A tribute to a seasoned traveller - my bro!

Did you know that man walks on the moon without a spacesuit..?!

We saw my brother Ady off nearly three months ago, and while you might think that we'd hardly hear fom him as he travelled through Canada, America and now Fiji, the opposite is true...

Didn't realise he was stopping off on a moon crater in between though!

Like myself, he is a keen blogger - although with minimal time on his hands, he's forced me to do all the uploading for him! As if running one busy (soon to be award winning) blog wasn't enough! Ok, it doesn't take up that much time really...

The benefit of running Ady's blog is that he's sent back some darn fine posts over the past few months, and a few - say, more than just a few - tasy snaps during that time - and I'm getting to view them first hand! Check the blog out for yourself... once you've viewed the photos and quotes below of course! - http://adrianswinbourne.blogspot.com/

So here, ladies and gentlemen, is the compliation blog - The Very Best of Adrian Swinbourne - the juiciest quotes, the finest snaps - a tribute to a seasoned traveller, who's only just passed halfway. There's a pint waiting for him when he gets back as well. Don't tell him that though..!

Oh and did I mention he's the cleverest bloke in the family? The blighter only went and got a 1st Class degree while he was away..!












Ady on finding out important news...

" I checked the same website again and typed my username and password in again, checking the name and award as well as probably pitching myself several times over, utterly indescrible.

I was thousands of miles from home in scenic Whistler, Canada, and I could not believe the words that read in front of me...'The examining board agreed on 8/07/05 your award of First Class Honours'!"











Ady on desert storm coping strategies...

"The worst thing was being in a tent, with its structure being held up by unfortunate metal poles, not the best thing to be near in a thunderstorm!! I remember trying to do everything possible to stay away from the poles as well as my tent buddy with little success, but there was really nothing I could do! I merely just lay there on the ground, listening to the rain trickle down the metal poles, as if just to tease me further. And after a few hours of hoping for the best, the greatest storm I have ever encounted, with the misfortune of being in the tent during the process, finally passed at long last!"























Ady's sneaky pulling tactics...

"I am sharing a room with 3 other guys, one Australian, New Zealander and a German. In fact, since Toronto I have actually been put in single sex rooms - even though I have requested mixed rooms all the way! Just my luck!!!!"



























Ady on overeating...

"We had a massive buffet, USA style in the Luxor/ Egyptian casino!! No one could believe it when I went up for a third time and again had a whole new meal, this I have promised myself not to do again!!!! I ate so much, it was painful!!!"













Ady on LA... and Stardom!

"A lot of people in LA are waiting to get "discovered" by Hollywood, from the shuttle driver at the hostel to John Pierre from Beligium.
He is 36 year old man who has given up his full-time job to pursue his dream for at least two years - he is not an actor by trade, nor is he famous in Beligium - I don't get it!"
I am starting to get disillusioned with the whole idea of becoming famous!

Anyway, later we were invited to be in the audience for the Late, Late Show, this was quite good as we saw interviews with 3 relatively famous people, including the "mother" from the hit Desperate Housewives. Shame it wasn't one of the prettier ones!!!"


























Ady on building group trust...

"We couldn't see whether there was a steep drop behind him, but it looked quite scary!! So I asked him - "Is there a drop behind you?" and he replied "Yes, quite a bit". So as I climbed up a few steps to get my picture taken in the arch, I took great caution and looked over the edge... then I pretended to stumble and fell through the arch falling straight out of view - hearing small screams in the process from some of the members of the tour group (mostly girls I think)!!

Thought of the day - I think it will take a while to regain the group's trust!!!"











Ady on being a face in the baseball crowd...

"Unfortunately I wasn't good enough to play during the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game against Baltimore (due to injury!). But instead my Canadian relatives and I were captured on the giant television screen inside the Toronto Skydome!!!

In hindsight, this was not because everyone wanted to see me or the family, but instead the four supposedly "pretty" girls sitting right in front of us. They get all the luck!!! Coincidential fame, even if it was for just 3 precious seconds!!!"

A sick tale... quite literally...

"On the bus from Vancouver to Seattle, I had a quick nap after crossing the American-Canadian border. What happened next was quite surreal as I woke up to the chorus of happy birthday being sung for a young girl who was standing at the front of the bus. Her younger brother was sitting down at the front next to her when all of a sudden he was sick all over the front seat, right behind the bus driver who was leading the birthday cheers!!

The only person other than me who saw was the birthday girl herself - finally everyone realised and the parents rapidly tried to clean the floor and chair, it emerged later that the boy had been sick over the bus driver's lunch bag!!!!!!! Poor Driver!

So there it is - random snapshots from a travelling life. Keep it up, Ady! And may December come soon - though not until after you've finished meeting the beautiful women of the world..!