Seeing the World

Well “action” is probably over-cooking it a little.  This was an opportunistic booking based on timing (no football), price (£110 for flights, car, accommodation and full breakfast) and the simple fact I’ve never been to Malta.

I know little about the place other than a bit of British heritage, the fact it’s warmer than Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park ground and something to do with the Knights Templar.

Given the weather forecast, I’m probably going to wing it.  This goes against my nature.  I like to have a decent outline plan of what I’m going to visit.  This has served me in good stead when travelling long distances in the American South West, but seems less important for a smaller area like Malta.

I have identified an hour round trip seafront walk from hotel to ATM.  That could be ideal on Sunday afternoon.  Several people have recommended Gozo, which I recall is an island and not a Sesame Street character.  €15 on the ferry.  And I will drive into Valletta, the capital, and mooch around.

Besides that, my hotel has an Irish bar, an indoor pool and a hot tub.  I’ve got a couple of books to crack on with.

I must remember to collect my cancer drugs today or tomorrow!  And set my alarm for a 7.05am flight.

I’ve just realised my car hire in Malta is even better value.  Although I’m not flying with them I’ve clicked through to British Airways from Topcashback and booked using their relationship with Avis.  The car hire is £16.  The cashback is 32p.  The Avios credit will be 700 which should get me value in future of around £5 minimum.

All in this car is going to cost me less than £11.  And as an Avis Preferred member they guarantee an upgrade!  In addition, they don’t try to flog me unneeded insurances.

While I’ve no intention of trying to usurp sites like the BA section of Flyertalk or the excellent Headforpoints, Avios (the British Airways version of an air miles scheme) have formed a key part of my trip planning so far.

Avios is probably the most successful frequent flyer currency in the world.  That said, many cattle class flyers find the earning rates pretty poor these days and never create enough value to buy a flight with their points.

The June trip to Boston / New England has seen me cash in all my British Aurways Avios to fly first class with Chris.  Avios are cancelled on death so it seemed a fairly logical decision at the time.  The miles I had would have got us to Dubai, New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia.  Boston was chosen as a destination because I love my American driving holidays.

The cost was 272,000 Avios plus around £1100 in what BA calls “taxes” for the two of us.  You earn 125 Avios on a Manchester to London flight, but many of my Avios were accrued from hotel loyalty schemes, an Anerican Express card, filling up with petrol at Tesco and even completing online surveys in moments of boredom!  A couple of bargain business class flights to the USA out of Dublin also made a major contribution.

My other use of Avios for this year is my internal flights within Australia.  For 15,000 plus around a tenner at a time I’ve bagged business class flights from Sydney to Brisbaine, Brisbane to Cairns and back, Brisbane to Adelaide and Adelaide to Melbourne.  Cattle class would be cheaper at 7,500 Avios, but there was no availability on my preferred flights.

Business class for these relatively short flights includes lounge access, a bigger seat with more generous leg room and a meal on the plane.  Typical cash fares tend to be upwards of £300 for a couple of hours in the air compared to less than half that for an ordinary economy seat.  I can’t justify paying the cash, but Avios accrued from a few Clubcard points make it worth treating myself.  As I’m not driving in most locations I fully intend to utilise the free booze in the lounges and on board.

Except I ran out of Avios before booking my final flight within Australia.  My stepson Matt rescued me with a £3 Tesco Clubcard voucher which I converted to 720 much needed Avios and saved me an obscenely high cash fare.  I am open to the idea of others flogging me their Tesco clubcard vouchers at face value!

I was quite excited to see LATAM flights in Chile could also get booked with BA Avios.  And then disappointed when none of the flights I’d like to travel on had availability and demanded ridiculously high cash fares.  Sky Airline might not be part of Avios but they are a budget South American flyer that suits my sense of value much better.

Separate to my BA Avios I hold a less flexible Avios.com account.  This will only book flights that start and end in the UK with British Airways being a central player.  Awkward as 95% of their flights depart or return to London.  I have accrued enough points to get to Ibiza or Malaga and back when BA launch new services on their Cityflyer subsidiary in May.  A sneaky break in the sun might be in order.

But I do need to consider my health.  If I become ill in Boston, the land of the free and extremely large medical bill is not where to be.  13,000 Avios each (plus “taxes”)will fly both me and Chris home and availability of reward flights at short notice is common.  So ideally I need 26,000 Avios sat in a pot just in case.  I’m currently 5,000 short.  I’m not sure I have the will to complete the surveys needed to earn those!

My return flight from Australia may give rise to another problem where a pot of Avios can help.  I start and end my flight down under in Helsinki.  At the time of booking the business class seats were half the price I’d have got from the UK.  As this gave the opportunity to see a few hours of Finland I decided to go for it.  Additional Finnair flights from Manchester to Helsinki were booked for non-refundable cash.

