We’ve returned from our annual weightwatchers trip. Where we (my future wife and I) (try to) shed a few pounds, we decided to use our bikes this year.

The plan: To cycle the Sustrans West Country way bike route from Bristol to Padstow. A 300 mile part traffic free route which leads us from Bristol to the quiet and country lanes of Cornwall.

We camped throughout the journey, apart from our night on Exmoor where where had the luxury of a B&B in Dulverton.

The trip took us 6 days from start to finish, covering 3 sets of interesting hills – The Quantocks, Somerset. The Exmoor National Park, Devon, and various Cornwall hilly bits.

We were covering about 50 miles a day on average, and carrying around 80 litre capacity clothing, food and camping equipment.

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Well, the creme de la creme Web Design and Development Conference in Austin, Texas certainly lived up to its formidable reputation.

And it’s hard to put into one blog post an event that encompasses so many aspects of the web, real time social networking, some marketing, and a lot of partying with new friends.

One interesting statistic was that it was thought 20% of America’s iPhone users were at SxSw. There were a lot of iPhones, and Apple products everywhere you looked. It felt like being part of a community just by having similar gadgets with these folks.

I really loved the openness of the event, it’s true – you can sit next to a Vice president of Yahoo! on one side and an A list web celebrity on the other.

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After reading Mr Nice, which was a fantastic insight into his ‘high’ life and times, I discovered Howard Marks and I have a few things in common, here they are:

• Both lived in Brighton
• Both flown on Continental Airlines from Houston to Gatwick (Marks from Prison, Me from SxSw)
• Both visited Notorious Pat Pong District of Bangkok, Thailand
• Both visited the Famous Hobbit House bar in Manila, Philippines

Mark’s now leads a quiet life in Europe, come back to Brighton soon Howard.

Following a successful evening spent with fellow geeks at the ‘Geek (insert drink name here) Thing‘ at Brunswick Square, I wanted to provide a follow up with tasting notes and further links to encourage you to research Cider in your own time, and who knows it may even become one of your favourite hobbies too!

The actual event started off by eating apples..

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I wanted to list a lot of bits I picked up on, this being my second visit back to India, and first time to Nepal. Hopefully they will make you smile as much as they did for me.

Indian Top Tips

• Don’t deny an Indian person doing their job, security and ticketing staff
• They are all there to provide a service, so make it a pleasure for them and yourself. Smile!
• Most taxi drivers will say that they know somewhere even if they don’t

Jai Indra Festival, Bhaktapur, Nepal

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The following excerpt is from Day 1 of my diary. I led a volunteer wildlife conservation project in partnership with BTCV and RCDP in Nepal over the last month.

I do these projects in different parts of the world once a year, its a fantastic way of meeting people from all walks of life.. Certainly more than just travelling the normal backpacker route:

The volunteers arrive slowly one by one from the Airport to the guest home in the Thamel area of Kathmandu..

Some dive straight into the local food, others enjoy the spirit of South Asia and get lost down all the winding lanes of the capital city. Shops, rickshaws and temples..

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SxSW is of course back for 2008, this time, rather than hearing from colleagues about just how good it was.. I am going!

If you are going you can book your hotel, and book your plane ticket now. Return flights from Gatwick to Texas start at the £300 mark.
Here are the dates:

• SXSW Interactive: Friday March 7 – Tuesday March 11
• SXSW Film: Friday March 7 – Saturday March 15
• SXSW Music: Wednesday March 12 – Sunday March 16

New for 2008: SXSW.mobi

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