Bizzywig’s Blog

Posted By Bizzywig on October 1, 2009

My Dear Friend,

Please enjoy this posting by My Other Dear Friend, Michael Harling…

Endless Summer – The Postcards Tour Finale

I started this tour just as summer was beginning, so it seems fitting to end it just as summer draws to a close and autumn takes over.  It’s been fun and I’ve met a lot of great people, but touring is tiring, even in the virtual world, so I’m taking advantage of that magic we call the Internet to round up the Kindness of Strangers Tour by relying on the kindness of several strangers at once.  In a way, making my final tour stop to ten locations simultaneously seems the perfect ending for it—one big autumnal burst before quietly fading away.

This tour began as a means of promoting my book, but it soon became an end in itself and took on a life of its own.  Very often, I found myself having such a good time “visiting” people around the globe that I forgot to mention the book.  To date, my trip has taken me from Britain to Canada, Australia, sunny Spain, Tenerife and even back to my own hometown, ending up here in Northumberland with Bizzywig, Carstairs and Dervish.

It’s ironic ending up in the northeast of England as I was just here (in the real world, not the virtual world—let’s try to keep the two separate).  My wife and I spent a week in Craster on the coast and it was simply wonderful.  Northumberland is a beautiful place with friendly people (even if they were a bit too laid-back for our fast-paced southern lifestyle), lots of interesting diversions (especially if you like castles) and some really good kippers (with or without Piccalilli).

I thought I had seen most of the area on my week-long vacation but Bizzywig is going to take me to some of the more out-of-the-way locations after I finish this post; apparently you can get some really good Piccalilli if you know where to look.

I have to say, of all the adventures I might have imagined for my life as a young boy, touring the blogsphere on other people’s blogs was not a contender.  But then the idea of leaving my quiet, rural life, moving to England, marrying a foreigner and writing a book about it never occurred to me, either.  I’m glad and grateful for having done both, however, and although the tour is coming to an end, the adventure continues.

May yours continue as well.

Thanks and Good-bye from

The 2009 KINDNESS of STRANGERS TOUR?

Visit the Tour Page for the latest Tour updates.

Michael Harling is the author of

“Postcards From Across the Pond – dispatches from an accidental expat”

“Laugh out loud funny regardless of which side of the pond you call home.  Bill Bryson move over, there’s a new American expat in town with a keen sense of humor.”

– Jeff Yeager, author of “The Ultimate Cheapskate”

Buy the Book: http://www.lindenwald.com/booksale.htm

Follow the Tour: http://www.lindenwald.com/thetour.htm

Visit the Home Page: http://postcardsfromacrossthepond.blogspot.com/

Categories: Bizzywig
Tags: Guest post