I made an error in booking the flight back to Manchester just 90 minutes after the scheduled landing time of my Melbourne > Qatar > Helsinki flight.  A mad dash to recover hold luggage from Qatar Airways and check it back in with Finn Air has a high risk of failure.

If I successfully sweet talk the Qatar check in staff in Melbourne to route my bag through to Manchester I’ll be ok.  Failure could see me miss my final flight.  To book on the next flight at short notice will need me to raise a small mortgage.  Burning 7,500 Avios may get me back to Manchester.  But it’s possible I’ll need 15,000 if BA force me to fly to Heathrow and into Manchester from there.

So for me Avios have been good for a massive treat.  Excellent for internal flights in Australia.  They might get me to somewhere warm and Spanish too once the football season ends.  They’re also a useful insurance policy if things go wrong.

in other words, it’s probably worth claiming frequent flyer rewards from non-budget airlines like BA.  They might have an unexpected use in a future crisis.

Meanwhile, I really do need to turn my focus to Malta.  I’ve applied very little thought to what I’m going to do there.

Well, Santiago to be precise.

The final section of the Chile trip in August is unplanned.  My idea is to head south to the Lake District and drive round for a week in the winter rain.  Some fabulous scenery and volcanoes.

But Chile is a long, thin country.   This place is a ten hour drive from Santiago.  There is the option of a two hour flight but the locals like their buses in Chile and the services run overnight.

Seats look good enough to sleep in.  Luggage allowance is big enough.  A small breakfast is supplied and, from what I can gather, the service is safe and crime free.

One to ponder over the next few days.

Sunday sees me head to Malta with the help of a bargain basement Ryanair flight.

Most of my air travel has involved hold luggage.  I remember being particularly offended by Thomas Cook only allowing 15kg for one Canarian adventure.

i have done hand luggage only a year or so ago.  But that was for a single night in Barcelona.  Three nights might be a little more challenging.

So far things are going well.  Electrical cables.  Sat nav.  A selection of snacks to avoid the need to buy an overpriced Ryanair breakfast and mitigate the risk of an island wide food shortage (do they even do shops there?!).  Swimming trunks.  Three pairs of socks and undies.  An additional tee shirt.  Sun hat!  Toothbrush, toothpaste and mini deoderant in the clear bag.  Two of the books my stepson got me for Christmas.  Painkillers just in case my pain returns.

Important things to remember are iPad, reading glasses, driving glasses and afitinib anti-cancer drug.  I do hope the hospital gets them to me before I depart!  Oh, and my file of travel documents neatly printed off together with passport, frequent flyer gold card for Al Italia (I’ve never flown with them but got a status match) just in case I need an emergency flight home via Italy (!) and of course my credit cards.

I travel heavily with plastic.  Fear of system failure means I have at least one Mastercard, one Visa and one American Express.  Across bank brands Halifax, Santander, Barclaycard and Amex are in play.  Along with a Travelex Supercard linked to a cashback credit card.  I’m comfortable only having €12 in cash because at least one of these things must work!

What could possibly go wrong?

i wonder if I can take my tiny pair of nail scissors that I use to cut the surgical tape that I tie down my eyelid at night with (ongoing Bell’s palsy issue)?

As I’m now a gentleman of leisure, I need to ensure I see a bit more of this country.  I live within half an hour of a station that runs into the Settle to Carlisle line.  With the help of a railcard I can turn up on a clear day and do this for less than £20.

At the start of January Oldham’s exit from the FA Cup created a chance to see London zoo.  I’ve always wanted to do it.  First class on virgin trains, a short Uber ride from Euston and a day out was sorted!  The zoo was bang average, but it’s done.

Swindon v Oldham on the 18th February.  This one is huge as both sides do their best to get relegated.  But a £39 hotel room gives an opportunity to do Stonehenge the following morning.  I was young when I last did this and have few memories of it.

I’d hoped to climb Snowden last summer.  It’s just not going to happen though.  But I can get to the top by train, so I will.  No idea when.  If anybody fancies fish and chips in Whitby give me a shout.  I’ve no idea why, but it’s just something that appeals!  Highland rail travel in the summer may be a fun idea too.

I anticipate more inspiration leaping into my head and just getting up and doing things on the hoof.  And bigger trips to see stuff like the Giant’s Causeway, Isle of Man or just spend a couple of days in Devon recalling family holidays.

Hi there.  I’m Dave.

I hit 50 years old in January 2018 and intend to travel while I’m able to do so.  This blog documents some of the thinking, planning and doing that goes into things, as well as sharing other events that may happen in my life.  At present, my treatment restricts me to the uk.

