Since my trip to Zakynthos last month (which was originally supposed to be as a summer of work but just ended up as a pretty awesome 2 week holiday), I’ve been meaning to upload a few of the nice photos I took … but just haven’t gotten around to it,.. until now.

I would have taken a lot more photos (and videos) but I felt that a lot of the whole experience was quite private & personal and was best kept in my head as a memory. I was never going to put all of the photos online anyway

… so… eh… yeah! – here’s a few to check out:

Only back a while from what turned out to be a 2 week holiday instead of an entire summer in Zakynthos. Will put up a more comprehensive post about my Zante experience at some stage, but for now, here’s a video I took of the shipwreck at Smugglers Cove (Navagio) on the north west of the island.

So, I’ve… er… decided to go for it!!

After having the idea of flying away on a sun holiday and not coming back – finding a job over there and staying for the summer… I’ve actually gone ahead and booked flights and will be heading out on Saturday June 6th (just over a week away) with a return flight booked two weeks later.

Unfortunately, there were no full packages left for the dates I wanted (I wanted to go as early as possible) and therefore I have flights only – no accommodation sorted out … yet!… although – from what I’m told – that won’t be difficult to find, once I land.

My destination is the Greek island of Zakynthos (or “Zanté”). I chose it because I’ve been there before and it’ll be somewhat familiar to me – and because there’s plenty of bars there (including a good few Irish bars) so finding a job over there might not actually be all that hard.

I’ve been chatting with some people who are over there already (including a girl working in the local radio station) and it’s all been very encouraging so far – with the possibilities of jobs looking like being either a a barman, or – preferably! – a resident DJ in one of the hundreds of bars there (… oh, or both, of course!)

So … yeah! Here I go on an adventure… whether I get to “accidentally on purpose” miss my flight home and it lasts the whole summer has yet to be seen. I already know that if it does, I won’t have a job to come back to – so staying there will have to be worth it, and I’ll have to be able to save a few quid…

Hell, I COULD just spend the two weeks purely a holiday – hop from resort to resort, staying somewhere different every couple of nights, make the usual day-trips (I definitely want to take the boat trip from Porto Vromi to Smugglers Cove beach, and a trip to Zante would be wasted without seeing Kefalonia again)… but doing it PURELY as a holiday… that’s kinda boring! Been there, done that… If the opportunity comes up to stay and work there for the whole summer (and you know I will be looking!)… I’m gonna grab it.

You only live once, and – for once – I’ve nothing to hold me back!

Here’s an idea… now it might be a little bonkers, but bear with me, ok? Thanks… Right! Ok, so I haven’t had a holiday since December of 2007… and that was only a drive down to Westport and back with my then fiancèe who dumped me two short months later.

Since then, I’ve been working hard and studying hard. I could really do with a break away – hell I deserve one!… but I’ve nobody to go with… not that I’m going to get all “boo hoo” about that – it doesn’t matter… I’ll go alone.. but that’s not the bonkers bit… hang on a sec.

My original idea back a few months ago was to go off to Canada or America on a working student Visa (the ould J1) but, for various reasons – including the fact that I’d left it all a bit too late – what with the paperwork and red tape and all, it doesn’t look like that’s a runner.

According to the sensationalist over-the-top bullshit merchant hype machine that is the Sunday Mirror, Jeremy Clarkson (the tall, arrogant speed-loving petrol-head off of Top Gear) went ballistic and let loose with a “four letter rant” when 12-year-old Tom Dickman took his picture while he was asleep on a beach in Barbados.

He confronted the kid and yelled:
“Are you the little fucker that took my picture? If you do that again or it goes on the internet I will hunt you down and rip your fucking head off.”

The kids father, Chris Dickman, demanded an apology from Clarkson, which, of course, wasn’t forthcoming. He also complained to the BBC and vowed never to watch Top Gear again. For more details, read the full article.

The way I see it, Clarkson was perfectly within his right to be annoyed at some 12-year-old little shit taking his photo. Hell, I would be too! A 12-year-old is NOT an innocent little kid, as the Mirror’s article makes out. You can be sure he knew full-well that he should have asked for permission before taking the photo.

Granted, Clarkson could have reacted in a more calm and mature way, but honestly I think that sometimes people should be less afraid to just let loose and say what’s on their minds in the way they want to say it and forget about political bloody correctness! He’s human. Give him a break.

Oh, and smart move there, “Dickman” (nice name…), complaining to the BBC! Seriously – what kind of a moron does that, expecting to get any response other than the one he got? (Basically – “he was on a private holiday, it’s nothing to do with us. Sod off.”). … And as for vowing to never watch Top Gear again, it’s their loss. I’m sure Clarkson could care less about losing 1 out of their over 350 million weekly viewers. Some people even want Gordon Brown to step down and make Clarkson Prime Minister!

The show is back in the summer … and as far as I’m concerned, it can’t come too soon!