As I Xi It

Hmn… not too bad for a first try. There wasn’t any planning involved in the way I shot the individual frames. More frames required though.

I have a new Tumblr account primarily for the curation of things I’ve found interesting on the Web. It’s called ‘The Repository of Nonsense‘. From now on, this blog will focus on my own original content.

Yes, I could’ve used Pintrest, but it’s become too mainstream.

http://therepositoryofnonsense.tumblr.com/

Months before my trip to Sweden in 2010, I brought a book called True North by Gavin Francis about his travels in and around arctic Europe. I had been meaning to read it prior to my departure, but it just never happened and so I forgot about it until I booked a trip to Iceland later that year in June. Again, I thought I should definitely read it before I go. There was little point in bringing the book as I generally prefer to stare off into the blue yonder while plugged into my iPod when waiting, flying, whatever.

February 2011 rolled around and Gauss and I are booked to cross the arctic circle again, this time to Norway. Yet again, I gave myself the task of reading it before I went. I did consider taking the book with me but it would seem far too cheesy and besides, I was already weighed down with tins of beans and Sainsbury’s instant mashed potatoes. Although the pages would’ve been a source of fibre, I can’t say that it’d provide much in the way of sustenance so it was left behind.

So, here we are in February 2012, over two years since I brought the book and I’m due to head off on my third aurora hunt. I’m going back to Iceland and have finally started reading True North. Hurrah! However, I doubt I’ll manage to finish it before I leave but at the very least I ought to complete the chapter on Iceland.

What was initially a fun activity has slowly drifted to becoming a chore as I try to fit it around all the other things I’m up to. When I first brought it, I didn’t expect to frequent these northern regions as much as I have. I still have The Faroes, Greenland and Svalbard to conquer. At this rate, I’ll probably cross those off before I finish the book!

For months I’d been wanting an iPad but couldn’t really justify getting one, but towards the end of last year, I got my hands on one and have since put it through its paces. All I can say is that I wished I’d got one sooner.

It’s been pretty good for travelling, quite handy for backing up pics on the road and I can quite happily spend hours on it playing inane games. Current favourites include Temple Run and F.Godmom from those DOS days gone by.

Yes, it is like a bigger iPhone minus the phone component, but it’s much nicer to read content on a bigger screen. I find myself preferring to catch up on news using Flipboard and Google Currents than browsing from my desktop.

The downside of the thing is that it prevents me from going to bed. Well, technically it gets me in bed sooner, reading and browsing, but I’m far less inclined to fall asleep. It’s amazing how many hours it so effortlessly sucks up. Other than that, the iPad is pretty muy bien.

A couple of days ago, I read this article about the invasion of hummous in Britain which led me to ponder about people’s habits. Then just now, I saw a tweet about travel traditions which ingited a sudden desire to blog.

When I was younger, my usual travel routine would be to pick up a copy of New Scientist from Smiths at Heathrow. It was my reading material of choice for those long haul flights. Somehow, unnoticed by me, over the next couple of years and many air miles later, I’ve completely forgotten about it until today. These days, I don’t have much of a departure lounge ritual apart from checking Facebook and sending out a tweet or two. If I’m to catch up on the recent developments in science, I’d just check my iPhone. Back then, print was king, now, you can just read it off the iPhone or if you’re feeling a bit flush, subscribe and read it off the iPad app.

Whether you notice it or not, things are changing, albeit slowly at times.

I was in Dartmoor last weekend with the intention of wild camping which turned out to be not so wild. We did however pitch our tent in a paddock complete with horse turds. Anyway, it was also a full moon and we had nice clear skies. It’d be the ideal location for star-trails. What these pics are missing though is the aurora. I miss the northern lights.

I miss the Seychelles.

1234►

***Due to some issues with servers and hosting, I’ve had to republish this.***

On the way to the Seychelles, we stopped of in Dubai for a bit. Last year, I’d only had the opportinity to hang around in the airport for some 8 hours before continuing my trip onto Singapore to see Jac.

Having seen what I’d seen, I can’t say that I rate it all that much. It’s just really hot, it’s not a place built for walking as there are no pavements and the roads are lined with all sorts of brands from across the globe including the ubiquitous Starbucks and MacD’s along with Nandos and Giordano.

This time with Bone up to the Forest of Dean. We actually stayed on a campsite in Mitchel Troy near Monmoth just over on the Welsh side. Unlike the last campsite, our pitch was on nice green grass and had a river running behind us and instead of being awoken by birdsong, we were greeted with the incessent crowing of crows as soon as morning broke.

The weather was pretty good, got rather hot during the day and quite chilly at night with temperatures of around 9/10^oC.

The days were spent walking around, eating Dairylea and cooking.

1234►