In November 2016, despite never having smoked, I was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer – stage four, it’s spread to the bone.  The initial treatment was a pill a day and gives a prognosis that would get me through to the middle of 2019, but it became resistant well before the end of 2017.  My chances of being among the 14% of us get to five years are probably well below that 14%.

So far I’ve visited Malta, Slovakia, Iceland, Slovenia, Montenegro and Northern Ireland.  Then New England, Chile and the USA South West.  Currently on a medical flight ban!

THE LATEST CHARITY BIT:

Roy Castle Lung Foundation in Liverpool.  People who go the extra mile to answer the questions the oncologist doesn’t know.  Well worth a donation.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-stringer2

—

2016 – An Extraordinary Year

It all happened.

I became the healthiest I’ve been as an adult. A health kick I’d started a year before saw my weight loss total 100lbs. I was walking ten miles a day in the spring months. I felt really good.

My divorce came through. While there’s a sadness about that, I felt happy within myself.

My employer of thirty years put me at risk of redundancy. I managed to cling onto a role by dropping a level to cover a maternity leave. But I knew I’d have a battle to remain employed after May 2017.

I travelled solo to Madrid which became my favourite city. I’m not really a fan of metropolis, natural wonders is more my thing, but the transport, the historic buildings and the two football stadia made me a fan. It was also where I learned the benefit of starting a city break with a free walking tour. That €10 tip was well worth it and helped me fill the time for the following days.

My son Chris joined me on a trip to Yellowstone. What a wonderful place that is. We took a loop route out of Denver through Colorado Springs, the wonderful Pagosa Springs (a place to enjoy natural hot springs), Chris slept through the magnificent Ouray and Silverton but we both got a kick out of white water rafting the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs before heading to Grand Teton, Yellowstone in all its splendour and a drive over the extraordinary Beartooth Pass.

My good health at the start of the year did take a couple of knock backs. I injured my shoulder in January after playing badminton rather enthusiastically after a thirty year break. The middle of my back suffered excruciating pain in April (the doctor prescribed Cocodamol) and my lower back gave me real grief, including sciatic leg pain, which nearly cut the Yellowstone drive short.

i utilised my employer’s BUPA and was referred for physio. While I enjoyed the Lycra clad ladies giving me some attention it didn’t work and three months later I was referred to a neurosurgeon.  It was now September.

This guy looked at my scan and said he thought I had myeloma – a form of blood cancer. This was a shock, more so the bit when I checked online and saw an average five year life expectancy. Whatever it was had eaten away at three of my verterbra, T7, L4 and L5. He recommended verterbroplasty on the L4. Basically pumping in cement to stabilise my back and hopefully reduce pain.

It did reduce pain, although I found walking over the next six weeks uncomfortable and slow. A half hour walk was now taking forty minutes. My multiple pains had, however, reduced to a single trapped nerve in my buttock. Painful, but so much better than things had been. At the same time I developed Bell’s palsy, one side of my face dropped and my eye refused to shut, even at night.  That’s a curse that has been with me over a year.

The day after my operation came another shock. A CT scan had shown up something small in my lungs. Google told me that if I had lung cancer and it had spread to the bone I had six months to live. The private oncologist I saw a week later didn’t put a time on it, but he confirmed the myeloma thought was wrong. I did have lung cancer and he referred me back to the NHS. My employer’s BUPA doesn’t cover secondary cancer. He didn’t tell me that as well as my spine my pelvis, ribs, sternum and lymph nodes were under attack too.

While the NHS might not have wifi on the wards like the private hospital did, they do seem to have a relatively efficient cancer programme. A biopsy of my lymph node revealed a genetic mutation in my cancer and my new oncologist prescribed afatinib. The joyous side effects of diarrhoea, rash and acne remained a few weeks later, albeit less severe, seemed a small price to pay for an extra couple of years life.

Indeed, six days into this treatment, I became pain free. That last pinched nerve had been driving me mad but it just disappeared. I’d been taking a mix of four pain relief drugs which were suddenly not needed. My forty minute walk became half an hour again. I was still less stable than I had been, but felt quite excited. Maybe coincidence, maybe the afatinib had zapped something unpleasant. Sooner or later the drug will stop working but, at that point in time, I like it.

With a sick note issued to the end of January I saw the likelihood of finding a new role with my employer before redundancy kicked in at the end of May diminish. The desire to put myself through the interview process wasn’t there. And then it struck me. I could travel once I’m not working. Indeed, I should start the travel pretty soon because if I’ve only got a couple of years and some of that time will see me deteriorate then the sooner the better.

I decided to embrace the idea of redundancy, which would include a substantial pay-off. The idea of travelling on a sick note didn’t sit comfortably with me. So I emailed my union leader to enquire about the likelihood of garden leave for my three month notice period March to May. He made enquiries and said I’d hear from my line manager after Christmas.

