UK, Thursday, January 10, 2008:

I got back from Afghanistan on New Year’s Eve 2007 and spent most of the next few days writing up my copy – bearing in mind all the technical difficulties I had experienced while in Helmand. Still it made a total of 10 pages of coverage in the Scarborough Evening News, as well as other publications in the sister titles, which I thought was quite good.

Having said that had to prepare for another foreign trip to Ukraine a few days later. I had arranged to follow volunteers with the Shoebox Appeal – also known as Operation Christmas Child – to distribute gifts to children in Ukraine. It was where a lot of the parcels collected in the Scarborough area were destined for. I even took over a shoebox for a child which was packed by my mam.

Obviously Ukraine has been in the news quite a bit this year and it has been weird seeing some familiar place names in the headlines over the past few months.

It was in January because, as they worshipped at the Russian Orthodox Church, that was when they celebrated Christmas and let’s just say it was such a moving trip. It was good to see the delight on the children’s faces when they received their parcels.

The journey begins:

I have an an hour to kill so I am sitting in the café at Scarborough station listening to very bad cover versions.

I remember my iPod is dead. Luckily the iPod Doctor lives in my street so I really should get it fixed soon. I could have done with it over the past month – what with Afghanistan and now Ukraine.

Needless to say it did not get repaired and it was a couple of years before I managed to buy a new iPod which, surprisingly, still works but I have recently moved my music onto my phone as it has a much larger capacity to fit it all in.

I feel like I need a rest because I haven’t stopped since getting back on New Year’s Eve. I lost count of the number of words I have churned out over the past few days.

Of course I got a couple of the names wrong – a cardinal sin in journalism – and people are quick enough to complain not compliment.

The skies look very black as I leave Scarborough and I am not sure I am fully prepared for very cold conditions in Ukraine.

York:

I arrive to find out my train has been cancelled, which seems typical, but it is only a one hour delay.

I have forgotten how dreary travel by train in the UK can be – crammed in like cattle in trucks and overcharged for the privilege of eating.

Foreign journeys always seem more exotic and are probably under the same conditions.

Bear in mind I have an overnight trip to Kiev by train to look forward to during this trip.

London:

Immediately I am confronted by the sheer mass of people in London, when compared with the somewhat smaller Scarborough, and it’s raining when I arrive in the capital.

I have a look at the recently renovated St Pancras and take a few pics before finding an Irish pub in Euston Road.

While I was there I listened to a bizarre selection of Irish tunes – everything from punk classics to the Dubliners – which was truly fantastic.