An Turus means the journey in Gaelic.

I am a day-dreamer. An idealist. I make no secret of this and despites the highs and lows that go with it I hope it never changes. On one of my frequent trawls through the internet for a little inspiration for the next step, I came across the site An Turus

I won’t bore you with the details (or is that the point in a blog?), but anyway it got me to thinking. Firstly it roused the memories of what is by far and away one my favourite times in my life. I was 17, responsibility free, in love, discovering alcohol and on a college watersports trip in the South of France. There was a fantastic group of people, some I knew, some I didn’t. The weather was hot and we were canoeing for several days along a part of the Ardèche river so the scenery was out of this world. By night, we were camped on the river bank with nothing but a sleeping bag between us and the stars and a few extravagant story tellers for entertainment. By day we were drifting along the river, navigating rapids, jumping off cliff faces into the water and generally having a damn good time. We prepared our own food and cooked over an open fire. It was real boys own stuff (and girls if I am to be PC). Unfortunately, this was pre-digital camera era for me so I can’t share any pictures but believe me it was breathtaking.

Anyway, in kind of a join the dot exercises, I realised that I loved that trip for a thousand reasons but mainly as I felt very alive. Which seamlessly brings us back to the present and my discovery of this company who offer ‘wilderness and adventure therapy’. Bloody brilliant. It’s true that for many people getting back to basics and being in nature can be a massively liberating experience. So, this has given me just a little food for thought that if I got this much enjoyment and benefit from something like this, then wouldn’t it be hugely satisfying to help others have their own college watersports trip memories? Only one way to find out…but before I do, has anyone got any idea how I get my arse into gear…?!

So, the big question…what do I write about for my first blog post? Should the fact that it’s my first blog post even be a consideration or should I slot seamlessly into the world of blogging and just muse around a topic such as my new phone, the latest England manager, Christmas shopping, the magazine I have recently subscribed to or the film I have just finished watching?

What do I want out of this blog? I want somewhere I can ramble on effortlessly and share what’s going on in that expansive (?!) mind of mine and for it not to matter what comes of it. Do I expect people to read it? Not necessarily but if I enjoy writing it and making sense of the sense-less then does it matter if anyone else reads it? The Rhetorical question, you will notice, is one of my favourite tools. What’s better than encouraging the readers to reflect on what they think the answer must be?

I generally sit up late, sleep little and overthink everything that can be thought about so it will be nice to have somewhere to pour all the useless waffle that goes through my head.

I have been encouraged by Matt (big shout out), my friend, colleague and peer to get my arse in gear and start this blog up, and for that I thank him as I think it is something I will thoroughly enjoy.

From tomorrow onwards, I will shape, sculpt and mould this page so that it becomes an extension of me and I look forward to seeing what comes of it. Who knows, I might change my mind overnight and this could be my first and last blog post.

And just in case you were wondering, it’s the Sony Ericsson K850i, I think Fabio Capello is an excellent choice for the job, I hate Christmas shopping, the magazine is Wanderlust and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Coach Carter for the ninth time.