Alex is in!
December 2, 2007 at 8:50 am | Trip | No comment
Well, that’s a turn up for the books.
I went out for a drink with my oldest mate Alex, and as usual was waffling on about my trip, my route, my plans and my tribulation, and jokingly said to him “You should come too! C’mon, it’d be fun!” “Ok!”.
For the past few years he’s been working in Ambulance dispatch in preparation for becoming a Paramedic when he turned 21, however, shortly before he did turn 21 the government started moving the goalposts, with nobody knowing what was going on and interviews for the various courses that would supposedly get you into the paramedics, his goal started slipping away.
In the end he applied for the position once the government had got the application process sorted out, but failed on some piffling technicality.
To add insult to injury the centre he operates from dispatching ambulances is being moved to another location prohibitively far away to commute to.
So as a result he’s taking on a new role with doctors on call, though ultimately this is continuing in a vein that he’s not especially interested in.
Due to a quirk of personality and the currently common standard of living with ones parents (due largely to ridiculous cost of living), he has over the past 4 years or so saved up a significant amount of money.
He, like me, has very few ties to this country, and felt that he has no good reason not to go on this trip.
He happens to be the very same mate of mine that I went on a two week road trip around France with earlier this year (a tiny precursor of the big trip you might call it!)
I know I get on with him very well and honestly couldn’t think of anyone that I’d rather do this trip with.
I had been waxing lyrical about this trip to him, outlining the adventure and the romance to him, gently interspersed with slight annoyances and tribulations in the planning.
And on Thursday, over a pint in “Ye Olde Swan” in Woughton on the Green, he decided he wanted in.
I immediately started filling him on the technicalities and his immediate tasks, as there are a mere 3 months until our departure date, and that is the bare minimum amount of time for say… Vaccines to be administered.
Not to mention the fact that in that time he has to learn how to ride and pass his direct access, apply for an international driving license, get a second passport, acquire a multitude of visas, not to mention buying a bike and doing all the appropriate upgrades and gear purchases.
It’s a tall order, but certainly possible.
After a couple of beers we headed off to a late night coffee shop and drank two Mochas, which only heightened our excitement for the trip, and once kicked out of the shop we drove to a nearby pitch wood and discussed the amazing adventure we were shortly going to embark upon.
The next day Alex told his mother about his plan, her response was “No”, which struck me as rather amusing considering that “No” was not a word within her power to enforce.
On that same Friday I had my latest bike training session, which turned out to be with Steve, who I’d seen shouting at some people he was training while I was on my CBT over a month ago.
I was not looking forward to it, as I don’t respond well to being shouted at, especially when I’m trying to learn and am paying the better part of £500 for the privilege.
However, as it turns out, he was one of the best trainers they have on staff, and I thoroughly enjoyed the half-day session and corrected many of the issues I was having problems with.
I have one more session to go before my training, starting tomorrow it’s with Martin, who on my last session was a truly abysmal teacher (although some-one you could quite happily get along with in other circumstances).
I’m alternating between blissful calm and heart tightening apprehension with regards to my bike test. It’s quite tiring and also quite pointless as I know I’m quite capable of doing it, I just need to avoid making any silly mistakes (the chances of making which are significantly increased by being apprehensive and stressy!
The thing I always use to calm myself down is the fact that it’s only just over half an hour long.
I can deal with half an hour!