From the Mersey to the Med - The beginning of a ten-year journey

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As you’ve probably surmised by now there’s no rhyme or reason to this blog, other than to hopefully showcase my writing, and to write about things I feel inspired about or that move me.

It’s just past 5am on what will probably be a sunny May day in Lisbon (don’t know yet it’s pitch black) and I woke up just now with a desire to tell my story, since I left the UK.

The 10th anniversary of my departing Blighty from Manchester Airport to Barcelona was on the 15th January 2025. At that time in 2015 (for those that struggle with Maths) I was into my 4th year volunteering for a fledgling YouTube channel, whilst working part-time as a Night Receptionist in a City Centre Hotel. I was single, no children and had the mortgage on my own gaff, that I was struggling to pay on that part-time salary.

My own fledgling production company (hence the part-time job) sputtered out, as mine and my business partner’s ability to meet up grew ever more unlikely, due to the hours of our respective jobs.

He also had 5 kids to feed…

Or was that the cab driver from Total Recall?

…Like Father Dougal Maguire, my reality blurs.

I’d see my best friends perhaps once every three to six months if I was lucky; with birds, blokes, kids, and other commitments which normal people gather over time, making regular meetups much harder.

At the same time I was talking online with an English Teacher in South Korea, who was quietly convincing me that a career teaching English as a foreign language was the greatest job ever. She even got me an interview on Skype with her School Principal, but my severe lack of experience, and my being a man (David Brent voice: “sexist”) which was no-one’s fault, not even the Romans (yeah, sorry you’re gonna get a lot of that today, probably - I’ve film quotes and pop culture references coming out of my arsehole) saw me scupper that opportunity.

Now the fire had been lit in my belly to become an ESL Teacher, so I took the cheapest course with a classroom element that I could find, and failed to complete it. Who knows if I ever would have, but what had happened in the meantime is that I’d applied for and been accepted on a TEFL internship in Barcelona.

It was all a bit of a whirlwind, and as it was the Christmas period I didn’t get time to say a proper goodbye to everyone at the Youtube startup.

My immediate family didn’t want me to leave, but they were supportive nonetheless. My plan was clear and actionable, and was gonna put me on the path to my main dream of carving out a career as a writer.

The plan: Six-months interning as a Teacher in Barna, and improve my Spanish > pick up my TEFL certificate and get a job in Seoul or Busan > Save up for a year and go back to Spain to do a Travel Writer’s course > Travel the world writing blogs and getting loads of dosh.

Sadly, we all know what happens when Man makes plans, and he had a good old chortle at that one.

Part 2 coming soon.