Rachel and I's first trip to Egypt. A package tour that boasted a rather well-informed tour guide who made the whole thing much better than it might have been. Temperatures of 52 degrees at one point meant that we were very glad of air-conditioning. Still, the country is amazing and we both hoped to return again one day.

Rachel won a trip to see one day's play at the US Open Tennis Championship at Flushing Meadows in the States. We headed over there, were rather shocked at the size of New York during the brief time we managed to fit in a little sight-seeing. Still, a rather fun little break.

Rachel, her family and I head to Tenerife for a timeshare-type deal. Being able to miss out on the hard sell we had a great time and got to take a real break from work for the first time in a long while.

Rachel and I in Egypt for the second time. Travelling with Explore Worldwide (lovely company). Really must use them again. Far too much to explain. Take a look at the pictures.

A week or so off in Crete. Time to unwind, work out what's happening in my life and generally get my head together. Ably assisted and accompanied by Bob a good time was had drinking cocktails and walking some of the better routes on the island.

Julian and Keith's last big bash before they leave the 20s for the 30s. Off to Tenerife for the lot of us to have a good time in the sun, with sand, rocks to climb, drinks to drink (in excess) and food to munch upon.

Day one of my trip to the States. Features such exciting photos as the plane, the progress screens as I flew over and some random shots of the house, and Andy and Meri.

Day two of my trip to the States. Having arrived the day before we took what turned out to be the only sunny day of my trip to drive to the coast, buy a frisbee and generally have sun fun on the beach. I put my feet in the Atlantic from the other side of the pond.

Day three of my trip to the States. Shots of things that we did. Nothing terribly exciting as it was shopping and lazing about and things like that that took our fancy.

Day four of my trip to the States. The drive to Washington DC. The subway transit system, visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, various parts of Washington's monument area and things like that.

Day five of my trip to the States. The drive to New York followed by exploration of the city (including the Empire State Building), my remembering some of the city from my visit visit here and some cool shots taken in Grand Central Station.

Day six of my trip to the States. Not many photos due to us not really doing much (bit of a slack day). Brunch-type meal that made my arteries harden in a diner that felt like something from the era of Grease.

Day seven of my trip to the States. A late breakfast in an authentic American diner, a drive upstate for a barbecue stopping off first to visit a house full of animals.

Day eight of my trip to the States. Pictures of the half-day trip to Philadelphia and my arrival at the airport and subsequent departure to points east.

Day nine of my extremely relaxing and fun trip to the States. Features mainly photos of the plane and the people I sat next to.

Elaine and I needed some time off so we found a place called North Lees Hall (believed to have provided the inspiration for Charlotte Brontë’s description of Mr Rochester’s house, Thornfield Hall, in Jane Eyre, following a visit by the authoress to Hathersage in 1845) and booked in for a three-day break. First off was a departure from my place with bikes and the trip up to Sheffield to stay over at Elaine's for the evening.

In the morning we took the twenty minute train journey to Hathersage and then cycled vertically about half a mile until we reached North Lees Hall. Safely ensconced we then actually freewheeled back down into town to do some shopping and look at the local attractions. Our first meal and subsequent collapse by the fire were well earned!

We went out for a little bit of a bike ride. From North Lees we dropped down to Hathersage, then to Hope and Castleton. For some strange reason we then decided to go past Speedwell Cavern and push our bikes up the 1:5 gradient pass to Blue John Cavern where we had lunch before taking a guided tour of the place. I nearly came off my bike on a corner and we nearly strangled the guide, but other than that it was great. The freewheel down the pass was amazing and the cycle home easy.

After another late morning (extremeley tired from the day before's cycling) we opted for a nice leisurely walk along the Edge. We climbed the steep ground to the bottom of the wall, watched the climbers for a bit and then walked a way along the top, criticising people's belay points. Once we'd eaten we simply ambled home for an afternoon snooze, dinner and marshmallows toasted in front of the fire.

This was the day we left North Lees and headed back to Sheffield. Unfortunately we had to make an early start and get out of the place by 10am. Once we'd cleared out and headed to the Longlands Café above Outside (where we missed getting the Special by thirty seconds!) we hung around for an hour, had some hot butties, chilled on the grass and then got the train home. All in all a really rather good mini-break which I hope we get to do again really rather soon.

The semi-annual Good Friday Picnic attended by, well, pretty much everyone who could come. Good food, good friends, an aerobie and juggling balls.

Not content with exhausing ourselves with a weekend of partying Cormac, Steph, Elaine and I headed out to find some wind to put the kites up in. Even though we didn't really get much the pull of a large Blade III and a Bullet was more than enough to make us ache in the morning. Some guys turned up with a 10.5m Blade III and a 9m Blade II which they let us try. Now I have to forget about the new kitchen and buy one. I have some good movies as well, but I can't upload them yet.

