This month is R U OK Day and next month is Mental Health Awareness Month, in light of this I’m writing this piece to share some of my story, but more importantly a few of the techniques, articles and videos which have been a tremendous help for me over the last year. Ultimately, the key piece of advice I can give is to seek professional help if you are overcome with thoughts or emotions, it has done me a world of good.
Western USA and Canada Adventures – Part Ten: Calgary and the Rocky Mountains
The final weekend of my trip was spent visiting a friend who lives in the cowboy town of Calgary. During the weekend we headed off to Canmore at the base of the Rocky Mountains and did some hiking in the mountains immediately behind Canmore and then up to Big Beehive and on to The Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House at Lake Louise.
Read moreWestern USA and Canada Adventures – Part Nine: Vancouver
I flew to Vancouver, Canada after a week and a half of visiting friends across the USA. Although I usually love time to myself it was quite a shock to be travelling alone in a city where I knew no one.

Goals for 2018
- Travel to Europe, in particular, Romania
- Read 12 books
2017 – The Roller Coaster Year
2017 has been a roller coaster of a year, there have been some big highs but also some huge lows. At the start of this year I set myself some goals which I mostly achieved:
Read moreWestern USA and Canada Adventures – Part Eight: Lake Superior’s North Shore
While visiting my friends in Minneapolis I took a day trip to Lake Superior’s North Shore.
My friends and I built up a big appetite after spending the morning driving north from Minneapolis so we stopped for lunch at the New Scenic Cafe which is a few kilometers north of Duluth. The food here was excellent, especially the Salmon Burger.

Western USA and Canada Adventures – Part Seven: Minneapolis
After a week in California, I flew across the country to Minneapolis. On arrival in Minneapolis I checked into my hotel and then headed straight to the Mall of America. A few hours later I left with a few new pieces of clothes that I had picked up for some really good prices.


Western USA and Canada Adventures – Part Six: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and a Californian Sunset
My final day in California was spent visiting the NASA Ames Research Centre, the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and then watching the sunset over San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean.
The NASA Ames Visitors Centre was a disappointment, it looked like it was either temporary or extremely rundown.



Western USA and Canada Adventures – Part Five: USS Hornet Museum and UC Berkeley
My best mate took some time off work to show me around the Bay Area during my visit to California. On one of the days we didn’t really have much of a plan other than that we may go visit the area around UC Berkeley. After playing around on Google, I stumbled onto the website for the USS Hornet Museum. Not really knowing what to expect, other than some fun exploring an old aircraft carrier, we set the car’s GPS navigation and drove across the bay to Alameda.
Western USA and Canada Adventures – Part Four: Alcatraz
Visiting Alcatraz was one of the highlights of my trip. My friend and I were fortunate to get some last minute tickets as I was not aware of just how popular it is and how far in advance it sells out.
