I’m writing this over a 20kbps dial-up connection from my mother’s house in Donegal, Ireland. I’ve never used the internet this slowly before – my first modem connected at 33.6kbps, and that was more than ten years ago. I’m used to at least 100x this speed, and even get frustrated by that on a regular basis. So if I get a little behind on emails etc, apologies.

The views are as magnificent as they were last year, and it was good to see most of my mother’s side of the family before I head for Thailand at the end of this month.

Sian moved into her new flat on Saturday, and with her leaving it has all started to seem real. My DVDs and CDs are all gone, but I still need to get rid of my guitars & furniture – once I get home, I’ll have just one week in which to do so. I’ve never been one for doing things the easy way though…

Next week: sporadic updates as I relinquish the last of my material posessions.

Next month: the next chapter of my life – it begins in Thailand…