John O' Groats to Lands End (UK) using only a bus pass. Non mini related

Belly

Belly

New member
Quote from my Facebook page:
I was challenged to travel from John O'Groats to Land's End using only his trusty Bus Pass by my mate Mark , and is considering doing it for Epilepsy Action lol... It'll be like Ewan McGregor's Long Way Down, but on Chav filled buses which travel around Council Estates... It's bound to be a winning idea... Who wants to be camera man? :D
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Hiya guys. Some of you that know me already, and some that are on my facebook (if you aren't on my facebook, why not? :p ) know I've been suffering from Epilepsy since I was about 23.
Anyway, very recently an old friend of mine was over from France and we got talking about my buss pass (or sp*z pass as it has now been renamed by my mates... thanks guys :) ). When I told him I could travel all over the UK with it, and how I was planning on seeing loads of cool places I'd never been to before. He ended up challenging me to travel from one end of the country to the other. John O'Groats to Lands End.

After a few days of thinking what an idiot he is, something clicked and now for some reason I think it's a cool plan.
I decided it may be a good idea if I did it for charity (Epilepsy Action). After Googling it, I found others have done it too.

Anyway, I've never done the trip before, I was wondering if anyone had done John O'Groats to Lands End before, what routes to take, where to sleep etc etc? Also some cool places to visit on the way? Also advice from anyone that has experience writing blogs of any kind as I have no idea where to start with that kind of thing.
And anyone that's done any charity work before, I have no idea about this either? Do i need charity numbers etc? Is there like a way to get links on friends web sites where they can donate straight to the charity etc etc? A little out of my league here tbh so any advice anyone can give would be cool.

I also thought it would be fun to try and get some others to do it too (preferably anyone who has a disability and has a UK busspass like myself). That way, it's easy to take photos, videos etc etc of the trip and post them on the internet etc as the trip goes on. Although |I haven't been around anyone else with Epilepsy before, and not sure what happens if they have a fit (will it have a chain reaction and will all the other epileptics in the room/ on the same buss fit out as well? lol Sorry don't mean to laugh at that, but sounded funny even to me)

I know it's a crazy idea but I think I could raise some cash for a good cause with this :D

What you guys think?
(sorry if some have already read this on other forums, I'm just after as much info/ advice as possible :D

Andy
 
D

dogfacedboy uk1

New member
I think its a sound idea, plus you get to see some serious sites along the way - although good luck on catching buses on time in cornwall hahahaha, or at least connecting ones!!!! If you do the trip I'll help you plan your cornwall stage for places to go, places to eat in etc. Bus routes and so on. I used to alot of busing around during summer exploring the area around st ives, even had to walk back from lands end to Penzance at one in the morning because i missed the last bus. It was quite cool actually stayed as long as I could at lands end just taking it in and then walked back when the roads were dead which was just as well given the width of some of them. I'll add you on facebook if you send me a link to your page.

dfb
 
BPI

BPI

New member
Will you be painting on the buses Belly?

An issue of White Dwarf a while back focussed on a vast orange Space Marine army that a Dutch (?) bloke had put together & he mentioned that he painted on the train!

I spend over 2 hours a day commuting on the bus, cannot imagine trawling about on the damn things for the length of the country. May I recommend that if an incredibly drunk person boards before 9AM, tries to con the driver out of a portion of his fare, sits at the back swearing & shouting... that you get off immediately. In my personal experience, it means that he's shortly going to take an 8" blade out of its newspaper sheath & attempt to murder the driver. Not a pleasant experience & you may find yourself having to trek across the country to give evidence in court at a later date (also a deeply unpleasant experience).

Good luck, B.
 
Belly

Belly

New member
@ dfb http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1274588100 or anyone else that wants an add!

@ BPI I was gonna do a speed painting a bit and get someone to film it and post in online. If anyone knows a particular UK bus route with lots of speed bumps, let me know lol. Could get messy :D
I spend over 2 hours a day commuting on the bus, cannot imagine trawling about on the damn things for the length of the country. May I recommend that if an incredibly drunk person boards before 9AM, tries to con the driver out of a portion of his fare, sits at the back swearing & shouting... that you get off immediately. In my personal experience, it means that he's shortly going to take an 8" blade out of its newspaper sheath & attempt to murder the driver. Not a pleasant experience & you may find yourself having to trek across the country to give evidence in court at a later date (also a deeply unpleasant experience).

Good luck, B.
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Aaaargh... Mate where about's were you at the time lol?
 
Belly

Belly

New member
I was thinking about taking someone with me to film some of it.... depends which Idiots I can convince... erm... I mean which friends wanna tag along :)
 
BPI

BPI

New member
Belly said:
Aaaargh... Mate where about's were you at the time lol?
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Same place I've travelled from 2 years before & 2 years after with nothing more annoying than people chewing gum in my ear or blasting out crap music on a tinny phone :) Just one of those reminders that if your spider-sense screams danger, pay attention! Don't sit there like a lump worrying about being late ;) Plus I've had a crumby morning at work so my mind defaulted to the black stuff. A chirpier afternoon leaves me with a brighter disposition at least. Just in time to get the bus home :D

Cheers, B.
 
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dogfacedboy uk1

New member
I went to your facebook page (the link only seemed to work after i logged in) and it would not let me add you as a friend or send you a message??? The wonders of technology!!

dfb
 
ollieholmes

ollieholmes

New member
This sound a great idea and i wish you the best of luck. If you make it across to the Bedfordshire area i am happy to help with the planning etc, just drop me a line here. I would offer to join you some of the way but despite being disabled myself i dont qualify for a bus pass as mine is more a social disability than anything else.
 
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