"this train is my life ~ sleeping towns joined together by the steel of the rails,
parallel lines ~ parallel lives..."
At the end of this week I head off rather excitedly on a train journey to visit friends in Batheaston & Cheltenham, as I treat myself to a well deserved long weekend away. Part of my past will always remain with me, and these two places will forever hold a place in my heart. Some of my previous blogs concerning my journey to find a place that I can call 'home', fondly recall Somerset & South Gloucestershire, as although I've moved around quite a lot during the past thirteen or so years, I did actually spend the best part of 50% of this time in Batheaston, Bradley Stoke (a suburb of Bristol) & Cheltenham.
I probably came closest to finding my 'true home' whilst living in a lovely little village just outside Bath, as I rented a very quaint apartment which was full of character which overlooked the countryside, and I enjoyed an active social life sharing some special times with great friends, including the odd romance or two!
Then after living around the Bristol area for a couple years, I leased a gorgeous batchelor pad in an exclusive area of Cheltenham, where I was extremely happy.
Never say never ~ who knows, maybe one day I'll return on a permanent basis?
It's no point having regrets in life, but in hindsight I can admit that I left Cheltenham far too early, and if I had my time again I would've stayed there indefinitely.
This isn't to say that I'm not happy now living back on the south-coast, but some of my dearest friends remain back west, and I am so thrilled to be returning if only for a weekend.
Specifically, I'm looking forward to catching up with my lovely friend, Trace and her family, for a cuppa and catch up in Batheaston, followed by an old drinking buddy, Posty Dave, for a few pints of guinness in The George & Dragon a little later on.
Then I'll travel on to Cheltenham to catch up with my 'life-saving' friends (please see previous blogs) Jimi & Denn, and their two gorgeous boys for the rest of the weekend.
Having experienced a couple of lazy weekends recently, and with the trip to the west country to come this weekend, I felt it was essential to get some miles under my belt in the weekend just gone, as I continue my training for my charity trek next year.
So despite the forecast of pouring rain, I walked to and back from Bognor Regis to see my family on the Saturday, fortunately avoiding any bad weather ~ "there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes" ~ before venturing to Kingley Vale, where I happily rambled around the woods yesterday.
The charity event remains on course for next April. Some of the accomodation has already been booked, and both my employer, Mercer, and Cancer Research UK have been prompting me with ideas for sponsorship and advertising...I'm quietly confident that the event will be a qualified success!
Ramblin' Steve
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