Thomil's Random Ramblings

Please note that this is the first part of a two-part series of articles on this particular topic. I'd originally planned to publish the entire travel report in one go, but given the  length  of the original draft, I decided to split it into two parts. I just recently noticed that my last travel report on this blog is over a year old. This time last year, I was preparing to head off to Providence. So what better time to write a new one than now? Especially given the fact that I was recently over in the UK for the wedding of a good friend of mine. But of course, things weren’t quite as straightforward. I’d known that this wedding was coming for quite some time but had been unable to book due to some uncertainty with regards to my job. It was only when I was somewhat established in my new job that I could finally book the flights and hotel. It was to be a simple trip: Fly out to Bristol on Friday, stay in Swansea for 3 days and then fly back on Monday. Then, literally 3...

Please be advised that this blog post discusses mental health issues, suicide and similar topics. If you’re affected by any of these issues, or are sensitive to them, please take care when reading it, and feel free to reach out for help There are a number of resources at the bottom of this article. Also, there’s some pretty drastic language further down, so you might want to take care when reading this at work. I was out with a pretty bad headcold/flu/whatever last week, something that is still affecting me today, but I still need to write this, need to get this out. As is often the case for me when I’m recovering, I tend to let my guard down, and it is in these moments when all the memories of what happened two years ago come flooding back to me. My dad’s words that I “should start looking for flights” back to Germany, those dreadful hours waiting in vain outside the ICU to see my mom, “that” phone call the next morning, followed four months later by another dreadful, ominous sil...