Wilf Wilson

Last May, I spent most of the month travelling around France by train. It was the climax of my (so-called) ‘gap year’, and all clichés aside, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done ((Yes, really. I’m thinking of doing a similar sort of thing again next year.)). It changed me for the better.

I kept a diary on that trip and I updated it almost every day. I didn’t write a diary before going to France ((Except for a brief stint in 2003 after my Mum had bought me a diary for Christmas.)) and I haven’t written one since returning. In general, I think it’s a waste of time, but I thought it would be good to keep one whilst I was away. It would help to stop the memories from fading away so quickly ((And, so that when people ask me “What did you do on your gap year?”, I’ll have something specific to tell them.)).

This month, whilst studying for exams and living La Vida St Andrews, I’m going to relive that trip and share the experience with you.

It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, though I wanted to let the trip sink in and see how it affected me first before telling the world about it. I think enough time has passed now. Each day ((Be warned: some days, like today and tomorrow, do not have an entry.)), I’ll post an edited ((The raw version contains a lot of highly personal and inappropriate material.)) and embellished ((I don’t mean to imply that I’ll be saying anything untrue, I just like the word ’embellish’. Everything I say will be the truth, at least as I see it.)) version of the corresponding entry from my travel diary.

Don’t worry. It won’t just be words. I’ll also take this opportunity to share a selection of the 4,000 photos which I took over the course of the month. There are some good ones. And, of course, there will copious footnotes ((Here, have another footnote. I know you love them.)).

A brief warning: due to exam pressure and other constraints this month, I might have difficulty keeping to the tight schedule which I have set myself. I currently have only 1 post queued and ready to go; that took perhaps 3 hours of work to digitise, edit, and illustrate with photos. I hope that was an anomaly. I just have so much ((Too much?)) to say.

I hope you enjoy it ((Whatever ‘it’ turns out to be.)).