One Man in the UK

During my visit home to the family I was having a chance conversation with my youngest brother about my next expedition when he suggested Bulgaria. I had been contemplating returning to Tenerife or, perhaps, Malta but this gave me an interesting thought. Tenerife was as far west as you can get in the EU so Bulgaria would be one of the farthest east.  A look on the internet to discover the price of flights and the availability of long term accommodation proved that the idea was viable.  My next decision was where to to base myself. Varna looked a pleasant place and was situated on the Black Sea affording the opportunity to swim during the summer and to enjoy the air, road and rail links with the interior.  Credit card to hand it was all arranged in two days. Flying from Heathrow with Bulgaria Airways of course, I would arrive in Sophia airport, Bulgaria on the 1st July 2015 flying on to Varna on the morning of the 2nd.

I had booked a return ticket from South Africa to the UK for six months time non transferable. Due to a change in the visa regulations I could only remain in South Africa for 180 days at a time. Where could I go? My permit ended on New Year's Eve? I booked a trip to neighbouring Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls only to discover that cross-border visits would not allow a visa renewal.  I investigated countries to visit which only required a British passport and came up with Thailand. A country on my 'wish list' where I could stay for 30 days without a visa and a return ticket from Johannesburg was cheaper than returning to the UK for a short break. I packed a bag and off I went.  Follow my adventures there with the usual photo diaries on    www.onemaninthailand.blogspot.com

My time in Tenerife has drawn to an end, my bags are packed it's time to go.  An evening out with Jose-Luis,Teresa and Yaiza in Santa Cruz, a sad farewell to an island and friends I have come to love, then an early 'plane from Tenerife North to Madrid. British Airways will then fly me to Port Elizabeth, South Africa via London and Johannesburg. 36 hours in the air would take me to my next adventure at www.undersouthafricansky.blogspot.com  now  onemaninsouthafrica.blogspot.com My blog and its photographs at  www.tenerifebybus.blogspot.com  remain to remind me and show you what there is to see and do in Tenerife and all achievable by bus too.

Tenerife bus routes Redundancy at the end of August loomed. What to do next? Don, a colleague of mine who, unfortunately was to join me in the unemployment queue had been prompting me to visit Tenerife for years. Why not, another job at my time of life was a remote possibility, I owed nothing to anyone?  I commenced browsing the internet during July 2011 discovering a substantial drop in the price of a ticket to Tenerife South airport on Monday 1st November of that year. Easyjet would transport me, a cabin bag and my suitcase from Gatwick for the princely sum of £60.00. I booked.

May bank holiday weekend and I am still without my car which was quite fortuitous as I would never have heard about or made this trip. Browsing Woods Coaches for a suitable day out I came across a coach trip to Llandudno's 'Victorian Extravaganza' weekend. Living in Leicester at the time this is about as far away as you can get and I would never have dreamt of driving there on my own.  Going by coach was cheaper than filling my tank and no hassles finding a parking space on arrival.

The next event which formulated future my travel plans, and subsequent blogs, came about when my car failed its MOT requiring replacement headlights which proved very hard to find! I found myself approaching the Easter holidays with no means of transport. Harking back to my youth I remembered the 'Mystery Tours' which ran from Durham City bus station during the summer months on a Wednesday afternoon. A bit of 'Googling' revealed that coach trips are still very popular and I eventually settled on Woods Coaches of Leicester where I happened to be living at the time. A trip to Whitby by steam train caught my eye. Born in the North East of England this was a destination of choice when my dad was feeling exceptionally keen.