Seeing the World

It’s quite nice that a handful of people have described this blog as inspirational.  It’s certainly not been my intention to inspire.  For me it’s been more about filling the time and, perhaps, trying to keep myself relevant and remind people I’m still here.  It’s also a coping mechanism.

I’ve gone through a series of emotions since diagnosis.  The first one wasn’t so much sadness or depression but more a desire to get my affairs in order.  At that stage, seven months ago, I thought I had six months to live!

I don’t have many personal belongings but a handful were thrown out.  Potential heirlooms were put in a box.  Nothing of value, just stuff the might have an emotional kick for the kids.  Made a will.  Sorted out the pension / inheritance for the kids.  Practicalities.  Minimise the work for people when I’m out of here.

The second phase was tearful.  Not in front of others.  I’m British don’t you know!  But cancer charities throwing out pre-Christmas adverts affected me deeply.  I know raising money by flogging stars to people who’ve lost someone to cancer is a good idea but it didn’t do me much good.  Perhaps something else would have triggered the waterworks if those ads hadn’t happened.  Perhaps it was good to get it out of my system.

That period coincided with the realisation that people are there for me.  Family and friends going out of their way to help.  From my perspective, the best thing you can do when you discover somebody has been diagnosed with cancer is to get in touch and, even if only occasionally, stay in touch.  Even if you don’t know what to say or feel hellishly awkward.

The third phase was the realisation that I didn’t want to work anymore.  Notwithstanding I was a little less mobile.  I was due to start applying for new jobs as my current role was scheduled to end the following May.  The idea of applying for jobs, selling my dying body to potential new managers and putting across a positive, committed and interested tone in job interviews simply wasn’t something I could do.

Maybe they’d have accommodated me employment wise anyway without interviews.  But the idea of travelling had taken hold.  I’d planned three holidays a year in my carefully crafted “retire between age 53 and 55 plan”.  I had to accelerate my travel programme.  I’d like to think I was being generous in saving somebody else from redundancy.  Not a bit of it.  I wanted my middle manager severance payment to pay for my travels!

Which leads to now.  I’m travelling.  And apparently I’m inspiring some.  While that’s a nice thought I’ve never sat down with the thought “I’ve got to blog in a way that gets people punching the air with an enthusiasm for life”.  I’ve just tried to put across my world as it is.  Share my plans and activities.  Admit my idiosyncrasies.  Remain relevant.  Those last two words feel inexplicably important.

I’ve done depression more than once in life.  It isn’t fun.  While I know the end game here won’t be happy clappy I’ve no intention of reaching it by being miserable.  I’m going out with a smile.  Or more a diagonal line if the Bell’s palsy doesn’t feck off!

Scraping a Living Now That I’m Unemployed

Today has been a day of earning opportunities.  My second day of unemployment.  I prefer to call it retirement but as I’m not drawing a pension I think my official status is unemployed and not seeking work.  Lazy fecker is another technical term some might adopt.

As usual, I awoke early.  A quick perusal of the excellent Headforpoints web site unearthed no new nuggets of loyalty programme points collection, but I did have a short survey waiting for me that paid me the unimpressive sum of 50 Avios.  Somewhere between 30p and  £1.25 in value to be squeezed out of that.  Two other surveys didn’t like my profile and I’ll pick up a good 10 Avios from that rejection.  Not a lot.  But hey, it wasn’t even 7am and already the money (or Avios) was rolling in.

I checked my Nectar app.  I find Nectar to be a weak loyalty scheme.  It’s limited for collection value and rubbish for spend value.  Tesco and Avios give you exciting ways to leverage earnings and rewards in quite innovative ways to create real value.  And brand loyalty.

Two things on Nectar had, however, caught my eye.  500 bonus points if I book Virgin West Coast trains.  I pondered if I had any possible options for this but, alas, not.  £2.50 certainly doesn’t make it worth me paying a tenner to head from Manchester to Stoke.

BP paying 250 points for filling up with petrol did catch my eye.  No minimum.  So later in the day I added a fiver in fuel, bagged my points, estimated the gain of £1.25 in value would be offset by 24p in overcharging in the BP price.  It’s a gain.  Dave wins.  A quid off a future Easyjet flight.

Next on to Tesco fuel.  £58 added here.  Always even off the amount at Tesco fuel as the Clubcard points are added 1 per £2 spent.  My 29 points here would have been the same even if I’d spent £59.99.  Ticking over to £60 generates a thirtieth Clubcard point.  30 points = 72 Avios = top end value of £1.80.  Oh, and 4% off fuel by using the Teaco gift card obtained via a work discount site.  Every little helps.  Over £4 in Avios and gift card value generated.

In store next, to buy some confectionary for the New England trip.  Three purchases of £1 each.  Tesco recently sent me a voucher allowing 50 bonus Clubcard points on my next eight purchases.  Off to the self service checkout.  Make three individual purchases of £1 each.  Effectively paying 96p each time with the gift card.  Obtaining the standard 1 point plus the 50 bonus points three times.

