Francis O'Leary is the support driver for the first part of the ride.
I’m happily retired, and slightly reeling from the recent shock of getting my bus pass - how did I get to this age already?
Well, I did it mainly by not dying earlier! And to be able to state that after the pandemic, that’s fortunate indeed. My friendship with Lee goes back to school days - and that’s a long time.
As these things go, our connection - at least in-person meetings - has been sporadic, but our friendship remains warm, interesting and nourishing.
I landed gently into this phase of my life, leaving behind a career as a nurse at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. I came to nursing relatively late, having worked in I.T. and earlier as a schoolteacher.
I am married to Kate, who continues her part time work as an Educational Psychologist. We live in Newnham on Severn, on the edge of the beautiful Forest of Dean. We don’t have kids, but we do have a dog.
We are about to welcome a couple of Ukrainian guests, arriving in early August. That’s with a bit of trepidation of course, but we are looking forward to meeting them and working together on getting them settled in the UK.
I was really delighted to have been invited to join Lee and Chris on this enterprise, and truly dismayed that there was a clash with another important event in my life.
This is the Men’s Rites of Passage, taking place near Perth.
This is an initiation event for men. I was initiated last year, and I have the privilege this year to serve as an Elder for the Rites.
More information here: Male Journey
Both Lee and I so wanted for it to be possible for me to be part of his expedition, he arranged for me to be able to accompany the team for the first half, and for Simon to take over at the point where I head off to Scotland.
The timing for handing over the baton will be tight!
As of yesterday, I have learned what an important responsibility the role of the support driver is. Elsewhere on the blog the difficulties and challenges encountered will be covered. In the car, I had it easy, and when I saw the guys rolling into Wadebridge yesterday evening, I saw two heroes.
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