France was first on the list. Three weeks he stayed there, just over a week of which was spent travelling south, to Nice, in a VW Caravenette. While he'd been staying in a youth hostel in Paris he'd been talking to a few other people about his plans. One of them, an Australian, was also going south and he had his own transport - the beloved VW of many four-wheeled travellers.

After leaving Paris they headed for the coast and Brittany. After that, south to Le Mans to stay overnight by the famous race track - His travelling companion wanted to watch one of the motorcycle races.
Ten days after leaving the capital they arrived in Nice. He'd helped pay for the petrol, and the food they'd bought and cooked on the mini-stove in the van.

They both spent some time asking for work at the many hotels. Two days passed with no luck. Maybe with it being summer these jobs had already been taken by like-minded people.
They decided to part with each others company, with the Australian heading east towards Italy. He'd enjoyed the company, and the good tunes that had accompanied them: Neil Young, Tim Buckley and Rodriguez to name a few.

Another let down. He wasn't beaten yet though - disallusioned about himself, but not beaten. Just for the experience of travel he caught an overnight train from Nice to Amsterdam. Once there, he spent a few hours walking around, taking in the laid back atmosphere of the place and then went to look for a travel agents to pay for a ferry ride from Holland to England.

The North Sea was calm, not at all rough as he'd been led to expect. He woke up early just to see the sunrise. It was well worth it. Low in the sky, the sun's rays glistened off the gently undulating sea, casting long shadows across the length of the deck. He wished he'd brought his camera. He'd always felt that sunrises and sunsets held something special. To him they were mesmerising.

After setting foot on home soil he took a coach northwards to his own town. It was a glorious summer's day but it didn't help to raise his spirits. He was back in the place he didn't want to be in.

He wasn't happy at all.