My Teetotal Travels

I arrived in Tenby on a Thursday afternoon, after a 5-hour drive, with a sense of freedom. I had 5 days away from everything and everyone - away from any responsibilities. This is always dangerous for me. This freedom comes with a sense of excitement, and a sense of excitement leads to that 'f*ck it, I'll have a pint' feeling...and there were lots of nice pubs in this cosy seaside town. With that in mind, I took myself away those pubs, onto the beach, and just walked...until I was distracted enough that it wasn't an issue any more. It was more important for me to have a fresh head for the next day. ______________________________ When the morning came, I got up at a decent time and had my full, cooked breakfast, then headed out. I'd been told about Bosherton Lily Ponds and Barafundle Bay, so that's where I headed. I went to Bosherton Lily Ponds first, as - according to Waze - that was nearest to me. I was told they were peaceful. They were. These aren't ponds...

Rainy season in Costa Rica truly means rainy - they're not f*cking about when they say this. This means take a completely waterproof anorak (lightweight - because it's rainy, but bloody humid), or a poncho, or anything that'll cover you/your stuff and not let water in. I didn't do this. I took a 'water resistant' lightweight jacket - very different. Once water saturates it, it draws it through...so you still get soaked, but it just takes a little longer than usual. On the day I went for treetop 'hanging bridges' walk, in the rainforests of Arenal (the second stop on my trip), I was even more idiotic - I took nothing rainproof with me: just the t-shirt and shorts I was wearing, and my backpack. I was with two women from my tour group, and our guide - plus various other groups on the walk, all of different sizes. It got off to a promising start. The sun shone, clouds were scattered, and we saw a lot of wildlife in a short space of time; collared peccaries ...

Wales is a beautiful part of the world. If I can't/don't want to go abroad, and I want some peace and quiet, and serenity, that's where I head. In fact, in 4 days' time, I head to Tenby. In April 2024, I visited the Gower Peninsula. I knew it was an area of outstanding natural beauty and had tons of beaches. Not pretty, palm-tree-fringed, tropical beaches, but raw, rugged, windswept beaches. A Welsh friend had recommended a number of them; Oxwich Bay, Rhossili Bay, The Mumbles (which wasn't actually that impressive), Langland Bay etc. But the pick of the bunch was to be Three Cliffs Bay. It was a ball ache to get to, as was everywhere round that way. I'm lazy and rely on Waze to get me everywhere. If there's no signal, I'm f*cked. I don't keep paper maps, so I don't know how to get anywhere. In that part of Wales, the signal was patchy...including on the approach to Three Cliffs Bay. You can't park near the beach — it's all private land. ...

Over 20 years ago I saw this same sight, at the same silly time in the morning. Except 20 years ago, I was whizzing my tits off, on some cheap yaba I'd bought off some random in the street (always a safe bet). Actually, I may well have been on a comedown by then. Either way, the dumb, reckless, 23-year-old me didn't appreciate what I saw, because I wasn't fully on this planet. ...so I decided to do it again, as a 40-something. I arrived in Angkor, Cambodia, after another 20-hour journey (including stops) — knackered and unable to hold a thought. It was 9pm, but I needed food and a wash...not necessarily in that order. By the time I got to bed it was 11-ish, but the owner of the hotel I was staying at was a bit of a hustler ('Do this trip, do that trip, I know a good English-speaking guide, I'll take you on my tuk tuk, only $50' etc) so I'd agreed to get up at 6am the next morning, to do a day tour of the world-famous Angkor Wat. For those not in the k...