In other words £2.88 in spend has generated 153 Tesco Clubcard points.  Those will trade up to 367 Avios points.  Top end redemption value will be around £9.18.  If I manage to wangle a BOGOF Avios credit card award later in the year my £2.88 will be worth a fair bit of confectionary and £18.36 towards expensive flights.

I sit here wondering why the unemployed don’t spend their lives flying business class at least twice a year.

Or is that a tactless line?

Ranking the Places I’ve Visited This Year

This one is a subjective game.  My long haul trips are to come, so what I’m doing is assessing the places I’ve flown to since February.  Yes, Stonehenge, Settle to Carlisle Railway, Whitby, Snowden and the like are bucket list stuff but I’ve excluded my Great Britain trips here.

Subjectivity comes into play because it depends on where in a particular country I travelled, when I was there, how good the weather was, the mood I was in at the time, my health at the time and what I uncovered.  Notwithstanding my preference for natural beauty over man made cities.

My travels so far have all been European.  New England, Chile and Australia are booked.  South West USA to be added.  And I may sneak in an additional big trip somewhere eastern or African.  Riyadh and Kigali are current thoughts.  But thoughts come and go.  Vesuvius remains a nearer must do.

So the countdown …

7.  Slovakia.  Visited in February.  Public transport.  Weather was mild and damp at a time when there should have been snows.  Stayed in Bratislava and did a day trip to Vienna by train.  In the summer months a hydrofoil up the Danube would have been an option.  The old town and the castle are great, the latter providing impressive views.  The urban sprawl beyond the old town loses points compared to the much smaller Ljublana.  I suspect the summer sun would have shunted this much higher up the list.

6.  Malta.  Visited in February.  My first destination after deciding to dedicate what’s left of my life to travel.  I hired a car for peanuts but the roads were very busy.  This place has a decent bus network though which might have been easier.  The weather was kind for two days.  Valletta was beautiful, with an impressive history.  The hour long bus journey from my hotel to Valletta less kind to my assessment of the island, exposing me to an urban sprawl that I’d never anticipated.  I enjoyed the trip.  Just not as much as other places.

5.  Netherlands.  Visited in May.  Public transport.  Amsterdam and Utrecht were impressive highlights, offset a little by staying in Eindhoven, a city where war wiped out much of its history.  Although it was an enjoyable trip I found the lack of natural beauty (it’s just a bit flat) a little dull.  But for those who love a city break Amsterdam and Utrecht are wonderful.

4.  Northern Ireland.  Visited in May.  Hired a car.  The plan was to visit Giants Causeway and look around aimlessly.  The result was time on the Mourne Coast and the Antrim Coast in glorious sunshine.  Both amazing stretches with latter providing stunning views, impressive beaches and a series of castles.  Also a helpful backdrop of “Game of Thrones” filming locations.  Stayed in the middle of nowhere.  Which was great!

3.  Montenegro.  Visited in April.  Hired a car.  Returned it with one wing mirror.  The Bay of Kotor is simply a sensational view.  I’d never heard of it.  I stayed there by random selection.  I loved the tranquil Adriatic Sea lapping up on a pebbly beach yards from my front door.  The weather was sunny without being overly warm.  I suspect if the infrastructure, specifically the roads, had been better this would have moved up the list.

2.  Slovenia.  Visited in March.  Public transport.  Ljublana and Lake Bled were the two places I visited and both highs.  Chilled city full of relaxed bars and a wonderful rural setting well served by comfortable buses.  The countryside is beautiful but the small capital city captures the architecture of several centuries and the castle in the centre offers amazing Alpine views.  Very good weather.  Stayed in Ljublana.  Gorgeous.

1. Iceland.  Visited in March.  Hired a car.  The Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon were high points.  Lack of Northern Lights a minor disappointment and Reykjavik didn’t really do it for me.  But the feel of the island, the natural beauty and the kind weather made this a winner.  Stayed in Grindavik.  Nothing special, but cost effective in the most ridiculously priced destination!  Even so, worth shelling out for.

There hasn’t been anywhere where I’ve felt unhappy or wondered what on earth I’ve done by visiting a particular destination.  Ryanair, Easyjet (subsidised with Nectar points), Wizzair and Flybe (earning Avios) have been my airlines.  My favourite airport lounge has been Manchester T1 Aspire with the least impressive being LJublana.  Or Eindhoven for not letting me use a lounge!  Or TIvat in Montenegro where I took the wrong security lane and missed the lounge!

There will be more European destinations to come.  I’ll head to Boston next week with a smile and might just sneak in somewhere before Chile.  I can also default to Anglesey for a few days if needed.

What Have I Forgotten to Do?

Pre-trip nerves.  I’m not scared of flying.  I’m scared of forgetting something.  Less than five days until New England.  Everything packed.  Drug supply adequate for the trip and a couple of days of unlikely delays.  Continuity of hotel accommodation checked (I always fear forgetting a specific date on a multi-stop trip).

