Post 199: Serendipity, Braintree, UK

Tomorrow, Sunday 16th November, ….. Poor Circulation will be completing the full circle of the world by returning to the Ace Café, the place where it all began on the 21st April 2008. The intervening 28,000 Miles, 28 Countries and 28 Weeks have been to say the very least, …. Interesting. If I’d stayed at home I’d be a little less in debt, I’d have covered a few more miles on a bike but I’d also have far fewer memories, ……… and as I discovered today, I’d also now be just as ’Homeless’, but for very different reasons.

For the past few years I’d been renting a studio apartment in an old converted farm building to the West of Braintree. In the weeks prior to departure I packed all of the personal things that I wanted to keep, sold or discarded the rest and gave notice to my landlord. Today I returned to my former home and was shocked by what I found, ……. it looks a little more serious than ’Smoke Damage’. The picture to the left is all that remains of my old apartment within a Grade II listed building in rural Essex. Thankfully nobody was injured in the blaze, but If I’d stayed at home I would have lost everything that I owned, ….. I’d never really gotten around to purchasing any contents insurance. A foolish oversight, but an oversight that many make, …… don’t we?

Poor Circulation has actually been a lot easier than either Alan or I had anticipated, … absolutely anybody could make this journey. I’m beginning to think that some of the more famous two-wheeled circumnavigations tend to dwell on the ‘Problems’ and make the journey seem far more difficult than it really is. We didn't do any of the more difficult countries in Africa, nor did we enter Afganistan or Iran and we missed the problems in Georgia, ..... but if you keep it simple and avoid having to worry too much about where you are, .... it gives you more time to enjoy it. I’ll admit that We were very lucky, … the weather was in our favour and the help that we received along the way was far beyond our wildest expectations. It will be nice to meet some of you tomorrow at the Ace, ….. to say a big ‘Thank You’ in person. My daughter Hannah is coming along with her Mom, the former ‘Mrs Blue88’ and I’d like everybody to remember their social responsibilities. You must constantly remind her, .. My Daughter not Mrs Blue88, .. that motorcycles are Evil things and that the Boys riding them are even worse. Your support on this matter would be greatly appreciated, … by both me and her Mom ;-)

Seeing the devastation at my old home reminds me just how lucky I’ve actually been, … I‘ve lost nothing and gained everything. It also reminds me that I should set off travelling again before the next inevitable home based disaster strikes. I’m working on it, … the ‘Travelling’ not the ‘Disaster’, ……..

Hope to see some of you at the Ace Café.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas