Jonny Blair

"I stare at the sky and it leaves me blind" - Manic Street Preachers. Backpacking Centurion was supposed to be a hat-trick, a trilogy. But Jonny Blair's 100-country journey had too many stories for that. These are the uncut ones, or should I say the "cut ones". They were left out for a reason and then stuck back in as a last minute supersub. They were too gruesome, gory, crazy, insane, wacky, zany, ridiculous and mad for inclusion in the hat-trick. There were the horrors of death camps, overflowing toilets, innocent drug smuggling, border confusion, cider sinking on night buses and mates having intercourse with inflatables in the author's living room. This Volume, The Black Volume, completes the Backpacking Centurion era and will leave us with a splendid 147 break. 147 chapters about 100 countries before the darkness fell over Malaga on that night down the pub when a new era was about to unfold. Out of the darkness and into the next century went Jonny Blair and his backpack. "Everywhere death row; everyone's a victim" - Manic Street Preachers.

She just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich - Men At Work. When Jonny Blair's 100-country book Backpacking Centurion was completed in August 2015, it was supposed to be released soon after that, and as a one-off book. That didn't exactly happen the way it was intended. Over the next five years, as Jonny continued on his travels, it became clear that chapter after chapter needed to be re-edited, re-positioned and in some cases, removed, delayed or in other cases - posted faster and onto the online travel blog Don't Stop Living, which meant they didn't make the book because they made the blog instead.In those five years, unfortunately depression kicked in and was the major reason for the book's delay. It was even possible that the book would never see the light of day at all. In 2019, the book was split into three distinct volumes. These three volumes are more or less in chronological order and are now being released one by one. The second volume, here with its volume title Lands Down Under has finally arrived in print.Volume 1's Don't Look Back in Bangor began in the seaside town of Bangor in Northern Ireland and tracked Jonny's childhood and early travel days. This volume, Lands Down Under sees Jonny's completion of visiting all seven continents and hitting the 50 country mark aged 30. This story is a bit more mature and extreme than the first volume as Jonny ventures into lands afar.Jonny finally appears to have found a home in the land down under - Australia, and a lot of this book was written in his old flat in Parramatta, or in a lonely tent in Poatina from 2009 - 2011. In between times, we have tales from Taiwan, anecdotes from Antarctica, perils in Peru and adventures in Africa. By the book's end we will see the progression of Jonny's nomadic life in full swing. Even his Australia dream came to an abrupt end and it was time for lucky land.While the first volume showed mistakes, failed romances, multiple job changes and footballic tales, Lands Down Under definitely has a more travel focus. Here, Jonny comes face to face with tribes, lands on remote islands, spends months working on farms and falls in love in one of the least likely places on earth.In seven flying hours, he'll be landing in Hong Kong.

Slip inside the eye of your mind - Noel Gallagher. When Jonny Blair's 100-country book Backpacking Centurion was completed in August 2015, it was supposed to be released soon after that, and as a one-off book. That didn't exactly happen the way it was intended. Over the next five years, as Jonny continued on his travels, it became clear that chapter after chapter needed to be re-edited, re-positioned and in some cases, removed, delayed or in other cases - posted faster and onto the online travel blog Don't Stop Living, which meant they didn't make the book as they made the blog.In those five years, unfortunately depression kicked in and was the major reason for the book's delay. It was even possible that the book would never see the light of day at all. In 2019, it became clear that the book needed to be split into three volumes, and not all released at the same time. These three volumes are more or less in chronological order and are now being released one by one. The first one, here with its volume title Don't Look Back In Bangor is finally here in print.Don't Look Back in Bangor, the first volume of Backpacking Centurion begins where it all began for Jonny Blair. That means the seaside town of Bangor in Northern Ireland. The year is 1980. Jonny will take you on a fool circle here as he details his childhood with footballic zest. Jonny's topsy turvy time at Bangor Grammar School is encapsulated in an enthralling chapter trilogy of teenage angst.Delve into Jonny's early tourist days of visiting The Netherlands, France and significantly Bournemouth in 1994. Seaside beach towns beginning with B on the brain, it was here in an unlikely ice cream hut where this nationalistic Northern Irishman found a hunger for global travel.Weekend trips to Burnley, Colchester and Portsmouth soon became backpacking adventures to Belarus, China and Poland. The odyssey really kicked off when Jonny was in his twenties, which is where this first volume ends to prepare us for volume two. This is a real life journey of ups and downs.Expect some regretful bad boy behaviour, unashamed nudity and vintage banter as Jonny injects humour, sincerity and openness to his life of tears, fears and elation.By the end of this volume, Jonny will have gone through failed romances, an arm break, a leg break and some wacky trips to lands afar watching the Northern Ireland football team. He will have you gagging for volume two, where in essence the real 100 country quest begins to dominate proceedings.The volume's title and much of its theme reflects on Jonny's desire not to look back at what has been and gone. Doors are closed and his Bangor hometown was left behind. In true poetic Noel Gallagher fashion, Jonny's soul slides away, but don't look back in Bangor, we heard him say.

"We'll support you evermore" - Northern Ireland fans. "ChampIAN STEWARTnova" is the first GAWA-focused book from travel writer Jonny Blair after his epic "Backpacking Centurion" series came to a culmination in March 2015. Conceived in the 1970s, collecting Jim Platt stickers in the 1980s, watching Iain Dowie goals in the 1990s and witnessing the heroics of Healy in the 2000s, this story is brutal, rewarding, footballic, sickening and addictive. This story is only about one thing - the rollercoaster that is supporting the Northern Ireland football team. Nothing else matters. Jonny kicks things off during the 1980s glory days where his Dad bought him his first Northern Ireland kit and scarf while cheering on his World Cup heroes Norman Whiteside, Ian Stewart, Pat Jennings and Gerry Armstrong. Defeating the Germans, the Spaniards and the Romanians in the early 1980s felt commonplace. But those were glory days - with a population of less than 2 million people, Northern Ireland were always punching above their weight. After the Mexico 86 curtain fallation, some barren years followed on the pitch, but love don't wane. Jonny writes passionately about those days as a Bangoric Ulsterman attending Windsor Park dreaming of Adrian Coote hat-tricks, Alan Fettis pelanty saves and top of the table destructions of Germany. Most of our dreams as Northern Ireland fans never come to fruition but we dare to dream. Expect tales of crushing home defeats intertwined with shock away wins and uninspiring draws. Be ready for GAWA trips abroad full of over indulgence in both alcohol and football. In the midst of all of that, Jonny will enlighten you with his real life stories, quirky anecdotes, geek facts and unusual tales as he dreams of reaching another major tournament. When Jonny walked out of Windsor Park in 2009, an era had come to an end. He left Europe behind to travel the world but he left part of his heart in Belfast's Windsor Park. And we know he will be back there again. When the sun shines over Cavehill and the dust settles on the Lisburn Road, will life ever be the same again? "The stars in the bright sky looked down where Healy" - GAWA.