Everything is in place.  I know everything is in place.  We’re travelling to a populated part of the world where they do reasonably priced everything.  Except healthcare.  That’s not reasonably priced in the USA!

But I’m on edge.  Maybe it’s the British Airways IT thing.  Maybe it’s my near mistake on topping up the afatinib supply.  Maybe it’s a slight twist in my back and poorly big toe.  Or maybe I’m just a natural born worrier.

Get a grip Dave.

They’ve Revolutionised Opening the Hotel Room Door

We’ve progressed from a physical key to a keycard to the even more advanced keycard that still works even after being touched by a mobile phone through the years.

Hotel room entrance now has something even more exciting.

My hooker night in London a few weeks ago introduced me to a series of emails from Hilton about their digital key.  I ignored them.

With the New England trip close, the emails have started again.  One included “500 points if you download the app” so I immediately grabbed a benefit with a £2.50 value and started exploring said app.

Part of that exploration included the Q&A on the irritating digital key spam I’d received previously.  And, like an elderly lady who’d used a building society book all her life suddenly clicking how an ATM works, it all fell into place.

Hilton send me a series of “upgrade for a small fee” emails.  They then send me, as a gold status holder, an “upgrade for free email”.  This is followed by a “check in now” email on arrival day.

That last email allocates a room and you can then utilise your app as you approach the room to click the phone screen and unlock the door.  It sounds like genius.  I can’t wait to try it when I arrive in Boston, jet lagged and champagne infused.  I am genuinely excited to be opening a door!

This isn’t such good news for wannabe Hilton receptionists.  It might explain the hooker outside the Hilton Park Lane.  Clearly made redundant by the chain she’s gone self-employed in the hotel services industry providing useful options for guests.

It’s not perfect.  Only one digital key per room at the moment.  But I can’t wait to try it.

If They Cure The Uncureable Will I Work Again?

I like to think I’m good with money.  A saver.  Frugal.  The occasional nice treat.  Set yourself up for fun tomorrow.

Since my diagnosis that probably hasn’t changed much.  I still seek out value.  Perhaps I’ll have a street coffee a little more often these days.  Obviously a trip away every other week as well.  The nice treat is more than occasional.

The statistics say I’ll die before the redundancy pay is gone.  Even with this thought in mind, 14% of us get to five years after diagnosis without departing this mortal coil.  A few months after that moment I can access my pension pot and start reducing the kids’ inheritance.

I suspect that 14% figure is going to improve a little.  New drugs.  Proton therapy.  Things being developed all the time.  The odds remain massively against me but if I’m alive and penniless with access to my pension at 55 I have some decisions to make.

Buy a house?  That wouldn’t leave me quite so much to live off to a ripe old age.  In fact my mindset today, after a lifetime wanting to be and being a homeowner, is that I don’t think I need it in any future I may have.  I might feel differently in 2023 but for now renting a room or shacking up with a rich widow is probably a better option.  I’d be a great catch for a wealthy widow woman!

If they turned round to me at that stage and said “we’ve cured you and you’re guaranteed another thirty years” I’d be happy.  But that might just trigger a raid on the pension fund for property purchase.  Which might need a job for a few years to replenish the fund to ensure I can live that longer life at a good standard.

It’s a conundrum that one day I hope to face.  For now I can chill, travel and spend quite freely – even if my value instinct remains keen.  There’s still a very slim chance I’ll return to a more conventional lifestyle.  Surviving for decades might spoil the fun, but is my preferred option!

Fine Tuning New England

It’s been a morning of fine tuning.  The Boston trip with Chris commences in six days.  In their wisdom, the IT friendly British Airways let you choose your seat for free if you’re a first class passenge.  But if you’re connecting to London from the styx they charge you £56 for selecting two specific seats on those connecting flights.

One of my travel perks is, however, BA Bronze status.  Got that with last year’s Yellowstone trip.  The benefits are limited but at least I can book seats for free seven days prior to departure.  So that’s sorted.  Last night I was able to book seat selection for free on several flights with a low cost Chilean airline that I’ve never used.  Sometimes the “perks” of status aren’t as generous as they seem.

Today I’ve rechecked the New England hotel bookings.  Only one hotel is cheaper than when booked so that’s the mighty sum of £7 saved with a sneaky cancel and rebook.  And an extra 52p in Topcashback!  It was also a reminder as to how few of these hotels I’ve paid for up front.  A chunky credit card hit in July is inevitable.

Three nights with no breakfast is an irritant.  But sometimes it’s not worth paying £50 a night extra for some bread and cheese.  All the other nights include brekkie.  I’m intrigued as to what one hotel described as “full breakfast”.  I’m going with waffles rather the egg, bacon and sausage!

Day 1 plan is pretty much in place.  Get car.  Pay a fortune to park.  Do Boston on foot.  Head to North Shore for dinner and hotel.  That Heathrow massage we’ve booked will be 24 hours behind us by then.

Thank You