Shaun, Linda, Tom(!), Elaine and I decided that summer had come and it was time to get out and about so we looked for a National Trust property that would give something for everyon (especially Tom). Wimpole Hall Gardens and the Farm proved to be a big success and was definitely worth a revisit from my point of view.

The rain washed out any chance of climbing so we did a whole lot of outdoor clothes shopping, went to see some dams and visited a wildlife sanctuary to see otters and owls.

Walking in Wales.

The first week of my 30th birthday holiday party blowout thing in Spain. Seven of us travelled down from the UK to Spain by a variety of trains initially meeting up at Waterloo and all of us ending up safely in Moraira on the Costa Blanca. This week consisted of eating out, staying in, climbing, sea kayaking, snorkeling, reading in the sun, poi practice and, of course, drinking.

The second week of my 30th birthday holiday party blowout thing in Spain. Two more people arrived by plane (boo!) but were happily added to the throng. More climbing, more going out of an evening, some excellent walking, quality foodage, my birthday (including far too many cocktails and a feisty barmaid), time out in Barcelona and Paris and eventually, sadly, a journey home to the UK again.

The Latitude Festival near Southwold. I went along as part of a juggling crew and helped run two workshops a day for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Between those times we got to sample some of the exceedingly varied acts on offer. From Marcus Brigstocke in the Comedy Arena to The Zutons and Snow Patrol. Literary criticism, burlesque cabaret, theatre and live poetry reading. Along with the phenomenal weather and some very late nights (read: early mornings) a damed good time was had by all. Sorry the shots aren't so good; I only had the compact on account of not wanting to tote my big kit around.

I cycled the Rievers Route from Tynemouth to Whitehaven with Jenny. Yes, I wore lycra. Yes, it was padded. Yes, an excellent time was had. Yes, I'd do it again. No, there are no pictures of my arse.

Jenny and I went to Greece. It was brilliant. We had lots of fun and did lots of walking and swimming and eating of food. Probably too much food, if I'm honest. Still, we didn't get burnt, which is nice.

"Ah, Boston in the Fall..." Well with Jenny out there for the next year or so I thought now would be the time to take advantage of a friendly face to show me around. It also being Thanksgiving we took a very short trip to Cape Cod to see what the place was like out of season. The answer: brilliant, cold, windy, deserted, wonderful. Also, this collection contains penguins, autumnal colours, climbing, a squirrel and vague attempts at being vaguely arty, vaguely.

I headed on over to the Big Apple to see Kris. Cue a week and a bit of Central Park wandering, meals out, exploration of the city, walking a duck down 5th Ave, seeing Avenue Q performed on Broadway and a trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

A whole load of us (and Kris, who was over at the time) headed off to Porlock in Somerset to stay at (take over) a hotel on the coast. Walking, running, supporting the local economy buy buying lots of produce from the village shop, murder mystery parties on trains, hiring a whole cinema, kiting, horse riding, falconry, cycling, drinking, cooking, croquette, football (of a sort), pass the parcel, games console playing and all kinds of other things I don't recall were the order of the week.

I believe we also celebrated two birthdays at some point, too.

Kris was spending some time in China, researching her Ph.D, teaching to get free accommodation and generally using her time usefully. Given she speaks/reads/writes Mandarin and knows an awful lot about China we figured it'd be the very best time for me to come and visit her and China. Especially as we both needed a holiday.

Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Yangshuo and back to Beijing again. Some fabulous hotels, amazing archeological and historical sites, lots of people (LOTS of people) and some truly astounding scenery. Not to mention some lovely company.

Kris and went to Paris! Ostensibly this was to reset her tourist visa, but it turned out she still had three months left on it. No matter as we needed the holiday. We saw pretty much everything the city has to offer (the Louvre, the islands, the Seine, Notre Dame, the catacombs, went shopping, ice-cream, churches, all the Quarters, the Eiffel Tower and all on foot too!) Interesting, a chance to see lots of things and talk about more. Definitely a really rather good time on all counts.

Kris' parents came to see us and, being from out of the country, wanted to see something of the British countryside. We settled on staying in the Cotswolds and heading to (among other places) Blenheim Palace.

Cormac and Steph turned 30. This seemed like a good idea for a party. 16 of us (and one small child) descended on a large white house in Salcombe, Devon for a week. There was cooking, drinking, running, kayaking, golf (apparently) and lots of wandering around and looking at things in wonderful weather.

Kris and I took off on the train and bikes to Scotland, just a few dozen miles south of Edinburgh, for the week. We stayed in a fantastic place called Barns Tower just outside of the town of Peebles. Cue a large amount of excellent cycling, wonderful walking and even some time to just relax and read without interruptions from phones and computers. Bliss! It only rained a few times too, and we never got soaked. Much kudos to Kris for carrying two heavy panniers on a much heavier bike than mine!