Traveler Information
Trips
39
Entries
69
Countries
27
Photos
425
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Current Home Base
London,United Kingdom
, United Kingdom
Profession
DTP
More about cathalchu
As you know, I have always said that football is an excuse to travel, not the other way round. This is certainly true in the past dozen or so years that I have been actively following the Republic of Ireland national football team in various international competitions.
Although I did time in Hong Kong (I make it sound like prison!) I was born in Ireland and I grew up there - Newry specifically - before starting university in London. After a HND in Computing and a degree in Photographic Science (with a stint as a student magazine editor inbetween) I laboured in various jobs, from charity Christmas card admin to leasehold sales before falling back in my computing skills for a permanent career.
Working in desktop publishing in the City earns me enough to travel and see some of the world (yes I do save some of it too if my family are reading this) and although my voyages are by no means entirely football-based, they do take up a big chunk of my travels.
Why? Because in following the Irish team, I have journeyed to many far-flung and alien locales that I
most likely would not have visited otherwise. Yes, I may be going there
to watch a match, but it is also an opportunity to see exotic local
sights, try something new on your dinner plate, sample
the regional tipple, get a different point of view from the natives.
And not only that, but also to do so in the company of like-minded folk. Restive men and women who form the hardy band of Ireland's traveling support, many of whom I only ever see at Irish matches.
When I first began traveling, I sent postcards that took forever to write. As the list of postcard recipients grew, I switched to e-postcards. Lengthy, descriptive, sometimes funny and (hopefully) interesting emails telling of my impressions of the place, articulating my experiences and relaying a hint of what it is like.
Now, I am moving into the cottage industry phase (for all you Marxists out there) of my writing and expanding into this travel blog you see before you. Though set up for the purpose of my Euro 2012 odyssey, it may well have a shelf life beyond June 2012. Stay tuned...
cathalchu's Trips
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Helsinki, Finland
Planned Dates
2024-10-09 to 2024-10-11
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Porto and Aveiro, Portugal
Planned Dates
2024-06-09 to 2024-06-12
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
Planned Dates
2023-11-17 to 2023-11-19
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Women's World Cup 2023
Planned Dates
2023-07-20 to 2023-08-01
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Athens, Greece
Planned Dates
2023-06-15 to 2023-06-17
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Łódź, Poland
Planned Dates
2022-06-13 to 2022-06-15
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Yerevan, Armenia
Planned Dates
2022-06-02 to 2022-06-06
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Luxembourg
Planned Dates
2021-11-12 to 2021-11-15
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Baku, Azerbaijan
Planned Dates
2021-10-08 to 2021-10-10
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Rugby World Cup Japan 2019
Planned Dates
2019-09-28 to 2019-10-13
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Gibraltar
Planned Dates
2019-03-22 to 2019-03-24
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Jakarta, Indonesia
Planned Dates
2019-01-03 to 2019-01-06
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Aarhus, Denmark
Planned Dates
2018-11-18 to 2018-11-20
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South Korea
Planned Dates
2018-08-09 to 2018-08-20
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Copenhagen, Denmark
Planned Dates
2017-11-17 to 2017-11-19
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Zambia and Georgia
Planned Dates
2017-08-24 to 2017-09-03
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Hong Kong
Planned Dates
Dec 23, 2016 to Jan 04, 2017
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Vienna, Austria
Planned Dates
Nov 11, 2016 to Nov 13, 2016
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Chișinău, Moldova
Planned Dates
Oct 07, 2016 to Oct 10, 2016
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Hong Kong and Singapore
Planned Dates
Aug 18, 2016 to Aug 29, 2016
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Euro 2016
Planned Dates
2016-06-12 to 2016-06-23
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Hong Kong and Sapporo
Planned Dates
Dec 19, 2015 to Jan 03, 2016
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Christmas Markets, Germany
Planned Dates
Dec 05, 2015 to Dec 12, 2015
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Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Planned Dates
Nov 12, 2015 to Nov 15, 2015
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Warsaw, Poland
Planned Dates
Oct 09, 2015 to Oct 12, 2015
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Faro, Portugal
Planned Dates
Sep 03, 2015 to Sep 06, 2015
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Brussels, Belgium
Planned Dates
Aug 28, 2015 to Aug 31, 2015
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Hong Kong
Planned Dates
Dec 21, 2014 to Jan 04, 2015
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Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Planned Dates
Oct 13, 2014 to Oct 15, 2014
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Tokyo, Japan
Planned Dates
Aug 18, 2014 to Aug 27, 2014
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WONS Orphanage, Zambia
Planned Dates
Jan 01, 2014 to Jan 07, 2014
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Christmas Markets, Germany
Planned Dates
Dec 12, 2013 to Dec 18, 2013
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Cologne, Germany
Planned Dates
Oct 10, 2013 to Oct 12, 2013
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Seoul and Jeju, South Korea
Planned Dates
Jun 09, 2013 to Jun 19, 2013
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Stockholm, Sweden
Planned Dates
Mar 21, 2013 to Mar 24, 2013
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Hong Kong, Macau and Fukuoka, Japan
Planned Dates
Dec 20, 2012 to Jan 05, 2013
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Düsseldorf, Germany
Planned Dates
Nov 30, 2012 to Dec 02, 2012
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Astana, Kazakhstan
Planned Dates
Sep 05, 2012 to Sep 09, 2012
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Euro 2012
Planned Dates
Jun 09, 2012 to Jun 19, 2012