Suddenly I’ve gone from wanting to get back to work to wanting to get on a plane to wherever. 2017 is now a year of opportunity. Perhaps my only opportunity to see more of the planet.

It all happened.

I became the healthiest I’ve been as an adult.  A health kick I’d started a year before saw my weight loss total 100lbs. I was walking ten miles a day in the spring months.  I felt really good.

My divorce came through.  While there’s a sadness about that, I felt happy within myself.

My employer of thirty years put me at risk of redundancy.  I managed to cling onto a role by dropping a level to cover a maternity leave.  But I knew I’d have a battle to remain employed after May 2017.

I travelled solo to Madrid (see image) which is possibly now my favourite city.   I’m not really a fan of metropolis, natural wonders is more my thing, but the transport, the historic buildings and the two football stadia made me a fan.  It was also where I learned the benefit of starting a city break with a free walking tour.  That €10 tip was well worth it and helped me fill the time for the following days.

My son Chris joined me on a trip to Yellowstone.  What a wonderful place that is.  We took a loop route out of Denver through Colorado Springs, the wonderful Pagosa Springs (a place to enjoy natural hot springs), Chris slept through the magnificent Ouray and Silverton but we both got a kick out of white water rafting the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs before heading to Grand Teton, Yellowstone in all its splendour and a drive over the extraordinary Beartooth Pass.

My good health at the start of the year did take a couple of knock backs.  I injured my shoulder in January after playing badminton rather enthusiastically after a thirty year break.  The middle of my back suffered excruciating pain in April (the doctor prescribed Cocodamol)and my lower back  gave me real grief, including sciatic leg pain, which nearly cut the Yellowstone drive short.

i utilised my employer’s BUPA and was referred for physio.  While I enjoyed the Lycra clad ladies giving me some attention it didn’t work and I was referred to a neurosurgeon in September.

This guy looked at my scan and said he thought I had myeloma – a form of blood cancer.  This was a shock, more so the bit when I checked online and saw an average five year life expectancy.  Whatever it was had eaten away at three of my verterbra, T7, L4 and L5.  He recommended verterbroplasty on the L4.  Basically pumping in cement to stabilise my back and hopefully reduce pain.

It did reduce pain, although I found walking over the next six weeks uncomfortable and slow.  A half hour walk was now taking forty minutes.  My multiple pains had, however, reduced to a single trapped nerve in my buttock.  Painful, but so much getter than things had been.  At the same time I developed Bell’s palsy, one side of my face dropped and my eye refused to shut, even at night.  Three months later I was still cursed!

The day after my operation came another shock.  A CT scan had shown up something small in my lungs.  Google told me that if I had lung cancer and it had spread to the bone I had six months to live.  The private oncologist I saw a week later didn’t put a time on it, but he confirmed the myeloma thought was wrong.   I did have lung cancer and he referred me back to the NHS.  My employer’s BUPA doesn’t cover secondary cancer.  He didn’t tell me that as well as my spine my pelvis, ribs, sternum and lymph nodes were under attack too.

While the NHS might not have wifi on the wards like the private hospital did, they do seem to have a relatively efficient cancer programme.  A biopsy of my lymph node revealed a genetic mutation in my cancer and my new oncologist prescribed afatinib.  The joyous side effects of diarrhoea, rash and acne remained a few weeks later, albeit less severe, seemed a small price to pay for an extra couple of years life.

Indeed, six days into this treatment, I became pain free.  That last pinched nerve had been driving me mad but it just disappeared.  I’d been taking a mix of four pain relief drugs which were suddenly not needed.  My forty minute walk became half an hour again.  I was still less stable than I had been, but felt quite excited.  Maybe coincidence, maybe the afatinib had zapped something unpleasant.  Sooner or later the drug will stop working but, for now, I like it.

With a sick note issued to the end of January I saw the likelihood of finding a new role with my employer before redundancy kicked in at the end of May diminish.  The desire to put myself through the interview process wasn’t there.  And then it struck me. I could travel once I’m not working.  Indeed, I should start the travel pretty soon because if I’ve only got a couple of years and some of that time will see me deteriorate then the sooner the better.

I decided to embrace the idea of redundancy, which would include a substantial pay-off.  The idea of travelling on a sick note didn’t sit comfortably with me.  So I emailed my union leader to enquire about the likelihood of garden leave for my three month notice period March to May.  He made enquiries and said I’d hear from my line manager after Christmas.

Suddenly I’ve gone from wanting to get back to work to wanting to get on a plane to wherever.  2017 is now a year of opportunity.  Perhaps my only opportunity to see more of the planet.