they keep reminding me of that, if I start to slip back into a place that they know I don't really want to be.

Last summer was pretty difficult for me with the break up but with my friends help, I kept afloat and I even started to live a life that I had ditched years ago in search of a life I wanted back then - its taken a full year to realise what I really want in life and it hit me last week travelling around with three fantastic guys having a time that ticked almost every box for what I wanted.

When me and Brett returned from Ibiza and having had the time we'd had we were on a high for months - once my impending travels came nearer we were both a bit sad as we knew we would never in our lives have another summer like it, with so many memorable events. Well I have to say that we have totally eclipsed last years memories and as I write this I cannot help but think that our sadness that this summer is drawing to a close and that we will never ever be able to have another summer like it. Its particularly difficult for me who has to return to a structured job after hundreds of days of fun and adventure - every single day since November 17th 2007 (when Rob and I boarded that Boeing 747) has been a new adventure, bringing thousands of happy memories and teaching me just as many lessons in life.

Like I said I was wanting to keep busy for the time I was home, hoping to enjoy my own country as much as the others that I'd visited to open my eyes to what is achievable nearer to home - and I think I've done just that.

Obviously I've had many fantastic times with other people, been away with my sister and her kids in the middle of Wales, enjoying baby Sam and catching up with Rick. I had the most touching moment of my life the other week when I fed Sam then cradled him in my arms until he fell asleep - this was an amazing moment for me. I'd never really wanted to do this with any other babies, even my sisters. Quite frankly it scared the shit out of me and I was pretty immature about the whole thing. My travelling has matured my mind and made me see things differently and I'm' so glad it has, because those moments spent with Sam will forever stay in my mind. Let there be many many more. I'm very close to Rick and hope I can be close to Sam enjoying as many moments with him and Rick as I can without being in their faces.

Its the lead up to the week with Brett, Liisa and Kaisa that I want to illustrate here so these moments won't figure here, but I want you to know they significantly contribute to my thousands of happy memories.

Brett and I had some catching up to do and Brett has been awesome in embracing the give anything a go attitude - something I think is the number one attribute someone should have. Brett booked two days off every week and we took off to discover new adventures, friends and experiences. To list everything we have done would be a bit arsey but speaking from my point of view, I've seen two different guys emerge from this summer. There isn't one thing we haven't thrown ourselves into 100% and not one trip that hasn't lifted the standard of fun from the previous weeks.

The Wednesday before Liisa and Kaisa arrived I was wandering around Leeds in the sun which we hadn't seen for a while and thought it would be good to have a few evening drinks with Brett as a warm up for the week ahead. That night we ended up in a bar where a band from York, Section30 were giving an unplugged session as the headline act with the drum kit hadn't turned up. They were glad to see some Leeds support coming through the door and once Brett and I hit the chaos button, everyone was drinking with us and Brett jumped on stage to give Leeds its first taste of The Deal - and he didn't disappoint. Chants of 'Brett, Brett, Brett' were ringing out across the bar. At the end of the night the band invited us to their next gig in York. That was it - I'd booked a hotel an hour later and the first night with Liisa and Kaisa was going to be in York.

When Friday arrived, it was nice to see Liisa again and was good to meet Kaisa, who Liisa had talked very highly of and missed whilst in Nepal. Before long once we'd fixed the shat nav we were in York and we were all excited for the week ahead. We went for a few cheeky Magners in the center before heading over to see Section30 - Brett and I were wondering if they would even remember us. Remember us - as soon as the cab pulled up we were greeted to a 'Rock God reception', people seemed to emerge from everywhere shouting 'Brett' and 'Pete' hugging us and high fiving us - I honestly couldn't believe it. We saw the band and went crazy on the gold Tequila dancing on the dance floor with the band in the middle of their set - what an amazing time. We then headed back to town to party. See the photo's on my Facebook.

We did the touristy thing in York then headed back to mine for a steady night before our trip upto the Edinburgh festival - what a trip. I totally loved Edinburgh and the Fringe was unreal - the first night we saw a couple of acts which were actually very funny - a good choice girls. I thought that Brett and I were pretty shit at making decisions but we just seem to always go with the flow and have good times - and we did. We had a few drinks before heading back to the hostel and listen to our first nightly chorus of Brett snoring - 3 hours sleep.

After a really really good nights sleep, we headed for breakfast then for a walk around Edinburgh to get a good feeling for the place. We watched a few street acts then walked around the entertainment for a bit. We split up for a while to go see some different sites before meeting to see our first show of the day - it was billed as the funniest most bazaar show you can see on the Fringe - and it was half right - bloody bazaar but shit. It was the longest hour of our lives and I couldn't stop laughing at how shit it was. After this we headed for some food when we all felt tired - it just seemed that we'd peaked too soon and we were all ready for an early night. Then suddenly Kaisa suggested that we all hit the Vodka RedBulls. That we did and that lit the blue touch paper - that night we saw some more acts which were just average but when we hit the E4 underbelly it all went west - we just seemed to turn on the magic - we started playing drinking games and before long our table was the most lively with more and more people joining us to join the fun. That night compares with the pool scene in Ibiza 2007, but we had showers although they were cold! Only me and Brett will know that joke - if only the shower had worked! I was like a mas possessed trying to get everyone to join in with us - total chaos.

When we got back to our 8 bed dorm we suddenly realised that there were 9 bodies in the room - we all managed to keep our beds but it was a funny moment especially as Frergyl ended up sharing a bed with his friend who was hot and called heaven!

The following day we said goodbye to Edinburgh -I will be back to the Fringe one day, to head to Perthshire for a couple of days to do some canyoning and see some more nice scenery. The canyoning was again a brilliant experience and was fun. The visit to Perthshire was short and sweet as we wanted to break up the drive home and stop half way we headed back down after lunch the following day. The blues started to kick in that it was all over and there would be no more partying and suddenly the girls pulled it out of the bag - 'guys lets head straight back to Leeds for another night of chaos'. We didn't need telling twice - we were now in high spirits and singing and playing games all the way back down.

It was on that journey home as I was reflecting on the week - Brett and I had had some good serious conversations - I'd been searching for an answer all summer about that one last piece of the jigsaw that was missing from my life. My life is as good as it gets - totally awesome but a partner to share moments with would be the icing on the cake - I'm not in any rush, but it was playing on my mind what I really wanted in a girl - I had the mold of Emily and wasn't sure how I could fill that, but this week made me realise in a very happy, weight lifted form my shoulders way, that Emily was the wrong girl for me, and I have been given a second chance to find that special person.

For the past couple of weeks its been creeping in to my mind every now and then that as my return to work looms, I'm returning back to my old life with the biggest thing missing - but it hit me this week travelling with such fantastic girls that everything I've been searching for in a partner was wrong and I now know just what I need in life.

Liisa, Kaisa - Keep in touch, you guys can come visit anytime. Hopefully one day we all meet again - maybe see you New Years?

'I just tonight to last forever, but I know it won't.
Let us share something together, memories that I want.
For years I've being waiting for this moment lets hope I don't choke.'
Pete Sutcliffe, Summer 2008 (The Deal, Don't Choke)