Travel

I really love travelling, exploring new places and meeting new people. I always used to enjoy camping with my parents when I was young. I guess there would always be a time when I would want to explore the world. My first real travel experiences overseas (from the UK) came when I toured Europe with Sister by train in June 2001. In 17 days we went from Paris to Barcelona to Nice to Rome to Luzern to Berlin and finally Amsterdam. It was a wonderful adventure despite being very tired at the end of it.

Then during 2002 I planned my biggest trip to date which was to become reality as on 14th November 2002 I went to Australia. Here I stayed for four months enjoying summer in the southern hemisphere. What a great time I had. Honestly I preferred Melbourne to Sydney but everyplace was so great and everyone I met so friendly I will return to Oz in the future I hope.

On my return from down under I stopped in Hong Kong for two days (just 2 weeks before the outbreak of SARS). What an amazing place. Two days was certainly not enough.

My most recent travels took me to Japan where I met people I had originally met in Australia and London. Here I fell in love with Asia. Three fabulous weeks with some great friends.

In late 2004 I travelled to China which increased my fascination with the orient. After a week in hectic and futuristic Shanghai i travelled by train to Beijing and enjoyed sightseeing. I hope to return soon.

2006 has again been a great year for travelling but this time through my studies visiting Uzbekistan and attending a conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Lucky me!!!

Sport

I love to watch many sports especially football and cricket on TV.  Participating in sport has not happened much since school days. But when I do I like to play Badminton and occasionally go swimming, but generally only in the summer months!

Television

With TV I'm a bit of a science fiction fan but not crazy about it. I especially like Star Trek, especially the modern series' and also thoroughly enjoy The X-Files. In truth these series have come to dominate my TV watching over the last decade. Other TV I like includes soaps such as Eastenders and documentary programmes including Horizon.

Languages

After my travels I have taken more of an interest in languages. In 2003 I took a Japanese language course which was very enjoyable and in 2006 I completed a beginners course in Mandarin Chinese. My ambition is to speak Mandarin and Japanese to a competent level by the time i am 40. Just 10 years to go!!!