Until October

I should`ve done this before I left to come to Asia because life is so much more exciting now, but what happened in between then and now? Not a whole lot really! 

I finished my season of making pizzas and drinking rattler down in Cornwall in time to come back for my bro Craig`s birthday. Our cousin managed to get us guestlist for this Drum and Bass day festival in Brighton, hello backstage bar! I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with the family and my little cousin Colt.

I had a bit of a mad one up North, having some big reunions with some big friends. Firstly to Liverpool to see Oli and Kayleigh from the cruise ship and causing some havoc up there, then onto Clitheroe to see Danny, up to Gnaresborough to see Connor and Bernie from Koh Rong then finally to Sheffield for a good old catch up with Becky Barlow from Tenerife. Megabus' and trains galore on my tour of the north. 

Finishing off with the Peoples Vote March in London.

But waiting for my flight on the 26th October to Bangkok for this big adventure. 

Semolina in my soul

If you told me aged 15-19 that one day I'd be working in my own pizza kitchen I'd fully believe I'd be living the dream. Not to say that's not true-but god, semolina gets EVERYWHERE. And I mean everywhere. But here I am approaching the end of the summer already and I think it's fair to say it's the closest to being abroad that this summer could've brought me.

Things that make it like a different country down here;

• The weather is better*

If you exclude the extreme wind and rain a few weeks back that killed the pubs' pontoon and sounded like our caravan would be joining Dorothy on the was to Kansas. Maybe the weather just seems a little bit nicer when you have views like this to look at rather than Crawley High Street. 

*We don't talk about Boardmasters either. My dreams of seeing Jax Jones are delayed yet again, one day I might get to this damn Cornish festival! 

• It's basically a different language

Either everyone is posh as or fully country. I feel like I can really relate to this scene in Hot Fuzz now. 

• They use water transport as a direct way to get about

Legit, pack your paddle board, kayak and dingy to get about. You'll need it. Or in my case- a giant inflatable flamingo.

What's been going on other wise? Apart from making a few hundred pizzas a week (and having nightmares about that damn oven and cheese) we went into Falmouth the other week for a jolly and have a fiesta with the Mariachi band. They've been a favourite of Craig's since they became his Glastonbury 2014's highlight. I'm sure it was a great night....something I realised is that Drunk Becca isn't as good at the whole "no cheesy chips and burger sauce" thing....

We had our village Regatta in the middle of August. It was a great day, all I saw all day was the pizza oven, but with a good team (and a couple of Rattlers) it made it a great day and night. Most successful for the pub so far! 

We've also got a new boat for the pub so been heading out into the passage with that, been camping, paddleboarding and as my leg is getting better I'm hopefully gonna try some surfing again soon.  

Saying hello to Helford

What's new! 

Well for starters my leg is finally getting back to normal (apart from my new pirate inspired scar). Had my cast off at the end of June and had the grand reveal of a beautiful yeti-inspired limb. But every day my leg is getting better, I have almost mastered stairs. My hobble is now a walk, but my fast walk is now a hobble...but it's all baby steps (if you pardon the pun).






June and July have seen reunions and hangs with a few old friends! My girl Petra, who I met on Koh Rong, has been in town. So we've been chilling, driving, BBQing and getting Trollied (but not how me normally do, this time it involved Aldi, a lack of wheelchair and an actual trolley). Me, Petra and Sean went to NASS a couple weekends ago. Its a BMX/Skate/Drum'n'Bass festival in Bristol and let's just say a lot has changed since my last festival...mostly me getting older. I must have missed the memo where fishnet shorts and the neon thongs combo became a thing...


Another reunion was with my old shipmate, the drunken sailor- Big Gay Will! From the dawn, to Cambodia, to the snooty fox and wherever next!

And most recently having Kirstyn come down from Glasgow, spontaneously, for the weekend! We had lunch with Nan and Grandad so she had a proper English culture exchange and witnessed a proper "Stannard goodbye" and the Nan-At-The-Window Wave. I decided to show her the sights if Crawley High Street on a Friday night and Jubilee Oak in its full glory- then a sunny Saturday in Brighton.



And as much as I hate to say it I have had a good time living back at home- surprisingly I have a tan to prove it! Its been great having catch ups with the fans, BBQ's, babysitting, dogsitting, getting drunk phone calls from mum etcetc

But alas, for now I have moved down to the West Coast for the summer and can now add the title "Pizza Chef" to my resume as I spend the next 8 weeks with my bicycle and paddleboard exploring Helford and Falmouth,  eating some pasties, and enjoying a rattler (or two).

The Road to Recovery (and the wheels that are dragging me there)

-This Post is Soundtracked by Chamillionaire -

It's now been 29 days since my incident; and only 25 days till I have my cast off... but hey- who's counting? HA HA HA 

I'm now back in the motherland, after a 3 hour bus and a wheelchair chauffeured trip around Vienna airport. No longer funemployed just regularly unemployed, back at my parents' house. Spending my weekends sipping gin and juice, playing scrabble, updating my tinder profile and trying not to make the most of the infinite scroll feature on every social media website. I've been lucky enough to borrow my grandads scooter so I can get about a bit more easy, much to everyone's amusement. 

making dreamcatchers with Lolo

personal slave AKA Mum 

Bank Holiday Weekend we drove about 15KM with the tent and a broken leg wasn't enough to keep me from enjoying the annual family camp, a few ciders, some big catchups, and non-stop laughing at Spongebob quotes with my brother.  

 Even though I can't be up to my normal antics, my friends are. My friend, Jordan from Mayrhofen, was hitch hiking (unsuccessfully) from London to Scotland. And after his attempts from 4am had failed to see him out of the city he came down to Crawley for the night and we had a scoot up to Tilgate Park to visit the alpacas. He has a warm shower, a comfy bed and I know how much appreciated that can be when you're on the road.

So right now I'm trying to use all this freetime to get some yoga in and get engaged with my core(?), try convert my family to veganism by cooking some dinners and experimenting with some new recipes (before I'm back on a beans on toast diet again), and not spend all my minutes watching Brooklyn 99.