Facing up to reality
There comes a time in everyones life which requires you to stop. What that moment is depends on the person. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo remained in Bag End, writing down his adventure. Eventually it was time for the Grey Havens trip and board the boat into the west. Some people never leave the town they were born in, travel is an unknown factor. Others go to some places on vacation or for business. Then there are those whose life involves a lot of moving around for one purpose or another. It may be due to: the financial climate, their parents work or some other reason, but changing locations is normal. My father was a Lt. Colonel in the US Air Force, travel was something I began at around two weeks old, it was part of my life. Now my conclusion has arrived.
One region I did not want to go to was Asia, so have covered Europe, Morocco and Israel.
After closing down Simian Circles in 2023, I had a domain sitting around unused and so began McGresty.
A one day train strike in Italy had me stuck in Florence at a hotel. It was during that time a serious assessment took place. My body was saying stop, my right eye nearly blind due to a cataract operation in England not done correctly and an infection in Spain making it much worse. I sat in my room giving everything some serious thought and the reailization that time was short, my body giving me signals. My famiy are not those who live long lives and I am 79. If I reach 82 it will be a miracle, plus the last couple of months had been quite unpeaceful. It was a hard decision, but I made up my mind to return to England permanently and live out my last days there. Immediately peace descended on me in no uncertain terms. Even though I don't like the country it will have to do because my family are there.
I will go out on some hikes in the countryside if the weather is warm and dry, possibly writing some up if I feel like it.
Why I travel
It's built into me. My mother joined my father at Allied Intelligence during the WW2 wrap up. Dad rworked for various intelligence agencies for about 20 years. Growing up in the intelligence community involved certain rules: do not make friends, do not relate, duck dive and survive, it was very dangerous. Childhood as you know it did not exist. As a child all I knew was that my father did something called intelligence, but the word meant nothing to me until later in life. Just before my 8th birthday, President Eisenhower was renaming an Air Force base in Rapid City, South Dakota. He went around saying hi to people watching the event. At one point he stopped, looked across at me and walked over then said, "Hi Teddy." He then told me how he used to babysit me until he returned to the USA. None of this registered on me until I was older. I guess I got goo-gooed at by some famous people. Going from one place to another continued for the rest of my life. I went to 10 schools in 10 years and hated school. When my Dad retired, I was 19 years old and in the US Air Force, stationed in Alaska. For the first time in my life made a friend, Carl Cossick.Wrapping it up
In May 1968 I was discharged from the Air Force. My father had retired to England (wish he hadn't) and I headed there. I worked on Concorde Development and traveled to various IBM computer contracts in the UK and Netherlands plus backpacked around Europe and Morocco a bit. In 1975 I got married and went to Los Angeles, returning to England after a couple of years. Later, after a number of jobs, I became a graphic deisgner and web developer, which I did until I retired in 2010. November 2011 I began travel writing and in 2013 started Simian Circles which ran for 10 years. In March 2017 Greg Rodgers asked what it was like to backpack around in the late 1960's and early 1970's. So I published on my blog Transconning the USA in 1968 which is part of a series of posts entitled Backpacking in the old days.One region I did not want to go to was Asia, so have covered Europe, Morocco and Israel.
- France
- Spain
- Italy
- Portugal
- Catalonia
- The Basque Country
- Germany
- Israel
- Backpacking Back then
- England
- Other stuff
After closing down Simian Circles in 2023, I had a domain sitting around unused and so began McGresty.
It's time
It was the end part of September 2023 and I was in Beer Sheva, Irsael. The temperature was 45-50 C, dry and my gut said, "Get Out!, Get Out now!". So I did and the Hamas War began 10 days later. It is now the middle of March 2025 and after 3 months of misery in Morocco and a messed up Italian trip, I have returned home.A one day train strike in Italy had me stuck in Florence at a hotel. It was during that time a serious assessment took place. My body was saying stop, my right eye nearly blind due to a cataract operation in England not done correctly and an infection in Spain making it much worse. I sat in my room giving everything some serious thought and the reailization that time was short, my body giving me signals. My famiy are not those who live long lives and I am 79. If I reach 82 it will be a miracle, plus the last couple of months had been quite unpeaceful. It was a hard decision, but I made up my mind to return to England permanently and live out my last days there. Immediately peace descended on me in no uncertain terms. Even though I don't like the country it will have to do because my family are there.
I will go out on some hikes in the countryside if the weather is warm and dry, possibly writing some up if I feel like it.
Bits now and then.
Mar 13, 2025
More posts from: Other
Facing up to reality A few days 5 reasons for traveling light A reality check Getting it all ready Spring 2024 Towards the unknown A backpack trick An Ekster GRID backpack Rethinking travel Plans and ideas Lord of the Rings, a Travelers Guide
