Pretty last-minute, London Speaks Sessions advertised a talk by a man who's well along the way to visiting every country in the world - with just the proverbial backpack and laptop. Ah well now, with my wandering bent, that was exactly the kind of thing to appeal. Turned out to be a Funzing event - actually, I think all this group's events are; it's a good way to publicise them. I booked.
Curious thing - two Meetups were scheduled for this: different names, one address specified, one not. Same theme, and both linked to the same Funzing page. Ah - right. I went with the Funzing directions, such as they were.. "AlphaBeta, ask for Huckletree". Eh.. 18 Finsbury Square was more comprehensible. The Meetup group, however, said it was at #12. What the hey, it was probably just a big building, encompassing both - I wasn't familiar with the area.
Next problem I had was with Google Maps. The simplest way to get there was by Overground, but a combination of train or bus and Tube would be faster. The train would be going in the other direction and doubling back on myself - I decided to take the bus and then the Northern Line. Thing is.. they said to get the bus to Clapham North. And that it'd be three stops from where I got on.
I'm not that familiar with the Northern Line. I didn't realise that Clapham Common, which we passed long before Clapham North, is also on the Northern Line, so it'd have been faster to take the Tube from there. And even that is 10 stops away! Just imagine my confusion as I waited for the Clapham North stop to appear.. oh, and they also wanted me to get off at the stop after that and walk back. Dunno, gremlins must've hacked the site - I see it's been corrected since.
I did make it to Clapham North, with its famously narrow platform, and to Moorgate, which helpfully had a sign indicating which exit to take for Finsbury Square. I didn't recognise much from Streetview, but (correctly) turned left, and there I was. And behold and lo, on the other side of the square was a huge building with "AlphaBeta" over the entrance. Wish I could've taken a photo, but my phone was dead, as usual. Upon passing through the imposing entrance, I found myself in a modern, wood-panelled lobby, with an enormous reception desk, but couldn't see Huckletree. No worries - the guy at reception spotted me and directed me downstairs..
The only obvious entrance had a desk just inside, with two ladies and a laptop. I gave my name, she checked it off - no tickets in advance for this. She was good enough to give me a 10% discount voucher for Funzing, and said to go to the auditorium. Auditorium? Oh, those steps over there with folks sitting on them.
From then on, things got easier. Massively helped by generous quantities of free wine - help yourself, several bottles of red and white, and plastic containers, just over there! Great idea - may we see more of it. I helped myself liberally - be a shame to let it spoil - and made my way over. The prime spots were gone by now, and seating was slightly complicated by the two massive concrete pillars holding the roof up, which kind of spoiled the view of the screen. I discovered that the view was better from the side - the conscientious speaker actually came over before starting, to check that we could all see ok!
Both laptop and backpack were present on stage - apparently though, he lost his camera when he was mugged, just recently. Awful shame - one of the best parts of this talk was the photography, and he displayed some amazing shots. Check them out on his Facebook page, or his website. I do hope he gets another camera.. and soon, because his travels go on and on.
This wasn't the first time he's given this talk, and it's quite polished. His mother and girlfriend were in the audience - I guess it's tricky enough to grab time with him otherwise! He's currently through 68 (I think) of 196 countries - well, as he said, that's the total on Google, and that's what he's taking as official.
We got the details of how he persuaded work to let him work remotely, so all he needs - to quote him - are WiFi and pizza. He uses Uber, he uses AirBnB. In fact, he's got to be one of the world's greatest authorities on independent travel - I'll definitely make a note of his websites in future, especially if I'm travelling anywhere tricky. And I have to say I found the entire thing fascinating - he has a passion for travel, and as he says, the best thing about it is meeting people. Not even being mugged put him off - well, me either, when I was pickpocketed on Las Ramblas. What the hey, the good always outweighs the bad..
The Q+A afterwards was interesting. He's from Tel Aviv, and people wondered how he managed in Arab countries (just fine, apparently, as displayed in a photo of him posing with some Arabs). When does he find time to sleep? Not often. And when someone asked him where home was, he answered, "It's not a place, it's a person". Which drew a big "ahh" from the audience.. Terrific event, in an interesting and flexible space. Delighted I went!
Afterwards, my mission was to walk to the Overground station - well, it had looked easy on Google Maps, but I was pretty lost by the time I got to Spitalfields, where a map put me right again. Having to be up early again for Guildford today, I didn't have time to cook - stopped in to the local chipper for a bag of chips, which did me just fine.
Tonight, I'd booked to go to another talk - and then the World Music Meetup stepped up with a free Spanish guitar concert! Aw man - you couldn't get better for me! Travel and Spanish guitar - two of my absolute passions. About two seconds' hesitation - what the hey, it is free. And although it's in Shoreditch again, it's on late, so I should be ok. Working from home tomorrow, so a late finish shouldn't be an issue. And I see the 344 goes to within walking distance, so if I start out early enough I can take that for its whole route.
Tomorrow, I'm back with the Man with the Hat, who's taking Let's Do London - for less! - swiftly becoming another of my passions - to (ahem) The Toxic Avenger, in Southwark Playhouse. I predict another interesting night - no crystal ball required.
On Thursday, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts, for The Flick, at the Dorfman (in the National). Oh, and on Friday, they're off to Lawrence After Arabia, in Hampstead Theatre - I got cheaper from the theatre itself, so I'm going separately. They don't like that, but I have a seat upstairs, so it should be possible to avoid them - and, of course, having banned me from linking to this blog on their website, they're less likely to read the blog and find out what I'm doing. Shh!
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